Post/Author/DateTime	Post
madoule 04-04-04, 08:50 PM	So, whilist in the steps of doing research on my druid character, I am at the same time developing another character that I play on a different day with a different group. Cept this one... this one is quite interesting. The characer, if your intrested is a 8th level psion (shaper) Called the Oracle of Time (Ahmresoul Mirdith) Break down of character: While en route to a ancient psion gathering to determine the next oracle she and her master were ambushed by a deamon which was brought forth by an assasin that happens to be a half demon/elf of a god. The demon slays Ahmresouls mentor, and she is able to escape to warn the eldars of the impending demon attack on the ritual. Luckly the ritual was protected by a mythrall however, when entering the mythrll (which the entrance was linked by a magical poratl very well hidden) the same assin follows her into the magical ward. the assassin has a two fold mission to kill the girl and her mentor and to deliver a pecie of star metal that grants the user almost god like powers if they abosrb a lot of souls... and she is able to deliver the object (yet the object was switched by another god present at the cerminoy whos a trickeser god... :D) the person she delivers the object to is a master (of a different area of psionic) and hatches his evil skeem to kill all the other psions in this cerminoy including the other masters to make him more of a god. So the cerminoy starts up, the assassin takes off, thinking that even though she didnt kill the girl the old man that she gave the artifact would just suck her soul dry anyways would finnish her off and she could become very powerfull. While the cerminoy starts up the young elf girl is promoted to master (using kirki stones to enhance her knowledge etc) anyways, the cerminoy starts up and the souls are indeed being gathered by the evil madman... cept the young girl has the real artifact thanks to that trickser god! she instead of the old man absorbs the souls (and the old mans too as a protector!) the mmytrhall goes out of wack, and the demon comes in and theres and epic battle, and she wins, barley she goes to sleep and wakes up years later, with no memory of the events that had transpired. But now becuase of the whole souls thing, she is immortal!! So my question is... Who do you portray an ageless wanderer who had just discovered that she holds within her countless souls.. and a reall, really evil one. She has the device to gather the souls (but not the other three stones that can free the souls...) who do you portray someone whos immortal, but knows that every time she dies, a soul is sacrificed instead??? how would you live with that? thanks in advance... and here, is chapter one of her story.. so that you can get a better feel for it... hang on tight.. some of it may be not for younger viewers.. FOR MATURE READERS ONLY.... Í 1 Î Stars (DR 674 - Year of the Nomad) Ahrmesoul looked up into the night sky through the thick cover of leaves of the giant forest trees that surrounded her. Above, winking as if knowing she was looking up at them, the stars shimmered and danced thru the dark hue of leaves and branches of the trees. How long had it been? Ahrmesoul wondered to herself, looking up at the child like antics of the heaven above. It had been at least more than several spans since she last visited these woods and the oracle of fate, but of course at that time she was no more than an ordinary spell shaper that had just completed her trails. This time was different; there was more of a sense of urgency as all spell shapers and various members of the order of the forest were summoned to the oracle of fate. Perhaps the rumor of the guardian of chronicles passing away was true. Just then, a sound from the dark forest followed by a slight wind and a cold sensation on the back of her neck refocused Ahrmesoul back to the task at hand. These dark, cold woods near the old elven courts were quite dangerous at night and crawled with all sorts of creepy, hairy eight-legged things that Ahrmesoul just didn’t want to think about right now. Ahrmesoul looked over to her right to see her master Arselu from the Durothil clan, a spry old gold elf in a flowing gold and multi hue garment which was woven with arcane symbols in all manner of languages. He had just reached his nine-hundredth winter and still maintained a youthful glow and attitude that beguiled his true age, even though he had to keep his pace with a long thick black twisted walking stick that he used also as a focus for some of his magical powers. Ahrmesoul on the other hand, was only eighty-two winters old and had a plain face that was framed by long, dark brown almost black hair. Ahrmesoul exhaled as she admired Arselu and his gold locks of well kept flowing hair that danced in the wind and his disarming gentle smile reminded her of better times past. Arselu looked over to his apprentice and picked up his pace. He too felt the cold dark presence as the cold wind rustled through the trees above them, almost as if the trees them selves knew of the danger that loomed ahead, and shook their leaves in warning. “It’s not far now,” Arselu said as he ducked and weaved amongst some lower branches, using his staff to push aside the occasional bramble. “Soon we will be within the protected circle and need not fear any dark denizens of this forest.” He said as Ahrmesoul nodded knowing that her master was trying to comfort her. It was still at least another hour until they reached the far end of the great circle, and another half an hour to reach the protected circle that would ward and protect them from evil creatures of the forest. Ahrmesoul picked her pace back up after a long glance into the dark forest behind them. Something didn’t feel right and she knew that she had to stick with her master in order to make it to the great circle. Meanwhile perched like a delicate flower in a branch high above, a dark figure dressed in black watched the pair of elves move more swiftly to their destination. Amra narrowed her eyes and silently cursed her self. Had she given her presence away? No surly her dark father had given her the power and the skill to accomplish her mission. Amra knew she had to do something, and fast. An idea whispered to her and instantly she knew. Amra looked over and slowly reached for her bag. Carefully she unclasped the bag and reached deep within to pull out a glowing dark pellet from the confines of a black spider silk sash that she had hidden there. She brought the strange glowing pellet to her eyes, carefully holding it between her index finger and thumb as delicately as she would a precious gem. Yes I shall use you Amra thought to her self as she narrowed her eyes to get a better view of the small shadowy shape within the pellet. There it squirmed and writhed within its confines, as if trying to find someway out of its shell. Amra grinned fully. This would be the perfect time to use her magical pellet, and gain access into the protective circle. Amra quickly, but carefully placed the pellet back within the confines of her bag, and clasped it securely. It would be a quite a bumpy ride and Amra surely didn’t want her surprise to fall out from her bag or worse yet, rip from the confines of her bag only to devour her. Shaking her head of the thought of it, Amra bounded from her tree top perch and whispered a word of power into her broach that suddenly gave her lift and speed as she ascended higher and higher amongst the giant forest trees. Amra abruptly felt the sting and the kiss of cold as the forest air embraced her body and whipped across her face as she flew within the confines of the ancient forest trees. Amra squinted her eyes and tried to concentrate as she struggled to control her speed as she whipped around and through the trees trying desperately to avoid the tree limbs and thick foliage. Amra glanced down to determine her position. Bellow, the myriad of limbs and leaves simply flashed by blocking out any ground features as she desperately tried to locate her prey. She felt a tug on her left shoulder and along her back as the leaves from a tree limb brushed across her. Looking back up she abruptly altered her course to the right nearly hitting a tall tree that blocked her flight path. That was too close Amra thought to her self as she scanned the area for an appropriate tree limb to land on. With only a slight rustle of leaves Amra landed gracefully on the next tree limb that would support her weight. Without delay she scrambled to the edge of the limb and muttered the command word to stop the spell locked within her broach. Looking down into the deep canopy of leaves she scanned for any signs of the two elves. Moments passed and Amra keen sense of hearing caught the approaching sound of something bellow. Slowing her breathing down, Amra concentrated, as she had to relax her self. It wasn’t every day she flew though the trees at break neck speed. Several second passed and Amra had finally caught her breath and her bearings. She wasn’t too far off and was indeed only several hundred paces from her last vantage point. Ample enough time for her to set up her cross bow and wait for her victims, for this was what she had been raised to do since birth. Amra reached beneath her cloak with one hand and in one quick fluid motion she had pulled out her cross bow and simultaneously with her other hand unclasped her pouch and had placed the small glowing pellet within the grove of the cross bow, ready to fire at the unsuspecting elves bellow. Several more moments passed and Amra could make out the distinct sounds of the two elves bellow. They had increased their pace significantly in response possibly to the sounds of something far above. It was now or never. Amra pulled back the cross bow and said a silent prayer to her god, vowing a swift and bloody death to her victims bellow. With a slight pull from her finger the pellet flew from her cross bow, bypassing the thick leaves and branches of the forest and landed with a wet thud on the forest floor bellow, spilling a dark smoky vicious fluid from the pellet on to the ground. Amra promptly whispered the command word into her broach again and leapt solidly up and through the forest canopy to the night sky above. Whatever was in the pellet was no longer any concern for her. All she knew and was told was to run away from whatever did come out of the glowing black pellet, no matter what. The two elves were nearly running now. They had heard a rustle in the trees above, and it sounded like it was flying. They knew whatever it was, had to be very bad or very deadly to be this far in the dark forest. Nothing could prepare the two for what happened next. The sky burned a sudden red hue and nearly blinded the two. Reeling from the flash of light Arselu turned his attention to towards the flash of red light. The forest floor abruptly began to glow then ooze with a red black flow that covered the land like demonic water rushing from some unknown stream. With a thunderous roar an evil and demonic scream came from the area where the flash of red light originated. Throwing his robes aside the old shaper raised his hands in arcane gestures, not fully aware of whatever kind of evil was coming their way; the screams of pain and agony echoed the birth of something most foul. Ahrmesoul looked over towards the old elf. There, in the glowing soft moonlight tainted by the red haze and smoke that began to pour into the forest he stood. He was clad in flowing graceful gold mythral chain mail that seemed to weight nothing as it danced about his figure. Around his waist was something she had not seen in nearly a hundred years. Bound tight with arcane seals and flowing script was a long sword sheathed in a platinum case that glowed the faintest blue color. It was a moon blade, a powerful and graceful weapon that are passed down from generation to generation, the sword picking who it’s next owner will be, and eventually which house would be fit to rule the elves. Why she had not seen him carry such a sword before was strange indeed. Was he preparing to wield the sword? There were many questions, but now she had to shake her mind of them as she moved forward she saw her master gesture and speak in ancient arcane tongue towards whatever was coming their way. The earth shook and the ground seemed to give way as Ahrmesoul felt nearly faint. A tremendous crack was heard and the snap of life from a tree gave way as the tree groaned in pain, its branches snapping and twisting, the tree turning and twisting in unnatural directions. Ahrmesoul jumped and ran towards her master dodging the falling tree, however the huge old tree was so massive and large that it sent her frail body flying, lifting her off the ground was such the impact to the ground. Dirt flew and her master stood firm, the fallen tree passing mere inches from his face. Wiping the dirt from her face, Ahrmesoul looked over and from her vantage on the ground she saw a black shadowy red shape claw and rip its way from the earth as it came rising from the ground, screaming its way forward giving birth to a foul creature of the dark. The sky faintly glowed blue as Arselu spoke a word of power and the air around him hissed and cracked. Out of the blue a thunder crack could be heard and Ahrmesoul covered her eyes as a bolt of pure energy leaped from Arselus hand. It struck the hissing hideous creature and energy darted and danced across its skin. The heavy smell of metal could be detected, wafting in the air. Ahrmesoul scrambled up from the ground, and over a mound of dirt. This creature was no match for her. The earth shook again, and a dark voice screamed from the creature, its foul evil erupting the peace of the forest. As it spoke the ground rumbled and the earth cracked, and a foul smell of death steamed from the open fissure the creature crawled out of. “Run!” yelled Arselu as he twitched his fingers and waved his arms. “This creature is far beyond us, you must warn the elders!” Arselu screamed as his hands soon manifested a ball of pure power and directed it towards the creature. The creature doubled over as the light enveloped it, almost strangling it but then the creature burst free from the bonds of light, shattering them and corrupting them into wispy strands of smoke which fell unceremoniously to the ground. Ahrmesoul stood there and starred at her master, a visage of shock on her face. She couldn’t just leave him, yet the foul beast seemed unstoppable as in lunged and pushed ever forward through the thick mess of broken trees that it knocked down and torn out during its first moments of birth. “No I can’t leave you!” Ahrmesoul cried out, her master looking to the sky and speaking words of an ancient tongue. “It’s too late,” Arselu, cried, “I must contain this beast, and you must tell the elders. Let it be so, but first take this.” Arselu reached for his sword and unhooked it from his belt, the beast merely a few feet from the two. “It’s yours. Show it to the elders and warn them. You must go. Oghma spoke to me a tenday ago and foretold this destiny to me. You must not fail!” Arselu tossed the sword at Ahrmesouls feet and spoke the final word of power that completed the spell of power he was casting. Seconds later the area around the two, the foul creature and the ancient elf glowed with power from the heavens. A light like nothing else Ahrmesoul had ever seen nearly blinded her as she ducked down and covered her face to pick up the sword from the ground avoiding her gaze from the light. The earth shook and Ahrmesoul fell to the ground holding dear the sword that her master held and had just gave to her for safe keeping. Ahrmesoul pushed hard with her legs and struggled with her arms and she began to quickly scramble away from the ever-growing light, as it grew tighter around the creature and her master. Amra looked down to the forest bellow. It had suddenly erupted into a light that burned into her soul. It was small at first and then grew and then finally shrunk into a sphere of absolute brilliance. The old man was indeed powerful. Had she failed to kill him? She thought to her self. The answer came soon as the light unexpectedly turned red and streaks of electricity arced across its surface and the red light turned to black and then exploded into a huge ball of unrelenting and unstoppable black fire. No. He is dead Amra knew as the trees around the sphere of power burst into flames and a demonic voice roared into the night. This will be the night Amra smiled as she closed her eyes and dreamed of what power she would soon wield. * * * Ahrmesoul kept running. Whatever that thing was that grew then blasted out of the ground and came at her master and she was not natural, and it was unstoppable. For only mere moments after the blinding light had engulfed her master and the beast, the forest around her erupted in thick unnatural black flames that seemed to greedily burn and devour all life from them, twisting the trees into hideous black and mutilated shapes that screamed in dark and horrible pain, the ground around her turning into red and black streams of molten lava and brimstone. Ahrmesoul kept running. The twisting, groaning, snapping sounds and the cries of pain from the trees engulfed in the thick black flames that twisted them into the demons own desires rotted thru to Ahrmesouls soul, yet she kept running. It was all that she could do from keeping the hot tears of pain that streamed from her eyes as she held the sword ever so tightly to her chest as she bounded and ducked amongst the still living trees around her. Still in the distance the heavy foot sounds of the evil creature could be heard as they ripped through the heart of the forest knocking down trees and warping other trees into depraved evil black husks of there former selves as flames danced upon them. Pain. This was an unfamiliar word to Ahrmesoul until now. Of course there had been a few times in her life where she had inadvertently stubbed her toe or fell and skinned her knees. Nothing else was like this. This pain resided deep within her and within her soul and she would die with this feeling of pain that melted and coursed through her body like acid. Even the trees! Carelessly running as fast as she could the trees punished her, as branch after branch seemed to reach out and snag, pull and rip into her flesh as she ran past. By now Ahrmesouls arms, face and dress had all an equal beating, her dress soaked with small red lines of blood from the claws of the trees. Ahrmesoul didn’t care. Nothing mattered as the pain now had started to pulse and change into pure hate and agony. Ahrmesoul still kept running, but by now her lungs screamed for air, precious sweet air that could drench the flames that rose in her lungs. Ahrmesoul allowed her self to slow do just enough to pull in the cold night air and try to let out the hot anger and pain that coursed through her veins, pulsating, sending that same pain to every cell in her body. Ahrmesoul looked up in to the night sky, and felt wanting as the thick blanket of smoke that rose into the night sky now obscured the stars. As she stood there she could still see the creature in her minds eye, pushing and burning the forest and turning into a living hell of its own demonic dreams. With a final deep breath Ahrmesoul looked about her. She had only a few paces before the protective circle. Hopefully it would allow her the time to warn the elders of the foul dark denizen that was coming. A few moments later Ahrmesoul came to her destination. There it was, still after all these years. Crafted to look to the ordinary person or hunter as a stray boulder covered in moss and lichen and surrounded by several old trees was the entrance stone. Ahrmesoul carefully searched the ground for the keyhole. It was there carefully hidden around the stone, under the thick dead leaves that fall occasionally from the forest. After a few nervous moments, she had found the round flat stone with three holes in it. She brushed off the leaves and carefully traced the path of the three holes and whispered words of passage to the key hole that made the outside ring of the flat stone begin to glow faintly, followed by the same keyhole pattern glowing on the passage stone before her. She only had but a few moments and rushed over to where the moonlight had gathered around the dancing, faintly glowing ruins around the glowing keyhole placed on the passage stone. Pushing in and turning on the glowing keyhole, the stone gave way and slowly pushed inwards. Ahrmesoul turned the stone fully to the right then to the left two more times and pushed the stone in once more completing the passing ritual. As she pulled her hand from the hole, a slight snapping sound could be heard as off in the distance, the creature was gaining ground. Ahrmesoul closed her eyes and said a silent prayer, as tense moments passed. Then, the satisfying grinding sound of stone on top of stone told her that she had done the ritual correctly. Opening her eyes she saw the passing stone swivel and open up to a small hole only found at the heart of the stone itself. There glowing and pulsating with power was the portal to the inside sanctuary and inside the protective circle. The surrounding woods held a protective spell that teleported or displaced travelers so that they would end up on the other side of the protective area, never knowing that they had done so. Only portals such as this one would allow true passage to inside the protective circle. Ahrmesoul hurriedly pressed on the keyhole on the ground and covered the stone with leaves. She stepped forward, and heard the stone begin to swivel back into place. Swiftly she made her way to the glowing shimmering portal and stepped thru, somewhat confidant that no one had seen her perform the rites of passage and that she could not be followed. But another set of eyes had followed her, dark evil eyes that knew no mercy, no compassion for any and all life. As the passage stone slowly swiveled back into place the portal shimmered and ebbed once more as the faint transparent outline of something made contact with the portal, and then disappeared to where the portal led. The portal stone sealed shut and the glowing ruins faded into the night. Off in the distance trees snapped and twisted as they fell to the ground. A dark shadow illuminated by thick black and red flames could be seen through the fires that blazed around it. It was a jolting ride. Perhaps the now engraved pain and realization of the events that just transpired finally hit her, or there was something else, but what ever it was it disorientated Ahrmesoul as her essence reformed and shifted back into reality. Of course it had been only but a blink of time to her location from the portal but in her mind the myriad of purple hues and twirling power almost made her dizzy and sick, as if all the air in her lungs had been pushed out and she had been spun around until dizzy. Refocusing her thoughts, Ahrmesoul gradually regained focus. Looking around she knew that she was but only a few more paces to the gathering place and there she could warn the others of the danger that was coming. Without a second though Ahrmesoul rushed as fast as she could past the thick maze of trees and branches not aware of the presence that had followed her. Exhausted, worn and beat Ahrmesoul ran through the trees and through the twisted maze of branches to a large clearing. There in the center of the clearing was a magnificent sight indeed! Roughly spanning nearly the entire clearing lay a magnificent meeting place. Framed by tall semicircular rows of seats made of polished white stone and accented by forest elements growing in harmony with them, lay a large round well that bubbled and splashed and seemed to be overflowing with life. Above, floating and spinning in mid air was a tall gray stone the size of a large man. Arcs of electricity and power danced across its surface indicating that this stone held within it the power to protect those within its area of influence. Ahrmesoul scraped and pushed herself through several layers of tree limbs and low-lying bramble as fast as she could. She could hear the harmony of the place now as she rushed downhill towards the clearing. The happy echoes of several friendly voices as they sung and talked beneath a glittering sky full of life. She was almost there now, the voices reaching her throbbing ears, sore and cut from the forest behind her. It was much louder now as the area seemed to magnify the voices towards the center of the clearing, and voices near the center echoed back to the far edges of the clearing just as clearly. Tripping Ahrmesoul stumbled over a low lying root and fell to the forest floor, several hooded figures looking on to see what was causing so much ruckus in the forest before the clearing. Scrambling up of the ground, and drenched in dirt and blood Ahrmesoul waddled forward, her every muscles screaming in pain and anguish. Several more hooded figures began to turn and look towards her direction, several had already started to run her way knowing that only a true member of the order would be able to find this particular clearing. Already the voices started to drown out Ahrmesouls thoughts. The sound seemed to smother her and pound into her throbbing skull. It was almost too much to bear as she finally collapsed mere feet away from the clearing. As she lay there, the world began to shrink back and the edges of her sight turned to black. But Ahrmesoul could close her eyes now. She knew she was safe, safe for now as several hooded members began to crowd around her the voices suddenly faded away and Ahrmesouls world faded into black. Safe she thought as she let the world slip away from her grasp. * * * Amra couldn’t believe her luck. The stupid girl led her right to the heart of the clearing! Now as several of the order had begun to crowd around the girl, was the perfect time to infiltrate and take someone’s guise as a member of the order. Amra knew that the blasted stone that floated above the well dispelled any illusions and protected those within. If she could assume the guise of a lowly apprentice without tipping anybody off, she could slip in, unnoticed until far to late. Amra looked around for a victim, slowly moving forward not knowing the full area that the ward protected. Her chance came as two hooded figures came rushing past her. Amra couldn’t breath. They had whisked past her and had barely missed her. That was too close Amra thought to her self as she pulled out her dagger. Luckily for me it won’t be for you Amra though as she turned and gave chase to the two hooded figures that were investigating if any one else was with the girl. Amra moved as gracefully as a cat. She knew her spell would drop the instant she struck, her presence revealed. She had to separate on of the two and change quickly. Speed would decide her fate, but so would her skills. “Hello!” yelled one of the members of the search party. “Is anybody else out here?” yelled the other. There was no answer. Amra moved closely towards the two, and closer yet to the second member who was just a few feet farther back that the first. Amra Deliberately snapped a twig nearby her victim, his keen sense of hearing turning his attention away from his friend. “Hello? Anybody out here?” He cried, looking back towards the sound that was behind him. Amra grinned. He was a fine young elf, with golden hair and deep penetrating blue eyes. It was almost a shame as she circled around him reading her weapon for the kill. The other hooded elf by now had already advanced further in, leaving more of a window of time where Amra could dispose of the body and kill his friend without anyone knowing. The young elf boy turned. Now was the time. Amra waited as the boy turned back and past her. The young elf’s eyes suddenly grew large as he suddenly lunged forward, A blade of black ink sinking deep into his throat and slicing it across, blood spraying out from the large hole. With a gurgled cry he fell, air and life no longer flowing to his body. Amra grabbed the young elf’s head and with all her power twisted and turned until she felt and heard the elf’s neck break. Amra re-sheathed her blade, and quickly grabbed the elf’s cloak. She bounded over several old fallen trees with unnatural speed. Tonight many elves would die. No one heard the muffled screams of the second search party member as Amra claimed another life. * * * Ahrmesoul dreamed. It wasn’t any ordinary dream of love, hope or unfilled wishes brought to bear, instead Ahrmesoul dreamed her soul being ripped in half, twisted, and corrupted into a dark sickening cancer that slowly started to rot her very essence. Deep cuts of demonic claws slowly and methodically ripped into her essence that appeared to her as her flesh encased in a brilliant light, the light bleeding into dark pools of poison that twisted and twirled into a hungry tooth filled maw. Then a brilliant bright flash and a pain that no mortal should feel as the inner essence ripped through the cut flesh, a dark and hungry monster of unimaginable and twisted corruption. Somehow someway, however there always appeared to here a shard of life, a brilliant white light that twinkled like a star, yet as small in size of that of a speck of sand. It began to grow, and flourish as the dark twisted reality tried desperately to claw and maim the growing ember of life. Then the light became so bright! It blinded her as countless waves of light covered and smothered the gruesome visage of her dark inner corruption of faith, bring to bear an ultimate realization that she could almost reach to, but then the sharp edge of reality split the dream and re-awakened her back into her other nightmare come true. Lurching forward, bound tight to the ground by many healing, warm loving hands she awoke her face echoing the pain and torment of life times. Desperately she gasped for air, but that too felt like inhaling burning embers as she became aware of her pain once again. “Relax my child” A warm soothing voice came from one of the hooded figures. “You are among friends. Please, calm down and drink this.” Spoke the warm voice again. Ahrmesoul struggled to free her mind of the poisons that swirled in her head. With one hand, let free by the others she very slowly accepted the round clay bowl that was offered to her. She shook her head once more and prepared her self for whatever was that they would offer. With one quick gulp the slimy substance raced down her throat, and Ahrmesoul nearly gagged. The substance was thick, sweet and as it passed down her throat, very sour at the end. Coughing to rid her self of the after taste that wasn’t’ going away, she could feel the substance soak directly into her body, easing the pain and suffering that she was going thru. Looking around her vision nearly came back to her as things began to come back into focus. Then, with no warning she remembered. “You must warn the elders!” Ahrmesoul blurted out. “A monster! A Hideous black monster is coming! Even My master Arselu couldn’t stop it!” Ahrmesoul cried, visions of her masters final moments shrouded in a light that burned into her soul. With wet, hot tears she shook free her other arm from the others and wiped away the tears. “Please help me!” She implored. “Relax, Ahrmesoul.” Spoke the man with the kind voice. He dropped his cowl and looked deep into Ahrmesouls eyes. Instantly she knew who he was. He was none other that the oracle of fate, Jonik Misterivvin a Nobel Archmage from Cormanthyr. She had met him four summers ago while traveling through the city, though none knew of the extent of his true powers or motivations and goals. She would never forget his kind face, deep green eyes and dark curly brown hair that made him appear humble and understanding. With a grin on his face, he reached forward and embraced Ahrmesoul. “It has been a long time, my child” He spoke softly into her ears. “You must let go, now concentrate, and tell me what has happened.” The old kind elf let go, even though Ahrmesoul couldn’t bear to. With one last deep breath, she reached behind and slid her master’s former sword slightly forward into view and sheepishly looked into the oracles loving eyes. He knew right there and then that the story that she was about to tell him would pain him as much as it would her as she retold it. * * * Amra closed her eyes. Soon the darkness would come and promises of power echoed through her head as she tightened her fashionable new brown drab robe. Pulling the cowl over her head, to obscure her looks she rubbed her hands in the cold night air and proceeded to run back down towards the grotto. Approaching the area that the she saw the two boys run from, she looked around for any authority figure she could find. She stood there for just a moment and watched as a crowd began to disperse and run into the speaking area itself, cries of alarm and danger echoing through the main halls. They knew it was coming. It would not be long now she thought as she looked through the crowd to see if anybody was being reporting to. After several moments she picked out a man with short brown curly hair who had just risen of the ground and barked orders to assemble the counsel of elders. Confidant that no one was checking who actually went out to check if any one else was with the girl, and now with the commotion, if any one else would care about the other missing search party member, she approached the man and tugged at his cloak. “Yes?” the elf turned his attention to Amra. “No one with her.” Exclaimed Amra in a rushed and exhausted tone with her best proper elvish. It felt funny talking in her enemy’s language. She preferred the thick dark speech of her father to any of these surface dwelling elves. Still her mother had been an elf and passed along the language to Amra anyway. Those days still haunted her and still brought with them memories that further made Amra sick of the pathetic elves before her. She was better, stronger and faster than any of them, yet gifted with the same thin, slender perfected body. “I see” Squinted the old elf. He scanned Amras features and couldn’t quite place her. Possibly a newer member of the order, after all tonight’s rite of passing included new fresh faces that he had never seen before. Still it didn’t matter, for there was a far larger threat that soon would engulf the entire forest in its rage unless stopped. “Very well, go on in with the others. Quickly now.” Jonik turned back towards Ahrmesoul and helped her up off the ground. Amra did as the old elf bid but not before giving a strange look to Ahrmesoul as Jonik helped her off the ground. Ahrmesoul nearly missed the look that Amra gave her, but did at the last second. Jonik noted the bizarre look in Ahrmesouls eyes and looked back to see what she was staring at so intently, but Amra had already disappeared into the crowd making her way past the floating spinning stone that protected the inner meeting area. Just as she passed however the stone seemed to stop, briefly for a moment and a haze of blue light glowed, then faded as she continued into the inner meeting area. No one seemed to notice the brief warning sign. Ahrmesoul breathlessly looked around in wonder. She had never been inside the inner sanctum to the ancient meeting place and such an honor was usually regarded for masters, not lowly members barely learning to wield their art in such a clumsy manner as she could! Word escaped Ahrmesouls lips as she gazed at the magnificent statues, tapestries, art, and masterpieces that lined the walls of the inner sanctum. Still Jonik looked back and almost had to tug tighter to Ahrmesouls fingers to get her to move quicker down the halls. “You can come back later, hurry we must get you ready.” Jonik scowled Ahrmesoul in a tone that a parent would use for a child. “What are you talking about” Ahrmesoul stuttered, her gaze affixed to a masterful vase with brilliant vibrant colors. Jonik took Ahrmesoul tighter and turned her to face him, his playful gaze earlier gone. “You must take your masters place. It can’t be avoid. You were the last shaper to graduate your trials, and we only have a handful that are barley learning their first weaving spells.” Ahrmesouls heart dropped. She was the only one fit to be next Master Shaper? “But I barely know more than a few simple tricks, enough to shape light and heat. Nothing like Arselu.” Jonik shook his head. “No it’s too late, besides it’s only a formality for tonight. We need all six weave masters to complete the ritual of binding, to choose the next guardian of chronicles.” Ahrmesoul winced. She barely knew the arcane rites and had never actually performed them, plus there was the other mater that loomed off in the horizon. “What about the beast? Are we going to do the ritual before we stop that thing?” She asked almost half knowing the answer. Jonik pat Ahrmesoul on the arm his warm loving hands caressing the fear out of Ahrmesouls heart. “Don’t worry child, your safe. As long as we all stick together we can weave the creature from our plane. Arselu will be avenged, this I promise.” Jonik gave Ahrmesoul a long solemn look and then smiled brighter than the sun. “Come along now I have much to show you and we have little time. We must begin our preparations.” Ahrmesoul frowned like a spoil child and then though better of the matter. Perhaps he did have a plan, and he seemed so serious just then. Ahrmesoul thought to her self. Deciding that the oracle of fate knew the better than she in matters such as this, she allowed herself to forget about the past for just a moment. Amra looked about. Everybody was there. Even though she got quite a few strange looks from other members, she tried to be polite as a cold-hearted killer could be amongst her enemies. Her fake smile hid the truth behind what was to occur that night. Just then, a stranger bumped into her as she looked away for just a brief second, attempting to locate her mark. The two fell to the ground and Amra quick sprang up demanding satisfaction “Damn it man watch where you’re going!” She yelled, her impulse to gut the pathetic fool in front of everybody barely contained behind a veil of rage.” The hooded figure on the ground shook his head and looked at the raging elf before him. “Sorry about that miss, I didn’t see you there. Please forgive me.” He was a young looking elf, a moon elf by the looks of it with silvery blue eyes and light blue hair. Amra scowled at the man, her fists balled up tight in anger. “Well, well just watch where you’re going next time!” She snorted, and marched around the fallen elf. Several other elves gathered around the fallen moon elf and helped him up. “What’s her problem?” on of the crowd asked. “I don’t know. Maybe her minds not on the ritual tonight.” Answered the young moon elf, as he gathered something into the folds of his cape and walked away. Amra was by now, furious. The smell and the sounds that were overflowing her mind were begging to make her mad. She had finally shoved, pushed and forced her way through the thick crowd of members to the center spire, a squat, short spire that rose in the middle of the two half circular seating areas contained in the inner meeting area. Just behind the spire a taller, regal archway reaching the skies exited from a set of plain buildings located behind the seating area and the center spire itself. A wide ornate walkway connected the exit of the archway to the top of the spire itself, where a small circle surrounded by ancient ruins and glyphs was. In the center of the circle, a large emblazoned magical motif of the weave of magic glowed and sparkled in the moonlight, with the aid of several dancing and pulsating soft magical lights. Around that, seven royal ornate chairs with embellished accents and glyphs of power sat. As the ceremony progress the master weavers would come out from the inner buildings, across the walk way and sit down at their appropriate spot, a soft glowing orb dancing like a nimbus along their head. Anyone sitting in the bleacher seats around the center spire could see into the middle of the spire where the master weavers sat and be awed at the majesty of the sparkling design, and hear clearly those within the center circle. At the bottom of the spire, a pair of large gold and jade inlaid doors depicting a scene of peace and harmony along the trees could be seen. These doors led underneath the spire and to the buildings beyond where the weave artists made great works for all of the elves to share. Amra scoffed at the gaudy design and motifs of the center spire, and instead of gawking at it like others were, she crept close to the wall, near the seats silently searching. After several minutes, and after several rude interruptions by others telling her that she should quickly find a seat, she had found what she was looking for. Amra bent reached in and picked up the item left in a fake piece of the wall. Only a master weaver could blend in the hidden hole from prying eyes. Secure with the item Amra hurriedly ran up a set of stairs and headed for several sets of doors that were hidden deep within the second layer of seating behind several supporting pillars. The deal was nearly finished. Ahrmesoul blinked her eyes and knelt down at the spot Jonik had instructed her to. Around her, magical flowing designs ebbed and flowed around the room, pulsating to Ahrmesouls heartbeats. Jonik looked into her eyes and gave her a stern look. “You must not fight it Ahrmesoul, you must calm down and accept it.” He said, holding her shoulders now trying to make Ahrmesoul realize that she was only hurting her self. “But I’m not ready. It’s too much!” Ahrmesoul cried, wet tears trailing down her red checks. Jonik knelt down with Ahrmesoul, and moved closer. “It must be, child for the better of our works. We must all weave as one when the time comes for the next guardian of chronicles.” Ahrmesoul lowered her eyes and looked at the floor, as her head filled with questions, ghostly disembodied voices that whispered to her, raising doubts about what she was about to do, and what would happen next. Even unanswered questions such as what happened to the previous guardian of chronicles, why her master had a moon blade with him, and who or what released the foul demon upon the land confused her thoughts. Looking back up at Jonik, he saw the questions dancing like a sparkle in Ahrmesouls eyes. “Yes I realize that there are many questions, child. All will be revealed to you after the weaving. Then and only then can we stop the foul creature and understand why the fates have ordained this mission to you. But to be honest … “ Jonik trailed off as he didn’t want to hurt Ahrmesoul further, but it was sometimes more than he could stand, someone wanting to understand. “… You must choose this path that fate has given you. Sometimes I realize that this path is hard to follow, for its path is always changing, adjusting its course to some unknown weaver. You must always strive to follow that path, no matter where it might take you. Attempting to change your direction often leads to finding a different way that would lead to darkness. You understand, right?” Ahrmesoul nodded even though she only understood the basic premise of following her own way. “Very well. Let the passing begin.” Jonik got off the floor and moved over to a small desk near the far wall. Muttering some unknown language he traced an invisible line along the top of the desk. Moments later a small hole appeared and produced a dark round gem which Jonik used his weaving skills to lift out of the hole, floating the gem in mid air. “We keep one of these in emergencies such as this. They are very rare, contained within all the rites and arcane lore one would ever need.” Jonik kept his concentration as he slowly floated the gem to the floor near Ahrmesoul, his gaze transfixed upon the gem. As it landed on the floor, Ahrmesoul looked at the gem with doubt. “This thing? What is it?” She asked nearly reaching for it before her hand was pulled away from touching the gem. Ahrmesoul looked over to Jonik. “What?” she asked concerned. “Slow down there. You must prepare your self. While it is true that the gem contains the knowledge to do the rites it also contains within it memories of those before who had used this device.” Ahrmesoul reached back as if a child scolded by the touch of flame for the first time. “No! I don’t want that much burden!” Ahrmesoul cried getting back on her feet. Jonik followed and held her for a moment. “I know its a lot to ask, but you must ask yourself this question: are you so willing to let go of your path? Like I said you choose your own way. I can’t force you to do it. You must be willing to take that journey. Take a moment and decide for yourself. “ Jonik gave Ahrmesoul a knowing look and stepped away. “I will be back in a moment. Please decide.” With that Jonik left the room, closing the door softly behind him. With a slight rolling sound and a click, Amra pushed in the once locked heavy oak door that led into the inner sanctum of the shapers. With a quick glance back to ensure that no one was watching her, she slipped into the doorway and slithered her way towards the main hallway of the sanctum. There, waiting breathlessly behind a large vase that provided a great deal of shadows, Amra waited for her contact. This part of her mission was indeed the most dangerous part. Any minute a Master shaper could be turning around the corner and spot her. Closing her eyes it seemed like forever as she silently waited. It wouldn’t a long wait as she glanced around she could almost feel a presence watching her. Looking up she could almost make out a pair of small evil eyes that glared at her from the lid of the vase. Maintaining her glare into the shadows above her, the eyes soon disappeared and after a moment they suddenly reappeared, now peaking out from foot of the vase. This time Amra recognized the small impish creature for what it was and quickly grabbed it and covered its mouth her black smoke dagger about to slit the fiends throat until it bit hard upon her hand, and Amra pulled back the throb of pain which more than anything that she had ever felt from such small of a creature. Still the little imp could tip off her presence in the sanctum and she lurched forward to grab the beast, but as she did a thick gnarled staff came down upon her head, trapping her to the floor. Amra felt her heart nearly collapse as she thought of what excuse she would use for hiding about the inner sanctum, hoping that whoever had caught her was not a Master shaper. Ahrmesoul breathed heavily and looked down, on the floor her destiny. Within the gem contained answers, but also the burden of those before her. Would she take the path? Would she become merely a figment memory for some other poor elf in the future? Ahrmesoul closed her eyes and slowed down her breathing so she could listen to the beating of her heart. It sooth her and she washed away all the pain and hurt from her mind so that she could visualized her path in the order of things, among the chattering doubts, the blurred nightmares and the darkness of despair. Many minutes passed and Ahrmesoul opened her eyes, and suddenly knew her path. Jonik nervously speed his way thru the winding twisting corridors of the inner chambers. He was running late and needed to gather the others so that they could ascend the walkway and begin the grand weave. As he ran thoughts and visions poured through his head of the encounter with the young girl elf. She indeed was not ready for all the responsibilities and task for her new position, but she would be in no time with the proper training and care, for he would see to that. He could see her now in his mind eyes, a shy brown hair elf with eyes of shining blue that seemed to dance and sing. Yes, now he could picture her, laying on her side a playful smile across her face as she read through some books, then later standing, and giving life to a brilliant glowing form of her design. Yes there would be many good times, Jonik thought to him self as he quickly ran down the statue lined main hall. There, in the distance loomed several of the master weavers. They seemed to be all in a heated discussion about general topics, possibly the current events now unfolding about them. Jonik politely and quietly seemed to glide up to the group of shapers and made his presence known. “Greetings shapers. Are we ready yet? part two comming up...
madoule 04-04-04, 08:52 PM	Jonik did a quick mental head count of the shapers present as they turned their attention towards him. To his direct right was a tall, well built but thin elf named Denrick. He had a scowl look on his face, short bland brown hair and an angled nose. Denrick always seemed to have that rough determined scowl on his face always, as if punishing some small child for a minor indiscretion. Denrick was indeed powerful for his thin body. Being the master Egoist allowed him to shape his body and confront any physical task. To the right of Denrick, standing with shoulders crossed was Logan. Logan to was thin and wiry like Denrick but looked far less like an imposing rock than the former. Instead, Logan’s hazel eyes never seemed in one place to long, to the trained eye anyone could see the pure definition of the elf’s muscles and the way he moved seemed to be fluid as water, almost as if the elf truly knew himself. With short, shaggy hair and a whimsical smirk across his face, Logan could probably run a complete circle around the group and come back to a complete standstill and no one would notice. Being the master shaper Nomad allowed Logan to not only travel in space-time, but also propel or displace objects as well. On the opposite side of Logan and to Denricks left, stood a wider and seemingly heavier elf named Ronik He was shorter than the rest standing there but had about him a healthy glow and demeanor, that also seemed to dance about in his dark brown eyes. He had much shorter hair than rest, possibly because it was ever so slightly turning muddy gray in color and thinning. This however was a small effect of being nearly seven hundred plus winters. However this small, yet large man could do great things indeed as he could manipulate and transform physical properties of any object. To the left of Ronik stood the oddest of the four, dressed in slightly better robes than the others and with a slight knowing smile on his face with eyes that seemed to rip into your deepest dreams stood Merik. He had short trimmed black hair and always a long and slight knowing smile. It was hard talking to Merik because he liked to keep conversations short because he would tend up answering questions long before you were knowing that you were going to ask them and he was notorious for finishing long drawn out sentences. Being that he was the Master Telepath, made him not only some one to avoid because people just didn’t trust him but also some one who was quick about bringing a solution together by knowing what people wanted. Four. There should be five; Jonik thought to him self-mindful of thinking to far ahead or with any depth as he eyed Merik who raised one eyebrow at him. “We need to get going. I really don’t want to be late, and we have other business to attend to.” Jonik looked to each elf, and they all nodded, knowing what he meant. “So you expect that thin frail child to become the next shaper Jonik?” Merik spoke out seemingly in disgust. Jonik grumbled, sometimes Merik was too good. “Yes I do think she will become the next shaper, after all she is the only one who has passed her trials, and the other candidates are no where near as ready as she to take the post right now.” Jonik looked to Merik. “She has a strong spirit and is willful. She will make a good shaper.” The other members of the order each looked to each other and nodded. “Very well it is settled Ronik”, spoke Denrick to Ronik who shrugged as if the decision was not his to make anyways. “Well it can’t be helped I suppose.” Ronik shook his head and crossed his arms in defiance. “Fine then, boys I’ll get the young miss and bring her along then eh?” Spoke Logan with a sly grin that no one could ignore. Jonik shook his head. “No that won’t be necessary Logan, besides she’s not your type.” The other shapers winced as Logan’s smile slipped away and his eyes narrowed at Jonik, then his head turned to Merik who looked back at Logan. “Yes lets see her survive her first bonding and grand weave before she gets to know your ‘charms’ young Logan.” Merik grinned slightly at Logan, and both seemed to slightly nod in agreement from some unknown conversation. Just then the final member of the five arrived. Kain was indeed the very strangest of all the members standing there, and that was saying a lot for several of the elves gathered here. He had a strange long face, along with dark sagging eyes held behind powerful lenses with strange telescoping devices attached to them. He held with him a set of old dusty tombs and a strange bizarre creature with wings perched upon a large oak staff with glowing ruins upon it. Around his neck Jonik noticed something odd. A funny looking pitted round disk with three slots. The object seemed to be made of some sort of dark brackish looking metal, and Jonik never saw Kain wear it before. It really didn’t matter though, because Kain always disturbed him with his odd way of going about things, the least of which was the odd cryptic messages set about with a tone of foreboding. The small impish creature upon Kain’s staff shifted about a bit and seemed to be holding its clawed hands around it’s mouth as if either keeping something secret or laughing at something. “Ah we is all gathered. Good… good. When come the girl, the pretty?” Kain asked Jonik the tone of his voice dark and sinister. Jonik winced and struggled to keep his emotions as he suddenly felt awash in them. Jonik narrowed his eyes and instantly felt his blood begin to rush through his body as a thin trickle of black doubt attempted to creep into his system. Concentrating, Jonik slowed down his breathing and looked to Kain who was intently staring at him, the black eyes stabbing at him. Jonik could feel the power of this old man and was having a hard time ignoring that fact. Then as suddenly as the sense of dread and deep dark emotions began to pour over them they fled, and Jonik could feel his blood begin to slow down from the sudden rush that enveloped him. Kain simply narrowed his old eyes a bit and produced a small thin evil smile. “Soo… Soon. She will be here soon.” Jonik nervously spat out. His emotions beginning to take hold once again. The first drop of wet, cold and sudden rain, the dark sky above, with clouds looming in the heavens. The smell of wet dirt, the sensation of cool air blanketing the ground. The sounds of bending leaves in the distance and the memories of rains before as more and more cool, wet drops land and trickle down the skin. Ahrmesoul felt this as she first touched the gem, its power beginning to awake from its deep slumber and begin to travel from her finger up and up though her arm. Then suddenly she is there. Through her eyes she looks frantically around trying to get her bearings. The earth is no longer supporting her weight as instead she is suspended in mid air, yet twirling moving in the clouds as light as a feather in the updraft of a powerful storm. The she sees them, the dark black clouds of pain as they begin to surround her. Time seems to slow down for her as the dark rolling clouds of dark dreams begin to reach out grayish tendrils to reach for and grab her. Struggling she spins in place and longs for but fears the powerful decent bellow. Somehow the fear does not take its hold yet and keeps her there, the black tendrils writing and reaching. Then just when the clouds envelop her senses and begin to race through her body a brilliant light forms at her eyes, the tears of her pain and fear swelling until, they fall from her face glowing and swirling in purifying light as they race to the ground. Opening her eyes she sees these tears racing towards the ground, the light growing brighter as they fall further. Somehow, as the darkness finally clouds her vision and she can only hear, and feel her heart beat she too becomes one with the light. In an instant her cells become fused with the light and soon every fiber of her being and soul glow with unnatural and brilliant light that mutes then destroys the darkness that once had surrounded her. With a powerful crack a bolt from the heavens parts the sky and then slams into her, sending her strait towards the ground, glowing with strength of a star. It seems to take forever yet, at the same time fractions of time as Ahrmesoul find herself hurling towards the ground the brilliant glow slowly dissipating but now covering her in a curtain of rainbow hued fire that seems to play along her body. Opening her eyes once more she sees the ground racing at her and closes them, accepting the fates that this world had to give her. Floating, floating in a sea of muted swirling chaos that enveloped her in its cold wet embrace Ahrmesoul gasped for air and found none. Nearly choking on the foul dark chaos that Ahrmesoul was embraced in, she frantically looked around then up and saw a glittering light. Nearly out of air and realizing that she could drown in this artificial sea of chaos she pushed hard with her legs and swam up into the light. As soon as she pushed out of the swirling chaos the light then proceeded to blind her and she winced as the skies around her suddenly became muted and bright as the color washed away from them. Then, silently Ahrmesoul looked down and found herself mid air floating in a sea of white, everywhere she looked nothing but white. Nothing was real here and nothing else existed as she soon found herself dissolving into the light. Ahrmesoul blinked, and reality pained its way into her vision just as she had thought she was to be absorbed by the light. Gasping for air Ahrmesoul shook her head and let go of the gem that she had found her self-holding tightly to her chest just now. As she did so, a torrent of memories smashed into her and she fell to the ground, images, whispers, words, pain, and love rushed through her body. With a final gasp she flailed on the floor, leering from the visions and dizzy from them. She had not expected at all what just transpired. But as quickly as the tide of memories poured in, they flowed out leaving Ahrmesoul free to think and feel. But was it real? Ahrmesoul struggled to get off the ground. After several moments and much concentrating on the here and now, Ahrmesoul rose to her feet. It still seemed not real as she looked around, the room, and its contents exactly as they were when she began her frightful journey. Yet, Ahrmesoul could feel the air entering and exiting her body, and she could feel the beating of her heart. This had to be real, she thought. Gathering her composure, and placing the gem on the back of her left hand she cursory wondered to her self why she knew what she was doing, why she was so confidant, then with a quick look at the gem understood completely. She could access the gem knowledge now and it was a part of her, the wisdom of the others before her contained within the gem, and now her own essence flowing into the gem feeding it with her own knowledge. “Oh these clothes will never do.” Ahrmesoul muttered to herself as she scanned the room for other garb. Along to her right on the wall hung up by a peg was an ornate but simple brown robe that she knew that only master shapers wear. With smooth motion she slipped out of her own ragged cloak and slipped off her worn and battered dress, covered in blood and dirt, tossing the garment to the floor. She looked about her own body and saw that no scar or tear covered her milky smooth skin that glowed in the soft light of the room. Caressing her soft arms she was glad that the medicine that Jonik gave her worked so well. Looking up to the wall again Ahrmesoul frowned at the robe, then back to the floor at her once beautiful dress. With a twinkle in her eye she suddenly raised her arms and began to chant. Moments later a wonderful silk dress of blue green hues appeared out of thin air and covered the elf’s body, fitting it like a second skin of sorts. With subtle movements Ahrmesoul weaved into the silk dress various accents and soft muted designs into the dress, and soon had found her self fitted in a most wonderful dress. With a gleeful laugh she spun and danced in the flowing dress her hands covering her face in joy. With a quick dignified stomp she straiten her back and posed in her new outfit, her grin almost outshining the dress. With then a quick nod to her self, she placed on the master’s robes and headed out to meet the rest, her troubles of the past seemingly gone from her mind, but not fully. As she passed through the first set of hallways she suddenly without paying much attention to the surroundings before her, bumped into another elf that was hurriedly running about the sanctum. With a great crash the two fell to the floor and Ahrmesoul felt the poor elf underneath her struggling to wrench himself free of her. Getting to her feet, she helped the poor thing off of the floor his face flush and red. “Sorry miss… Um I mean master, I wasn’t paying attention, please forgive me.” Ahrmesoul laughed as she saw the young boys face nearly turn white realizing whom he had bumped into. “Don’t worry about it, please go about your business.” She said as she made her way to the meeting place. She would have to get used to people looking up to her now she thought as she laughed at the premise of people calling her master. Amra grinned as she finally found a seat to sit in. There were indeed quite a lot of order members here, but that really didn’t matter to her now. She had delivered the item to her contact, and now was relaxing waiting for the spectacular fireworks that were about to happen. Thinking back to the old strange man she was glad that it was her contact and not someone else. Still she tilted her head in regret because the old man and his fiendish servant had caught her, but tonight was going to be most memorable indeed. A low hush fell over the crowd. A low dark chant began to fill the area and the sky darkened a bit as voices in the crowd began to sing a dark low tone as a methodical low organ sound wafted through the air. Amra looked around, for several order members began to stand and add their voices to the low rumble of sounds that soon began to fill the air. The sound grew and grew then stopped as those standing sat down, the methodical rhythm changed into something far lighter. The sound came from the grand arc way that linked the main center spire to the back buildings. An angelic male voice herald the coming of the master weavers and the sky grew brighter. The stars light began to shine brighter and seemed to bounce off the spinning stone that guarded the entrance way to the seating area, illuminating shards of lights across the seating area. Amra soon stood as the rest of the order members did so, and the angelic voice grew louder. Rainbow hued light poured from the archway and soon seven people emerged from the curtain of light, a magical dance of fairy light illuminating the path for the Master Weavers. Those standing sung with the angelic voice and added to its brilliance as the seven master weavers made their way to the center spire. The angelic voice quietly died down and all standing slowly followed. The seven had made their way to the center spire and stood in front of their respective seat that magically glowed and flowed in anticipation. After a few moments the sound stopped all but the gentle and murmuring dance of the fountain and the spinning rock above it. Raising his hands to the air Jonik stepped forward and turned so that he could get a good view of each person attending the grand weave. With a grand flourish Jonik brought his arms down and addressed the crowd, his voice strong and loud for all to hear. “May the weave light enhance our souls!” Shouted Jonik as the crowd standing chanted in reply “For we are the weaves children!” Amra grinned, the words on her lips far more foul than those of this ceremony. Still she had to play the part at least for a small while at least. Jonik spoke one more to the crowd. “Yes! Tonight we are the weaves children. Our light shines and protects us from that which attempts to destroy us. Together with our combined power we shall call forth the protectorates of this holy site and defend it from the outside world, against that which is black and evil. Tonight we live our destiny as we ascend one of our brothers from our rank to the next guardian of chronicles.” Jonik paused for a moment to let the crowd soak in the depth of his speech. “Like those before, you and the master weavers prepare a vessel that can accept the task of becoming our guardian of chronicles. This is an important position because this person guards one of our most precious assets. Knowledge of the past and that of the future to be. Together with help from the Oracle of fate, the guardian help the master weavers shape our destiny.” Amra raised an eyebrow at this last sentence of the man now talking. Was her contact going to use the device she gave him to alter the course of things and make himself the next guardian of chronicles? “Let us now bow our heads and pray. Let the weaving commence!” Jonik finished his speech and proceed to his position in front of his seat, the rest of the standing crowd bowing their heads in response. Amra too bowed her head, but she kept one eye open and tilted her head ever so slightly forward so that she could view the center spire still. Moments passed and a low rumbled echoed through the area, followed by a cold wind that made its way into the seats. Amra shivered as she felt unseen spirits begin to gather and dance through the standing elves. With a powerful cry a powerful and blinding light began to form above the seats and center spire. Amra wondered what was going on in the center spire as she saw the master weavers begin to hold hands and dance too and fro chanting into the growing ball of light that had suddenly formed at their feet’s. Ahrmesoul clenched her eyes tight as she recited the weaving spell. She could feel the power now as it raced through her, her every cell filled then empty with hot pangs of energy. It pulsed through her just like her heart beat, and she could feel herself lending some part of her essence to this swirling sensation that flowed out from her body into the next person that she was holding hands to. It was indeed dizing and there were many memories now flooding into her brain. She could clearly remember times past when others before he had too felt this same sensation of ebb and flow course through their body as the danced, reciting the ancient weaving rituals. Still the memories felt like cold after shadows of the past to her and she was in the here and now, feeling every sensation and pain that the gem could not convey to her. Opening her eyes for a brief moment Ahrmesoul was struck in awe. She had never seen such a wonderful light before. It was multi hued and seemed to pulsate and live under the weaving spell, growing forming into something more. Yet, there was something wrong with this all. Her memories that she held now echoed that their was something artificial here, something not completely true here, and she could feel it too as it raced through her body, a sensation of evil and darkness seeping in to her being and beginning to corrupt her soul. Ahrmesoul looked around at the other shapers who too opened their eyes and felt something amiss. Did the crowd feel it too? Ahrmesoul wondered as she searched the other weaver’s eyes to get their acknowledgement of the problem that seemed to be growing in their changing swirl of life. Each one now had fully opened their eyes and began to chant lower as if not certain that their spell was working the way their intended it to. That is save one of the master weavers, Kain. Kain kept his eyes closed and Ahrmesoul gasped in horror as his eyes suddenly opened up and an unholy red demonic flame wisped within the sockets of the old elf’s dark eyes. Yet, the song was not over she could not stop singing, and neither could the others who in turn realized that they too had been betrayed by the old elf. Ahrmesoul struggled to wrest free of the weaving spell that was growing and forming, now turning a light hue of red. From the sea of the others in the stands, she could see their life essence too rise from their bodies and gather into the twisting, turning glowing clouds that feed the growing sphere. Kain smiled evilly as now his eyes burned bright with unholy red flames. Suddenly the tone changed and the voices became dark and foreboding that came from the crowd, as one by one several order members collapsed to the floor, their life energy feeding the now dirty red and black cloud that feed the main orb of power. Ahrmesoul too, could feel her life slipping away ever so slightly to add to the corrupted sphere of power. It felt like the air had been pushed out of her lungs and she fainted for a moment. Looking up she could see the other members of the inner spire begin to fade as well, their faces becoming long and old, all the while the Twisted old man Kain grew younger, more powerful. Ahrmesoul winced in pain as she could now hear the screams of the other members as they burst into unholy flames, while others simply whisked into nothingness. Screams of the dead now feed the massive red burning clouds that spun directly into the center of the unholy sphere of power. Then Ahrmesoul felt light headed as now the song was nearly over. However it was far too late. By now most of the gathered had been absorbed by the hungry greedy cloud that swept over the crowd and drained them of their essence. Already two of the master weavers had succumbed to the all-consuming hunger of the sphere of power and Ahrmesoul could feel that the thing feasted on her still. Kain smiled evilly now and let go his grip on the two members he was holding on to, and they fell to the floor and turned into a fine dust that rose and feed the sphere. Around his neck the pitted old necklace seemed to glow and pulsate alien language the kind she had never seen before glowing slightly. Ahrmesoul shook her head, and somehow let go of the others she held hands with and reached into her pocket, as if told by some voice that her salvation would be there. Ahrmesoul gave a puzzled look to Kain as she had indeed found something hard in her pocket. Reaching in and pulling it out Ahrmesoul looked to the strange round glowing device she now held, it too covered in the same strange ruins as the other. Then it came to her, the voice the same voice as the mysterious stranger that she had bumped into as she had made her way to the center spire. How such a strange young man could of entered into inner sanctuary at first did not register in her mind, even though it should have. Kain then raised his hands to the sky and spoke words of power that erupted a gale of wind at his feet, and caused the massive clouds above the center spire to flow into the large glowing and red sphere that had bolts of lightning dance across its surface and flames of hell fire blasting out of the maw of the sphere. Amra looked on with fascination at the sight before her. The sphere had grown fat with the souls it stole from the unsuspecting elf’s that now surrounded her feet, drained of any life; their drained husks all that was left of some. Amra seemed to dance as she threw aside her dusty drab robe and proceeded to make her way to the center spire to await her great reward from whatever was to come about all this. Then something changed. The winds became colder and the air around the center spire shifted and twirled in the opposite direction that it was going in, causing the clouds that swirled into the center sphere to hang in mid air. Then, with a light that seared into her soul the entire area become a wave of light that burned and rended the dead bodies into ash then into nothingness. Amra covered her eyes and attempted to stand, but the powerful light swept her back and forced her to the ground was such its might, the angry rays of white scolding her skin and clothes. A voice spoke from the heavens and the area that once was the center spire erupted in a gout of holy flame from the sky as a bolt of white pierced the black red clouds that melted away into the brilliance of it all. The blast crumbled the foundation away and Ahrmesoul felt herself floating once again in that place of white, nothing as far as the eye could see but holy light that did not seem to burn her. Instead she saw the former Kain writhe in agony and pain as his mortal shell was stripped by the unrelenting rays of light that washed over him, his dark red glowing eyes fading in the absolute resolve of the heavens as they rended his soul to the farthest reaches of reality. The false artifact around his neck exploding into a shower of hot metal that instantly turned into dust. Then the same beam of light enveloped Ahrmesoul and she lunged forward as the light, all the light streamed into her, filling every single one of her cells with the same holy light that just melted the evil Kain from existence. Ahrmesoul couldn’t think as every thing came to her all at once and she could feel herself nearly about to explode as the sphere that once was forming in the center of the spire began to flow into her as well. Within a second all of the light power and energy had flowed into Ahrmesouls body and she floated there, in mid air amongst the remaining debris of the center spire, her body bathed in a crescendo of magical white sliver fire that danced across her form. Meanwhile on the ground Amra lifted off some rubble that had covered her, possibly saving her life from the light that rended and tore into her soul. She looked up and her jaw dropped as she realized that the woman floating there in mid air like a spirit about to be born was indeed the old fools apprentice. She was awash in sliver flame and arcs of power streaked from mid air to slam into the young elf’s form, but doing no damage. Quickly she huddled away scrambling to her feet and ran as fast as she could away from the elf that now opened her eyes for the first time. Amra didn’t see the wave of power form then shoot out from the girls body to slam into the remains of the seats and buildings left standing, its power was such that it instantly tore the bricks and stones loose and smashed them into each other sending the massive structures of stands and buildings toppling down in their wake. Amra had just reached the fountain as she felt her body propelled forward, then impacting into a tree with such force that it instantly knocked her out. However she remained lucky as the second wave of energy poured from Ahrmesouls body, this one erupting the air into cleansing blue flames that covered the remaining rubble. Slowly, Ahrmesoul floated down from mid air and set one foot into the large smoking hole she had just formed. Looking about she raised her hand and a bright light formed from her fingertips and all around her bits of debris rumbled and came to life, then formed around the growing ball of power she created. Seconds later the light around the objects became blindingly bright and then winked out. Replaced was a soft glowing white stone that Ahrmesoul grasped with her hand, while in the other she placed the glowing disk of power that had caused her transformation around her neck. Ahrmesoul felt like she was in a dream. Flowing memories came rushing to her and she could hear so many voices dancing in her head that she was barely able to keep them out. Looking around she realized that her purpose here was greater than she had thought. The object that was placed in her dress suffocating and ending the life of the evil Kain. How did the object get there? What did all this mean to her? These were all valid questions but number one on her mind currently was why Kain had betrayed the order and what did he intend to do with the power once he had it? It was at this moment that she suddenly realized something as the buzz of the power she had just absorbed slowly dissipated but was then followed by a low steady hum that grew louder and louder each second echoing pain, despair, hate and other emotions that felt very alien to her. The low hum of noise was not the after effects of the power leaving her mortal shell, but of the hundreds of followers voices each screaming in utter pain. Ahrmesoul fell to the ground her head now nearly exploding from the crescendo of voices that now filled her head. As she placed her hands over her head to attempt to stop the overflow of emotions that now crashed into her like huge wave angry water, Ahrmesoul could hear the distinct sounds of the other master shapers, who seemed to yell the loudest at Ahrmesoul to set them free of her mind. “Enough!” Ahrmesoul yelled as she attempted to yell louder than the voices that overfilled her head. She could hardly hear her self speak. The voices however, seemed to shrink for a moment as several of the master shapers seemingly took over her mind, their particular voices the most vibrant in a sea of endless pain and torment that filled her head with voices like an angry black sea. “Let us free!” Spoke one voice. “Hurry child speak the ancient words, release us from this prison of souls!” Yelled another. Ahrmesoul couldn’t understand another voice that spoke in a dark blasphemous tongue that seemed to make the ocean of her mind bubble and churn. “”Malsvir arcaniss! *pothoc* vaecaesin renthisj miirik arcaniss!” Ahrmesoul shook her head. So many voices it… she shook her head again and remembered the place of absolute light that she had recently visited, and soon the dark ocean of pain and hate drained away and in her minds eye the darkness soon was replaced by a soft glowing light. As she opened her eyes the voices drifted away along with the coming of the light and she looked around her, as if awoken from a bad dream. Yet the dream remained. There she stood, in the center of a crater roughly two hundred feet in diameter, gouts of silver fire flowing like wisps of heavy smoke laced with miniature lightning storms dancing from her form, though now rapidly dissipating. Ahrmesoul gasped in horror as she looked around at what remained of the once grand meeting place, now only strewn rubble and ash remained, the air thick with black grayish smoke that danced amongst the trees that now resembled sick twisted and burnt matchsticks. A single tear fell from her eye, as before her now only remained the twisting rotating pillar of stone. Yet it too was barely there, for several deep pulsating cracks showed that it had absorbed a tremendous amount of magic, as its own magical energy flowed from the deep cracks into the half blasted, now dead well that once danced with life. Ahrmesoul fell to her knees and said a silent prayer. But it seemed as if the goods were not listening. She watched there as slowly the floating stone began to wobble and tremble as if it was alive and now was dying, it’s last moment upon this world as its life force spilled now onto the ground, small pieces of its body crashing to the ground. Within moments it was over as the massive stone slowly broke apart and crashed to the ground, the remainder of its magical energy splashing to the ground like wet rain. Ahrmesoul looked up to the sky and as the protective dome that the magical stone began to fade, she could see tiny flakes of a white substance fall though the holes that now were being opened up from the death of the protective circle. Soon more bits of white flakes began to fall to the ground and upon Ahrmesoul her self. Looking at her hands, she understood that the flakes were ash from the raging fire that the beast had created earlier. Closing her eyes she could imagine the beast in her head, and turned her attention now to the crashing of trees from off in the distance. The beast had come for her. Would her new powers stop the beast? Would she free her self and the masters from their prison? The ground soon shook as from out of the forest that she had come from a huge red black demonic creature clawed its way out from a pile of dead twisted trees. As it came towards her she could make more out of the creature form as it began to come nearer. As tall as a three story building it had a feline face framed with huge twisting, curling horns that jetted from its head. Behind the massive chest laced with numerous glowing scars were enormous wings that seemed deformed and twisted, filled with holes and quite ragged. It had a pair of massive arms that reminded her of massive lion paws that ended in cruel and bloody claws, each laced with smoking fire. Its legs were that of a massive bull, and were protected with large metal plates of glowing pulsating ruins. In one hand it held a wicked cruel axe made of some sort of creatures massive armor plates and was covered in flames that dripped to the ground like foul venom. Ahrmesoul instinctively raised her hands and began to chant. She could almost feel the presence of the other masters as they chimed in each with their own voices, with exception to Kain who seemed very absent from the group, which was quite a relief to her. Soon a glowing ball of power and energy began to grow in her hands, its light growing and growing until it began to blind her with flashes and arcs of energy darting about the surface of the localized power. The creature rushed forward and Ahrmesoul let loose the ball of power, which was accompanied by a streak of silver fire that danced upon the ground following the path of the blinding object. As the ball of power flew from her hands the creature leapt into the air, its massive axe raised for the death blow as it came crashing down, its body wrapped in an unholy shroud of fire and thick black smoke that obscured its features. As it swung down Ahrmesoul raised her hands and the ball of power struck the creature. The area soon filled with a blinding light that filled the entire forest clearing and poured out into the sky, lighting up the dark world for just a moment. Above swirling dark raging tempests began to gestate and grow from the dark sky into dark twisted storms that soon joined together above the glowing, but fading light that filled the forest clearing. Dark angry eyes filled with jealousy and rage made of arced red and blue lightning opened up from the darkness as if awaking from a dark twisted dream. A deep howl of treachery filled soon filled the night sky as the god looking down from its prison above roared in disapproval with the events that just transpired bellow. Yet with the small amount of power that it had managed to obtain from the events bellow the dark cloud attempted to adjust the scales back in its favor as a small trickle of black ichor rained down from the dark cloud and small tendrils of dark twisting rage made their way down into the forest clearing bellow. As the tendrils flailed about the holy light, they attempted to penetrate the protective circle but with each attempt merely were dissipated into black wispy smoke. However that did not deter the dark looming storm above as several more tendrils now each filled with dark red strands of lightning again reached into the light in attempt to still change the outcome of the battle bellow, which in turn reduced the size of the tempest above greatly as the being that resided within it used more power to offset the power of the barrier. As the dark twisting tendrils slammed into the barrier, the light fluttered for a moment, which allowed two of the dark twisting tendrils to penetrate protective light circle and wreak havoc on the events that were transpiring within the light barrier. Below, bloody, bruised and broken, Amra awoke to the sound of battle as a great tempest roared above her. Slowly she pulled her broken body from the ground and began to crawl as fast as she could from the forest clearing. She knew that something went wrong and that her dark father would indeed punish her in some manner that would make the most hardened evil demon cry for mercy. Perchance it was better to die out in the forest, her soul allowed some refuge from her angry father who was most likely watching from the dark raging tempest above, attempting to use his powers to tip the scales in his favor. But as each and every one of her muscles screamed in pain as she desperately fought her way forward, deeper in to the blackened forest, a twisting turning tendril slipped past her, and like a squid wrapped it self around her, tearing her from the ground. She screamed as much as she could, but knew that her fate awaited her, her screams of pain only adding to the screams of the raging angry tempest that grabbed her from the ground. As the tendril slowly retreated into the storm, the angry red eyes of the storm looked upon the form that it had obtained. The storm shook in rage as the tendril whipped out and flung the form into the sky the body flying off in the distance, again the tendril slithered back to the ground in search of more prey. Ahrmesoul opened her eyes hesitantly. The Huge cat like demon had been stopped by the ball of power that she flung at it, the masters in her mind screaming at her giving her new directions in order to stop the creature. Yet as the light dissipated a pair of dark menacing tendrils found their way through the protective barrier of sliver fire that she had just erected. One had just snatched some poor girls body from the forest floor, while another had managed to find the smoke filled husk of the demon that lay on the ground, a huge gapping hole in its chest from the blast that Ahrmesoul just had created. As she looked up into the night sky she felt her face begin to melt as some of the black ichor that rained down upon the land began to eat away at her like a dark poison. Wincing at the pain, she soon erected another barrier that quickly surrounded her, the dark poison of the sky no longer eating away at her like some sort of festering maggot. However during this time the dark evil tendrils joined, both over the fallen body of the demon, which somehow was feeding the beast with power. Moments passed and Ahrmesoul gasped in horror as the dark winds faded away, and the huge cat like demon rose from the ground, at first from one knee. The dark winds had gifted the creature with more bizarre tattoos and its skin now seemed to be awash in writhing moving souls that were bound to its wounds, the demon feeding off the souls as a gout of black thick smoke rolled off its body, the stench of death thick in the air. Ahrmesoul with the aid of the other shapers in her mind quickly let loose a volley of power towards the creature as it came bounding for her. Blasts of light slammed against the creature with no effect and merely melted off some of the trapped souls that screamed for release upon the creatures skin. But it was too late as the demon swiped his claws along the protective barrier, bursting it like a simple bubble. Ahrmesoul backed away now the thick rain from above begging to melt through her dress and skin. She spoke new words of power; unsure of what exactly to do as the master shapers within her head bickered and yelled at her to do something but each had their own different advice that made her head spin. Just as the creature lunged forward at her, Ahrmesoul finish chanting another spell, this one only just protecting her as the monstrous axe slammed into her, sending her to the mud soaked ground that ate greedily away at her dress and skin. Shaking her head, she felt a terrible pain as the creature lunged forward with its claws, ripping into her soft flesh, her insides pouring out on to the ground in a shower of wispy magical flame. As she fell back and again landed on the acid ground she remembered her master, and how he died to save her life. How she ran from the creature and held with her his gift. Opening her eyes to the sky all she could see was the shape of the monster as it raised its great axe to the sky about to deliver its final blow. Silently she prayed and again memories of the past filled her mind. But then she remembered! As if a lighting bolt from above had suddenly struck her she instinctively reached for the sword that she had beside her, tucked away with ancient sigils and ancient flowing magical text. With not an unselfish thought in her body she pulled the moon sword from its magical sheath and raised it to the sky. Pushing it forward into the belly of the beast as it came crashing down upon her. Suddenly the night sky lit up once again as a tremendous bolt of light came from the heavens splitting the terrible cancer of the tempest in two and streaks of unnatural lightning came cascading down towards the moon blade that now lay deep within the demons chest, the axe mere inches from the wielder of the blade. With a great clap of thunder the light and energy entered into the body of the demon and erupted from within as it touched the blade. Cracks of light formed upon the surface of the skin of the demon and it roared in unholy pain as it was sundered from this world its mortal shell sent flying to a different plane of existence. Lying there on top of the blasted ground, Ahrmesoul felt the warm sensation of light as the morning rays poured through the dissipating storm turning the black ichor of pain in to clear, pure water, which was reclaimed by the land and began the healing process of the forest. With a huge smile and laughs of joy Ahrmesoul cried hot wet tears that came rolling down her face as the sword she still held aloft in her hand glowed with a celestial light. Still she remembered her mentor and master and his smile as the world around her slowly melted away into darkness. * * * Amra painfully opened her eyes. Beyond the veil of her sight, flames of pain and despair enveloped what shapes and sounds that she could find. Stumbling to the ground as she forced her way forward, her head racked with pain she could all to well remember during the last few moments of her existence. She knew that she screwed up. Whatever she had done was way to painful and regrettable to forget the punishment, as failure has its price and is often not forgiving in anyway imaginable. Yet the brief moments of reality that Amra could place were nothing short of unimaginable as she remembered being flung from the heavens, the light and grace of the sky above the clouds nothing short that words that could not be possibly spoken from any being from earth. Yet, that moment had been ripped into a million pieces as the cruel death embrace of gravity hugged her ever so gently at first, then pulled her in so fast that the pain of the unholy fire that had erupted around her slender frame was beyond words. As she fell she could feel the flames rip into her very essence and through her body as the rush of air simply fed the flames that now was part of Amra herself. Hot boils of pain erupted and melted away with her skin as her flesh and blood that rushed out of her ignited upon her body, searing her flesh like a piece of meat over an open flame. Yet the flames were not real, they instead were a manifestation of the unhappiness and anger of her failure to deliver her goods to the right person. As she sped closer and closer towards the ground bellow the flames began to subside. Her last moments were clearly remembering the ground below, the howling raging wind as it whipped past her, the smell of her flesh as it cooked away, her screams of pain that echoed into every cell of her being, the unrelenting pin prick of pain before a hot sensation that melted every single nerve on her body away. Then nothing. More than nothing, absolutely nothing as she crashed to the ground, the sand and dirt charring instantly into a crater several hundred feet in diameter. No pain, no sound. Nothing, even her thoughts were black and dark and all she knew was that someplace somewhere she had slipped into a darkness that knew no boundaries. Yet that seemed like ages ago. Or seconds ago, she wasn’t sure which, for not even memory could guide her now. All she knew that this pain was now, yet she could not feel. She could not think. All was black. so wadda guys think? good? Comments? questions>>???
Trydan 04-05-04, 10:16 AM	:twitch: Phew... that was quite a long read (but well worth it!). I'd almost suggest you try and break it up into, say, 2-3 sections (not just a couple of posts). Consider starting new sections when there are time jumps. Simply an extra blank line between such sections would help. Or perhaps you could use a few asterisks... like this: * * * The time aspect was probably the most difficult to grasp. I realise that some things pass quite quickly - and it is rapid action, whereas other parts are trying to convey the passing of years. I think this could be made stronger. However, that said, I think that it was very well written (although do pass it through a spell-checker!). I think the balance between the character feelings, the character description and the character action was just right. I also thought the use of very long or very short sentences was a very effective device in conveying the not only the pace, but also in conveying the level of confusion or level of fragmentation, when events seem to overwhelm the character. I really like the way it ends. :) So, all in all, a very nice piece of work. Well written, madoule! :cool:
madoule 04-05-04, 09:18 PM	Thanks for the input. Though Id admit that the next chapter (that being the first in this liitle mini novelet im doing) will be tougher to handel, seeing that it starts off ten years later, and then does short jaunts and then a big jaunt into the future, so thats my biggest obsitcale right now is to get the right mindset of what/how a person would feel as time just flows past them, and they are ageless... So basically im looking for some insite on either some books that I can read or a good device that will help me with the hard time transfers...
D.K.R. 04-06-04, 02:46 AM	Well, I for one am not willing to press through the bad spelling and lack of formatting to read past the first paragraph. I understand many people here don't have English as their primary language, but with spell checkers in abundance, and the ease of capitalizing the first word in a sentence, throwing a period on the end, and hitting the return key between paragraphs, I am not forgiving on those basics of formatting. It would be nice to see proper grammar too, as well as some actual 'formatting' but the above couple of items would be enough for me to read such a post.