Isador returns to the room with the wooden sword and speaks, "Grant me this blessing, elements of the realms." Without touching the sword he finds himself on a dirt path, dew hanging in the air, large redwood trees surrounding him. Ahead of him was a fountain with a green whispy substance floating out of it.
With mild humility you come seeking me,
With a battle cry you could've moved boulders -
With a whisper in the night, riches beyond riches-
But I, humble of the humble, bestow upon you my greatest gifts.
It is this that you have chosen, and that alone which you will receive.Isador snapped back to the altar room - the sword that had once been there now a piece of drift wood. He has gained the ability to heal others exceptionally, and immunity to most poisons and diseases. His victory was short lived, however. Once he had found his bearings again he realized the earth around him was shaking. At first he attributed to the shrine, but he realized it was unrelated altogether when he appeared in a large open field, with what appeared to be the rest of humanity, including mortals he had never seen before, but also a multitude of faeries, nymphs, demons, great winged creatures, and creatures of the sea. Even the gods themselves appeared to be confused as to how they got there.
Isador looked around, and realized that many of the people he saw did not look like anything he had seen, and were speaking different languages. He quickly picked out the royal families, the Tryvali court eying the exiled court of Kriste suspiciously. No one seemed to know what was going on or where they were.
Nearby, Serena found herself standing beside two males much like her, with similar ears and tails. One was buff and tanned deeply by the sun, with war paint on his face and chest. The other was much softer in appearance, a bit boyish with pure complexion and striking eyes. "Serena!" the beautiful one cried, grasping her hand in both of his, "We have been looking for you - we called you in the other realms, and you did not come," he said, a hurt look in his eyes.
"Alaire, what do you mean?" Serena asked him.
But Alaire did not have a chance to respond, as the large one responded for him, "We were being blocked."
"Kardos, if you keep speaking in riddles..." Alaire whined, but Kardos ignored him, his gaze shooting straight in front of him.
"I think we may have figured out who is to blame," Kardos said, pointing to the middle of the mayhem. The mortals had begun yelling at each other, some petty fights were breaking out. The gods seemed to be off to the side, trying to figure out what was going on. Standing in the middle was a figure, several heads taller than a man and much broader shouldered and formidable. He was a strange black color - not like the shadow demons, but looked as if he were made of charcoal. He was surrounded by black, oily creatures - the same as the monsters that had been attacking Kriste.
"Who is that, Kardos?" Alaire asked, standing on his tip toes to get a better look. But Kardos did not respond, just flexed his muscles impulsively.
"Your attention please," The charcoal figure boomed, somehow silencing the entirety of humanity. He chuckled. "I have brought you here for you to witness...me." He paced around regally. "I am sure you do not know who I am, and I assure you those of you who think you know me have been poorly taught." He inspected the humans as he went past them, leering at them sporadically. "The Tryvali Kingdom thought that they could harness me - they thought that they could use me to show them the ways of magic older than mortal life," his teeth flashed menacingly as he passed Serena, Alaire and Kardos, "or even that of the faeries. Tell me, you might tribunal - the ones left to govern the fallen faeries, the pathetic little things that they are now...how does it feel to look on me and know that you lost? That the sacrifices you once made...were for nothing?
"I am not one for speeches, but I must explain myself if you do not mind," he said clearing his throat again. "Mortals have hunted the magic of this world, the elements that be, or the high powers bestowed on them by these...
gods" he said with clear distaste, "but they never found what they were looking for. They got greedy. Even the faeries in the days they ruled, and the demons. You see, these were our play things, my sister and I, we created them," he said, pointing back at Kardos, Alaire and Serena, "we created
you. And how did the oldest of you respond? You imprisoned us. You feared the unknown, the unpredictable. You were afraid I would show up again, destroy the world you made so beautiful. But did it work? No. You trapped us while we slept, you split our power when we weren't looking," he was now addressing all of humanity, "you left us with nothing but the shallow grave you dug. And then, it hit me," he said, pulling a burnt and bent piece of metal out, throwing it before Dan, Marty and Doc. They cried out in shock, Doc picking it up and staring at it. "You could say it was a wake up call.
"The Tryvali, seeking the powers of old, knowing that true power was higher than that of the mere elements or of those bestowed by these so called gods...they found me. A legion of agents found me and communed with me. We made a deal. I would help them achieve power beyond their wildest dreams, and they would free me when they were complete with their knowledge. They studied my ways, they found how to combine the elemental and high powers," he said, leaning down to pet one of the monsters that had roamed Kriste, "But things didn't go as planned, did they?" He waved his hand and a number of people flew up above him, hovering against their will. Among them was Isador and Tiev, along with three others. "These brave beings vanquished the Tryvali agents that renewed my prison, perhaps for their own will, perhaps for mine. And as they feel, their bond grew weaker. But there was still one more left to vanquish that these foolish beings would never have killed, let alone found," with a wave of his hand he dropped the suspended people like they were nothing, a crumpling noise emitting as they fell to the earth, struggling to stand back up. He did not give them a second look as he walked towards a breathtakingly beautiful woman. "But my champion, my most faithful servant sought him out and killed him like the scum he was," he bowed lowly at the woman, "isn't that right, my dear Psamathe?"
"I am not your champion!" She barked madly, "You tricked me - you told me -"
"You silly child, you really think I would go back on my promises to you? Stay with me, I will show you where your lover lies shackled." He turned to the fallen men and pointing at Tiev says, "if you come with me, I will make you more powerful than you could've dreamed," he finally turned to Isador, "and I can show you the secrets of the elements...although the power I possess is far stronger than that of which you seek."
"Not all of us seek power or lust after false promises," Kardos called out. A multitude of people yelled their agreement.
"Oh yes yes of course," the man said nonchalantly, "I nearly forgot. What fun is a game without the stakes?" He turned to Kardos, clapped his hands together, and with a great rush of wind knocked him back several hundred feet. Alaire ran to his side immediately. "Listen to me, I will say this only once," he cried out to the crowd again. "You will stay here for the next three days and debate amongst yourselves where your loyalties lie. If you choose to stay with me I will accept you with open arms into my empire. If you choose to stand against me I will send you back from where you came from, and I will pick you off one by one until every mortal, god, and creature against me lies dead. You have your choices. I will take my leave of you."
The charcoal figure walked off into the corner of the clearing. Some humans and creatures following him immediately, among them Tiev. The gods were the first to leave, Darte and her followers in an uproar over Psamathe's interference. Behind Darte hid Aleiya, still looking weak, but much stronger than she had the last time anyone in the party had seen her. With the gods' disappearance some of the more reclusive creatures left to discuss the matter on their own land. The humans and faeries remained, Kardos now sitting upright, fuming.
"We
will stand against him," Kardos said bitterly, "and we
will win. I see now who he is - he is the Father of Chaos, and his sister, the Mother of Terror. They were sealed for good reason, we must find a way to reseal them."
"The mortal realm is in turmoil," Alaire said to him, rubbing his arm carefully, "everyday war threatens - and with both the Tryvali and the Kriste kingdoms losing their leader..."
"We can only hope the mortal realm chooses to side with us," Kardos said, the doubt of this happening clear in his voice. "The longer they fight each other, the more time it gives the Father of Chaos to strike at us. We must figure out who is on our side, and quickly, before we discuss further strategy."
-----
EDIT...
DM Note

Guys I'm going on vacation through Sunday evening, so don't expect a response before then. :3 play nice with each other and the plot.
Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Jun 28 2012, 6:28 am by Fire_Kame.