Post by Minalan on Feb 6, 2013 22:16:13 GMT -5
I sat on a small circular stone platform, leaning with my back against a broken fluted column of undeterminable age. The yawning nothingness of the ethereal void surrounded me in every direction, pressing in close, and suffocating me with a thick black cloak of non-existence. I shivered as I continued to read the translated text from my recently obtained scrolls from Ter Mur.
On the Void, By Prugyilonus
No one alive can remember when the tendrils of darkness first turned their grasp on the beauty of Ter Mur. For as long as our history exists, we have been locked in battle with the Void.
Looming over us like impending death, the darkness seeks to swallow our kingdom and take us into the dark. Do not stare into the darkness, for it will swallow you. Do not fool yourself that you can challenge it, it shall defeat you.
Prugyilonus, High Scholar of the Athenaeum
The ancient gargoyle scholars and mystics knew exactly what the scholar Nico had recently confirmed. There is an intelligence of some kind here, an order of some kind. I closed my eyes and relaxed, reaching my meditative center and feeling outwards tentatively with my consciousness. I could feel the power of the void thrumming all around me, the magics of chaos, life, and creation. At the edge of it all, I could sense a consciousness, a will, and a faint outline to it all.
“How does it feel, standing in the middle of all of this power, knowing that you cannot touch it? It is far too fluid, chaotic, and unpredictable.”
I looked up to see a wrinkled and bearded face, framed by the brim of a large mousy brown wizard’s hat. My old teacher Zhimosom had found me at last. He smiled slightly at me in greeting.
I narrowed my eyes, the last thing I expected here was a confrontation. “I will discover a way, my old master. Just because the halfwits at the Lyceum don’t have a brain amongst them doesn’t mean…”
The old man interrupted me, “Minalan, I’ve been here before. You know, you’ve been lucky so far. Though they are relatively few in number, the denizens of this plane dislike intruders. Have you seen what happens to trespassers, or rather what little of them is left behind?”
I shuddered involuntarily at the memory of my first encounter with an ethereal void daemon, and the old man smiled as he continued, “Well, it appears that you have that at least.” Zhimosom sighed before he continued, “I know why you are here Min.”
I practically spat my answer, I had no time to be lectured. “You know nothing. Nothing, my old friend.”
“In fact, I had the pleasure of speaking with the lovely young Aingeal last week.” I shut my mouth tight, completely tongue-tied. He knew the truth.
“She is quite beautiful Minalan. It’s clear that she loves you deeply, and that you return that affection. However I could not help notice that she is marked”. My face fell at his words, but he continued mercilessly. “She can never truly belong to you, not in the way you want. The witch belongs to the fey powers, in body and in spirit. The tattoos are very clear.”
I felt a knot of despair rising in my chest, constricting my breathing, “I won’t give up on her. Not for anything.”
“You have always been the wayward son I never had Minalan. I beg you to take my advice, just this once. First, you should get over this young lady, as there will be others seeing that you are still a young man. Second, I dare say that you won’t find solutions to any of your problems here. You should abandon this research of yours at once, and come back with me to see the judicator.”
I replied with a low voice, barely raised above a whisper, “No my master. I intend to marry her, and nothing will stop me from doing so. We are going to elope soon, and we will belong to one another. To the abyss with the fey spirits.”
The ancient wizard let out a deep sigh, “The council is assembling hunters as we speak. You know they’ll come for you my boy, and I won’t be able to stop them.”
I sneered at the thought of the Lyceum, as I thought there was no wizard there I couldn’t handle. I looked up at my old master to reply, only to find that he was gone. I considered his sage advice, and against all better judgment, I decided to follow my heart.
On the Void, By Prugyilonus
No one alive can remember when the tendrils of darkness first turned their grasp on the beauty of Ter Mur. For as long as our history exists, we have been locked in battle with the Void.
Looming over us like impending death, the darkness seeks to swallow our kingdom and take us into the dark. Do not stare into the darkness, for it will swallow you. Do not fool yourself that you can challenge it, it shall defeat you.
Prugyilonus, High Scholar of the Athenaeum
The ancient gargoyle scholars and mystics knew exactly what the scholar Nico had recently confirmed. There is an intelligence of some kind here, an order of some kind. I closed my eyes and relaxed, reaching my meditative center and feeling outwards tentatively with my consciousness. I could feel the power of the void thrumming all around me, the magics of chaos, life, and creation. At the edge of it all, I could sense a consciousness, a will, and a faint outline to it all.
“How does it feel, standing in the middle of all of this power, knowing that you cannot touch it? It is far too fluid, chaotic, and unpredictable.”
I looked up to see a wrinkled and bearded face, framed by the brim of a large mousy brown wizard’s hat. My old teacher Zhimosom had found me at last. He smiled slightly at me in greeting.
I narrowed my eyes, the last thing I expected here was a confrontation. “I will discover a way, my old master. Just because the halfwits at the Lyceum don’t have a brain amongst them doesn’t mean…”
The old man interrupted me, “Minalan, I’ve been here before. You know, you’ve been lucky so far. Though they are relatively few in number, the denizens of this plane dislike intruders. Have you seen what happens to trespassers, or rather what little of them is left behind?”
I shuddered involuntarily at the memory of my first encounter with an ethereal void daemon, and the old man smiled as he continued, “Well, it appears that you have that at least.” Zhimosom sighed before he continued, “I know why you are here Min.”
I practically spat my answer, I had no time to be lectured. “You know nothing. Nothing, my old friend.”
“In fact, I had the pleasure of speaking with the lovely young Aingeal last week.” I shut my mouth tight, completely tongue-tied. He knew the truth.
“She is quite beautiful Minalan. It’s clear that she loves you deeply, and that you return that affection. However I could not help notice that she is marked”. My face fell at his words, but he continued mercilessly. “She can never truly belong to you, not in the way you want. The witch belongs to the fey powers, in body and in spirit. The tattoos are very clear.”
I felt a knot of despair rising in my chest, constricting my breathing, “I won’t give up on her. Not for anything.”
“You have always been the wayward son I never had Minalan. I beg you to take my advice, just this once. First, you should get over this young lady, as there will be others seeing that you are still a young man. Second, I dare say that you won’t find solutions to any of your problems here. You should abandon this research of yours at once, and come back with me to see the judicator.”
I replied with a low voice, barely raised above a whisper, “No my master. I intend to marry her, and nothing will stop me from doing so. We are going to elope soon, and we will belong to one another. To the abyss with the fey spirits.”
The ancient wizard let out a deep sigh, “The council is assembling hunters as we speak. You know they’ll come for you my boy, and I won’t be able to stop them.”
I sneered at the thought of the Lyceum, as I thought there was no wizard there I couldn’t handle. I looked up at my old master to reply, only to find that he was gone. I considered his sage advice, and against all better judgment, I decided to follow my heart.