Kevin's Watch

The first time you use Ferax's Tower, you detect no sign of Nephirthos or those close to him. But by the time you use it a second time, after O-gon-cho's return...fear strikes even your stout heart. EVERYWHERE in Eiran, entities of white-hot darkness from an unknown place streak like comets across the tortured sky and slay THOUSANDS with single blows, easily standing against Prophets; O-gon-cho, scorched and wounded, lies in the middle of a barren wasteland which stands in the middle of Immeril's desert, and no sign of Chastus is detected; as for Nephirthos himself... you barely have a chance to see him as he towers over the whimpering O-gon-cho, gloating before disappearing in a flash of bright darkness so strong even your eye cannot withstand it, but his last words echo in your mind: "I HAVE GROWN STRONG... BUT I WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ABLE TO RETURN. YOU HAVE BROUGHT BACK TERROR IN THIS WORLD, GODLING... DESPAIR, WHILE YOU STILL LIVE!"

Stonemaybe wrote:Hail Brethren!

The God of Water is busy at the moment trying to save the inhabitants of the world of Glos, stricken by the irony of flooding and yet no fresh water.

One thing I have learnt in the last few days - celebrate the successes and don't dwell on the problems:-

Undine has a son! Oh, and kind of a new race....

I will return from Glos on Friday, and we will make plans to retrieve The Goddess of Light, who I have a feeling will be instrumental in fighting these beings of white-hot darkness and their lord.

Undine

As Jameak and Lirania, standing on the battlements of Linver's keep, oversee the return of the first ships of soldiers from Nor Pupae, under a steel-gray sky and a light rain, they suddenly hear cries of surprise from the city. Men and women alike are looking upwards, and when the Prophets do so, they see a pinpoint of white-hot darkness streaking through the sky like a lurid comet - and heading straight for Linver. Hurriedly, they order an evacuation, and request the guards to ensure an orderly one at that, but it is too late: the comet crashes into Linver with strength enough to cause an earthquake, exploding in a ball of cold fire that kills many. The terrified cries of the people of Linver echo over the chaos, and Jameak and Lirania hurry outside of the keep to offer succor, only to witness a horror. A humanoid that seems to be made of white-hot darkness, with green slits where a human's eyes would be, emerges from the crater left by the streaking comet and, upon seeing your Prophets, laughs a crackling laughter that causes many to cower in fear.
"What is this? Little soldiers, come to fight like obedient slaves? Your godling is a pathetic imitation of a pathetic weakling, little ones... flee, unless you hunger for death!"
Jameak and Lirania look at each other's eyes; no words are wasted. Deep in their hearts, they know this to be a time of crisis, and they stand firm and resolute. "It is you who shall flee, nether-fiend!", Jameak shouts, "Lest our blades partake of your unholy fire!"
"Your place is back in the hells you came from!" Echoes Lirania. "Go back, unless you hunger for oblivion!"
The creature laughs again. "Such arrogance... from CHILDREN!" Without warning, the entity lunges forward, as a wave of power, but Jameak and Lirania skillfully dodge its attack and attack it in turn with gleaming blades and stout hearts. "You face no mere recruit, fiend!" Jameak shouts. "I am Jameak of Adomorn, first of his Prophets - you will find that I am accustomed to wielding such measure of power!" Lirania doesn't speak, but her mind is clear and sharp as steel; she knows Jameak to speak the truth, for he is one of the original Prophets, one of those who witnessed the coming of the gods, and his power is greater than that of other, later Prophets such as herself. Still, it takes all of their skill to avoid the creature's power, buying time for the people of Linver to evacuate; suddenly, the creature bellows, "Enough of these games! I shall bring about my Master's vengeance!" Its arms extend, turning into white-hot blades, and the battle reaches new heights of violence as the three titans clash amidst Linver's wreckage. Jameak and Lirania hold their own, though their own blades are severely damaged by the entity's fire: their hearts are strong. But suddenly, the sound of booted footsteps echoes across now-deserted Linver: the soldiers who returned from Nor Pupae march through Linver to bring reinforcements to the Prophets! The army appears among the streets of Linver, between broken cobblestones and crumbled buildings; one of the generals sees the Prophets weary and, raising his blade, shouts: "Step back, Prophets of Adomorn... let us deal with this villain, unworthy of your blades!" He calls to him several soldiers and charges the entity!
"No! Step back!" Lirania shouts, but it is too late; the soldiers charge, shouting "For Adomorn!", but the being laughs. "Prophets may daunt me for a while, but never common rabble!" And with a gesture of its dark-gleaming blade, a wave of white-hot flames erupts around it, flinging Jameak and Lirania back and incinerating the general and the soldiers.
Jameak recovers just in time to see the creature walk over to a stunned Lirania - she, a later Prophet, is not as strong as he is! - and in a moment that will remain etched in his mind forever, the entity casually thrusts its white-hot darkness into Lirania's frail body.
The Prophetess screams in excruciating pain, and Jameak suddenly sees red. Righteous wrath fills him to the brim; he can only hear Lirania's agonized scream, only feel her pain, only see her impaled on the creature's arm. He grasps his blade with both hands and, a terrible expression on his face, charges the entity with burning ardor, focusing all the power of the Prophet into the blade, and thrusting it deep into the entity's chest, where a human would have a heart.
The entity screams in pain and writhes as the blade passes through it, and Jameak pushes the weapon further in. The entity's scream of pain levels whole building, but Jameak holds fast; as soon as the entity pulls its arm from Lirania's body, Jameak kicks the sword away, forcing the entity to go with it, and picks up Lirania delicately. He has no time to lose: he doesn't know whether he killed the entity or not, but Lirania might live or die depending on his swiftness: he quickly runs away from the entity, and lays her down away from crumbling buildings and shattered cobblestones. Then, his anger fades and is replaced by anguish as he sees the gaping wound caused by the entity in Lirania's body; despite the pain, she is still conscious, and her eyes flutter open when Jameak leans towards her, calling her name with tears in his eyes. "Don't die on me, Lirania... don't leave me!" He calls, and she looks at him with glistening, sad, loving eyes.
"Jameak... I'm sorry..." She says, weakly caressing his cheek with her hand. "You were always the strongest of us..." She coughs. "Do me a favor?" She manages to say when she stops coughing.
"Anything, Lir... anything!" Jameak is weeping openly now, holding her hand but unable to stop her from leaving where he cannot follow her. She smiles weakly at him and, when he leans towards her to hear her words, she kisses him lightly, using all her strength. "Live for me, Jameak... help our people... and our lord." She coughs again, then, faintly: "I love you..." And with her last breath, she is gone. But as she leaves, Jameak suddenly feels a surge of energy, warm and soft, flowing from Lirania's body into his own, filling it, strengthening him. With her last breath, she has given him a gift - the power of Prophethood Adomorn bestowed upon her.
The justicar's wrath takes Jameak again as he looks at the now-lifeless body of his beloved, slain by an entity which does not belong in Eiran; slowly, he rises, and he looks coldly at the entity, still writhing in pain as the divinely infused sword is stuck in its chest. As the green slits of flame look at him, clouded by pain, they do not see a man standing by a woman's body: they see Jameak, Prophet of Adomorn, come into his power and his glory. Lirania fights with him, within him: he feels her energy within his heart. He has her divine power in addition to his rightful own now: more than enough to annihilate the screeching entity. He takes one step, and then another; the entity pitifully tries to slither away, but Jameak is inexorable as death as he approaches. Seeing doom in the warrior's eyes, the entity stretches a still-bloodied claw towards the sky. "Master!" It cries. "Your servant has failed... Send the Cleansing Rain!" Before he can say anything else, Jameak is on him, and grasping the hilt of his sword, he calls all his power to himself and, with a heave, slashes the entity into two. The white-hot darkness fades in rivulets, as the entity's screech echoes across the streets of half-deserted Linver; but then, Jameak looks upwards, and sees pinpoints of white-hot darkness streaking from the sky towards the city of Linver...
When the comets strike, Linver - ancient Linver - is razed to the ground, and all that is left of it is a smoking ruin, not even a stone left standing to remember the vanguards of Adomorn's army who died there, or the citizens who perished in it. On an hill not far from where Linver once stood, Jameak stands, his face grim and sorrowful, holding Lirania's body in his arms, his sword on his side. As he sees the devastation, he delicately lays Lirania's body down, unsheathes his sword and points it at the storm clouds. "You have taken the life of one that is more precious to me than anything else", he speaks grimly towards whatever being sent the white-hot entity. "I swear to you, justice will be done. You have taken us by surprise, but no longer. No longer! HEAR ME! I am Jameak, Prophet of Adomorn - and I will see you BEGONE!"
Thus ends Linver, city of the First Age.

The Allfather wrote:You invest Allyria with Prophethood; upon hearing your request, she travels to Wiri's old house and faces the reanimated corpse of the Prophet even as he cuts down a Forestal; horrified at the sight, Allyria casts a protective spell around the fallen Forestal, and tries to slow the advance of the corpse. Helped by the other Forestals, she then tries to perceive the divine power within the corpse - when suddenly a comet streaking white-hot darkness pierces Shakari's and Landir's shields and lands in a titanic explosion just a few meters away from Wiri's old house. Two Forestals are caught in the blast and slain on the spot, while the others only barely manage to hide behind Allyria's hastily constructed shield. Rakastaa quickly appears, heralding the presence of malice, and it soon becomes apparent: a being of white-hot darkness, of burning cold and freezing fire, emerges from the barren crater it created in Shakari. It is beyond anything you or your people have ever seen; though humanoid and of the same size as a human, it emanates a strange and dreadful power. Rakastaa wraps itself around it, enveloping it, but even it cries in pain, flung away and temporarily torn apart by the otherworldly heat. Even Allyria and the other Forestals back off, feeling wave upon wave of power emanating from the creature.

"I have come to bring about the vengeance of the World Breaker!" the being says loudly, even as the Gotcha Vines attempt to wrap around it and burn into crisps. Fiery green slits open where a human's eyes should be. "Prophet of the Whining One, watch and learn that it is hopeless to resist the power of the World Breaker!" With these words, the entity sinks its arms inside the earth of Shakari, and power courses through them in waves of searing darkness, flooding the ground and poisoning the earth. The land of Shakari shudders, and the soil turns into barren ash in a growing circle around the entity; Allyria and the surviving Forestals pool together their power, desperately, and their shield resists the alien intrusion, but the land they stand on is the only part that remains unspoiled even as the circle of ashes grows. Whenever a plant is touched by the power, it withers, shrivels, and crumbles into ash; wider and wider it grows, until it encompasses even Wiri's house. The corpse of Wiri stands, dumbfounded, until perhaps a spark of memory kindles inside it and it shambles towards the white-hot entity; the entity looks up as the corpse approaches, but has no time to act before Wiri's body attempts to grab it. Allyria, expecting to see Wiri's body exploding in flames, is amazed and horrified to see instead that the white-hot entity flows INTO the corpse, and that Wiri's body suddenly stands still as if terrible shocks were flowing through it. After terrible moments, the corpse sags, but then it turns its head towards Allyria, and its eyes glow green, while white-hot flames of black burst from its skin, giving it the appearance of a corpse limned in radiant darkness. It grins horribly and walks up to Wiri's house, or to what is left of it; then, it sinks its hands into the ground, going straight for the Herzwald. Allyria, sensing the danger, shouts to attempt to distract it, and she and the Forestals launch their power at the entity; it hesitates, struck by their might, then grits its teeth and grabs the Herzwald, which burns brightly, but seems not to be enough to affect the creature. It begins to lift it up...

When suddenly a maw of stone closes around the Herzwald, cutting off the corpse's hands neatly at the wrist. The earth-ash trembles and a black yekith emerges from the ground, quickly followed by four more! Before the corpse-entity can react, the first yekith turns towards Allyria and speaks:

"Hurry! My Mistress protects the Herzwald - now to deal with this loathsome entity!" Trusting in Allyria's prowess, the yekiths speak runic words and direct their combined power towards the Entity, which is caught by surprise; Allyria, exploiting the chance, joins her power with that of the Forestals and also strikes at the entity. Barraged by so much magical might, the entity initially endures the onslaught, but is quickly brought to its knees: Wiri's corpse flares brighter, until only a charred skeleton surrounded by white-hot flames is visible; then the skeleton crumbles, and the entity is in its natural form again, but the attack continues, and with a desperate scream, "Master! Avenge me!", the entity finally explodes, throwing Allyria, the Forestals and the yekiths on the ground, singing their hair, blasting the ashes and dissipating with a terrible scream.

Slowly, the stunned combatants begin to recover, and eventually Allyria and the Forestals face the yekiths. The first one speaks, forestalling her questions:

"I am Klashirthh, Prophet of the Mother of Yekiths. She has long known about your Herzwald and the power it contains, and has long kept an eye on it since it was buried in her domain. My companions and I guarded it at all times, ensuring none would try to conquer its power; when the Herzwald was threatened, the power my Mistress had placed in the earth sealed the item away, and we were summoned. Now that the danger is ended, you may recover the Herzwald from the stone that surrounds it." In saying so, the yekith waves towards the stone boulder, which crumbles to reveal the shining Herzwald inside.

"Muster your strength, Prophet of Bhakti, and prepare yourself. This is not the end of it - it is barely the beginning." And in the sky, pinpoints of white-hot darkness slowly appear...

And in the sky, pinpoints of white-hot darkness slowly appear...

White-hot comets streak across the purple sky of Nor Pupae, slamming into Nor Leviathan and killing countless people, including many of Adomorn's army. But they are unprepared for the response - your army, far from losing heart, looks upon the white-hot darkness that congeals in several creatures with just wrath; they have heard their lord's command, and will not let such horror live. They gather together - not all the armies, of course, but only those soldiers who are close enough - but admit they are too few to execute their plan.

It is then that Thinsilwil shows himself. "I am Thinsilwil, Prophet of Melirelle!" He exclaims. "Against these foes, you shall not fight alone." then a strange horn sounds, and the ground shakes... Thinsilwil took over command of a battalion of Nor Pupae which had gathered in retaliation for Adomorn's attacks, displacing their unaligned generals, and now leads not ordinary humans, but Houka, Hrutka, Entka, Nhruuk, yekiths and elakiths against the white-hot foes! The Prophet stands with his army, and your soldiers, who until then fought against the abominations of Nor Pupae, join forces with them to destroy the entities!

The battle is long and bloody, with casualties on both sides, but eventually sheer numbers, determination and the surprise of the attack win the day, and the entities are chased away or destroyed! Thinsilwil is wounded, but endures; he looks upon the general of your army, Nirak, and nods to him. "You have fought bravely", he tells him, "let it be known that we honor your sacrifice - we would not have succeeded without you."

"What are these treacherous villains?" Asks the general. "They disappeared like smoke in the wind, taking with them the lives of hundreds of soldiers!"
"I do not know", Thinsilwil replies, "but I fear others will feel their sting. Even my power was barely enough to slay one such creature; without our armies, I would have been crushed. Return to Adomorn, tell him what has transpired here; let it be known that despite the actions of your people, we shall not forget you fought for our land. As for you, General Nirak..." Thinsilwil nods in acknowledgement. "I feel we shall meet again on the battlefield - though I hope it will be as allies." With that, Thinsilwil leaves to gather the army of Nor Pupae, while Nirak takes to the sea to return to Linver, unaware of the city's destiny...

Norn wrote: Adomorn and Argothoth, you have my condolences. Sister Jove, I know the pain of losing not one but two prophets and thus my thoughts are with you in your time of sorrow.

Norn wrote:A barrier against further incursions by the white-hot entities would certainly give us the opportunity to deal with those currently operating throught Eiran. However, it would have to be exceptionally powerful I believe - the handful of beings that rained destruction upon Kavoc breached all my defences, of which I have a number, rendering them utterly useless in the vicinity of what used to be a prosperous city.

Lord Adomorn wrote:...these were but scouts and heralds.

Bhakti wrote:... Nephirthos has hit us with more Power than I can calculate. Rakastaa has somewhat considerable strength.

Bhakti wrote:Allyria was a mage before Norn helped enhance her, and then I raised her to prophethood. My Forestals have been enhanced when I have had Power to spare. And one of Nephirthos' creatures would have taken them all out if not for the aid of the Yekiths. And that one creature was only one of many that came to us at once.

Is there any hope of learning more??

Bhakti wrote:NEPHIRTHOS!!! DO YOU HEAR US?? WILL YOU SPEAK WITH US, IF ONLY TO TELL US OF OUR IMPENDING DESTRUCTION??