Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Karnewarrior]

Silent as a whisper, Mania appeared behind Luna, in the guise of a man shrouded in robes as black as night.
"WHAZZUP!" the robed man shouted loudly, and ducked the blade as Luna spun round.

[forsaken1111]

Deep in the bowels of Palad'in's planet, a malign intellect projects its presence out into the void.

Within the heart of the dead god Elan, the Fallen Guardians writhe in pain. A mind intrudes on their private misery. They lash out in anguish ineffectually, unable to harm the godly visage.

Fallen beings, discarded

We feel your hatred

We know your loss

The child-gods have used you

And cast you aside

Like playthings / trash / toys

Serve Us and We will grant you freedom

Astra'ath grants the Fallen Guardians within the star Elan a very brief reprieve from their suffering and curse, only long enough to show their devotion by carving Its sign into their flesh.

[Digital Hellhound]

There was peace, at last. Their minds were strained from the constant torture, but some of them understood what was being offered to them.
One of them, an angelic-looking man of stone, spoke first. It called itself Moridin, a name it had taken on Natus.
The others listened.
There was no hesitation when they made their decision. Every single one of the Fallen acted as one, carving the sign of Astra'ath into their foreheads with whatever weapons they had. Even though there was pain, it did not matter. They were used to pain.

It was time they got to deal some pain of their own.

Moridin turned back to the alien god. 'We have done as you asked. Will you release us?'

[forsaken1111]

Welcome to Our Brood

Broken Guardians

Rise and take your place

Among Us

Serve us well

And be rewarded

Astra'ath imposes Its mighty will, shattering the curse which keeps the Fallen Guardians prisoner in eternal torment. It returns the guardians to full health and form as they rise up and out of the star.

You are Fallen Guardians no longer

Become instead our loyal Vanguard

Our arm within the cosmos

We charge you with spreading Our Word / Our Name

Bring other mortals into the Faith
---

Moridin no longer

You are Sothurn, the Righteous Fervor

At this pronouncement, Astra'ath fills Sothurn's mind with knowledge of Its Songs and Chants. Sothurn's mind is slightly unhinged, but his body burns with power. He feels a righteous fury at all unbelievers, but most of all his former master's creations. Into his mind pours all of Astra'ath's accumulated knowledge on warfare and combat.

Astra'ath frees the Fallen Guardians, making them Its Vanguard. It grants one of them knowledge of Its religion, to spread forth into the cosmos.

[Digital Hellhound]

Moridin was dead.

Sothurn had risen from the ashes. He felt... pure. Reborn. His mind was now full of knowledge; words of power, ancient prayers, forbidden knowledge.
Things were no longer what they had seemed. All those moments spent not knowing of the true glory of Astra'ath, or worse; in his old master's service.
Most creatures of the world were just ignorant, and could yet be brought into Astra'ath's service, but there were beings that dared to stand against It.
The fragile creatures of Aether, the denizens of Incendium, though another of the Great One's servants was already there, among many others.
But what enraged Sothurn most, were the creations of Coradin. His old master had not seemed to be bothered by their rebellion in the slightest, indeed, he had just continued creating.
The Refuge was protected too well, but whatever lived on the dead ships were vulnerable. They would get their vengeance.
There were just under two hundred in the Vanguard. Probably less of them than warriors of the ship-dwellers, but with the power of Astra'ath on their size, they could not fail.
He would lead the attack into the Armada and leave nothing alive. All of the ship-dwellers would die, and be forgotten, just like what his old master had done with them.
Sothurn turned to the Vanguard marching out of Elan behind him, preparing to give the orders, but something made him stop.

This was not what the Great One wanted. It had spoken of spreading It's glory, but this would not do so.
But still, converting the ship-dwellers would be another type of attack, a much more powerful one.
Yes, he could have his revenge and accomplish Astra'ath's mission at the same time... Sothurn savoured the thought. But first, he needed something else. Something which they had been forced to leave behind, something they had found on Natus...

The Vanguard marches into the Armada, seeking to convert the Morai to serve under Astra'ath. A smaller force also leaves for the Palace...

[Acanthus117]

Phaedron stares at the hands that held its own. It slowly took its hands from its mistress's grasp and sensed the pain in her heart, and this troubled the shade. It held its tongue for a moment, thinking carefully before it spoke. It placed a single hand on Poena's shoulder. Indeed, I was instructed to come here, Mistress. I have been in your service for but a short time, but I already feel that you are a worthy mistress. Do not worry for me, Poena. It made an attempt to infuse its voice with warmth. I am already dead. My time has come and gone. What matters now is you. You still breathe and you can still fight!

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

The Chained God sensed the army of death marching towards its armada, a force of darkness tainted by madness and the Anathema. It spun divine ether and sent the tendrils of power to the Great Ship itself. The engines flared and roared as they came to life, and the shield generators created fields of energy, protecting it from any physical assault. The onboard AI began to calculate thrust levels and navigation, and the weapon systems, from the lowly Point Defense Turrets to the Class VII Thermonuclear Devices, hummed with deadly energy as they prepared to fire on anything even relatively threatening.

Satisfied that the Ship would defend the Morai sufficiently, the Chained One turned to the gate which it had crafted. It sent another psychic tendril, and called the Scholars. They emerged from the portal, a few thousand in all. The Scholars were an ancient race of beings who subsisted on knowledge itself, and so made ideal servants.

Physically, any being aside from the Emperor In Chain and its minions would find it alien and terrifying. They appeared to be drum shaped objects, around ten meter in diameter and twice that in length. They were covered in a chitinous material, with two starfish shaped objects on each end. The top end had a long, tentacle-like appendage, around six meters long, that unfolded into a large, 'flower'-like thing that served as its head. On each fleshy petal were two eyes on the back end, and a single fang-like object on the tip. The tentacles of each 'starfish' were seven meters long. The creature moved by wiggling its tentacles on land or in the water, but propelled itself with psychic force when needed. It was very hardy and could withstand the vacuums of space. They held eons of knowledge, both mortal and otherwise, and would trade its secrets for mortal memories. A large crowd had been summoned, and the Chained God instructed them to travel to the worlds blessed by sentient life, and to teach them, to guide them to new heights. They were also instructed to single out those with the potential of magic, and hone their talents. They were sent to their new homes, and the eldritch beings set out to teach the peoples of the universe.

The Chained God reactivates the Great Ship, encasing it in energy shields to prevent anything from entering, or leaving the ship without knowing how to control the ship and its workings.

It also summons the Scholars, hardy and long lived entities that trade information on any subject for memories or, if the knowledge is pricey, souls or lives. It places a sizable population of Scholars on all the planets with sentient life, and instructs them to teach the myriad peoples of civilization, of technology and of all sorts of cool stuff. They are also instructed to single out all those with the potential for magic and teach them to become mighty leaders and warriors.

[forsaken1111]

Astra'ath observed closely, Its nightgaunts swarming invisible around the ship as its systems were rekindled. It was confident it could duplicate the process, given time. The gaunts dispersed back to their nightmarish duty.

Time is on Our side.

[Humaan]

Time. Time was running out. For the universe. For Paradise. He needed more influence to defeat this threat. To become dependant on mortals... it was a risk, a best. If he ever lost all his worshippers... he too, would fade away. It might be nesscesary...

The Soulblade was gaining power. It, too, was beginning to gain power. Power beyond all mortal means. The power of change. He would hold on to it for now.

He telported to the space outside Aether. It was, in a sense, a world which was still truely innocent. He would settle nearby. But where? He, with all his might, create a great sphere orbitting Maia. This planet surely dwarfed many planets... it was about 2 times larger then the next planet. For now... he would rest...

Aarrook creates Ozymi, a large planet approx. 2 time larger then the next planet in size. It is currently just a giant rock, and is orbitting Maia in far orbit.

[dragnar]

Dragnar enters refuge(through the front door!!!) and sends a message to the other gods.

"You sought to summon the over-god, Xarn, correct? I am intrigued, have any of you made any progress on this endeavor?"

Edit: Xarn, not Zarn...

[forsaken1111]

A figure drifts into the Refuge, a shadow shaped like a robed figure with empty hood and sleeves.

We too would know of Xarn

He has brushed Our mind

We would know his intent

[Caesar]

The earth shook, rock shattered, tsunamis drowned a world:
Elan's world; devastated in a heartbeat, destroyed in a minor fraction of time's endless existence: As the asteroid hit it, life ended, the souls of the pitiful few remainders of living beings on the planet cast into the void.
A few more moments, a few more heartbeats- Elan's world, drifting slowly to the Black Star, nothing more than a devastated collection of loose rocks compared to the magnificence the planet might have once held.

Elans world has been shattered by the asteroid impact, the remainders drifting slowly to the Black Star.

[Lordinquisitor]

The Heathens were gone; The whole cave was flooded with lava and Gheronaton coulnd`t feel the presence of the cultists anymore. They had to be death.

"Fools. I offered them the chance to fight honorable, yet they evaded combat and hid in caves. Serves them right."

Below him the giants, dragons and ferals that trapped the cultists were already fighting against each other, as he guessed. But he wasn`t angry, he loved them all the more for it and he laughed; And the mountains shuddered.

[Digital Hellhound]

'Of course we're ready. Let's see what this thing is made of, Naeri.'
Needle snorted. Did the little bastard have no manners at all?
It was not acceptable to call anyone other than a child by their True Name in public, but Haev had done so in front of the whole Council.
Typical Tech-Head arrogance.
He hadn't seemed to notice her anger, though. Haev nodded, and Needle opened the door for him with a sigh.

They climbed up the stairs into the Homeship’s command bridge. She had never been there before, but had seen it on her suit map.
The dim lights were flickering in and out of action, but they had no trouble seeing.
Enchanced vision and scanners were another thing she thanked the new suits for.
She had been hesitant to switch suits at first, but it had soon become clear they were simply better.
More lightweight, smaller and more form-fitting and installed with a ton of new, advanced tech.
The old suits had been designed only for survival, but after the Enlightement, they were free to focus more on beauty and art. The Tech-Heads of the Eneiri Tribe had built the first ones, and they had soon spread to all Morai.
Needle’s suit was painted with deep red and magnificent gold, with several rare pieces of tech planted in her shoulderpads. She was rather proud of the thing, even though she had not had any part in it’s creation.

The Speaker of the Yarail Tribe stepped up and inspected the captain’s seat. He chuckled a little and backed away. Needle knew what was wrong.
The Homeship didn’t seem… natural. While other ships they had visited were clearly made by robotic servants, atleast their designers had been sentients, adding a nice natural touch.
This ship had no such thing. Everything was too perfect. It seemed so unreal.
And yet, they loved the damn thing. Nobody could say why.
’Thank you for coming, honoured Morai.’
A voice interrupted her thoughts. At the same moment, every single monitor and console in the room lit up. She recognized the voice. It had spoken to them earlier, when the ship had just woken and told them to come to the bridge.
It was probably an AI. Some of the ships had had one, usually not functioning.
The ones that were working tried to kill all the Morai ‘intruders’ and had to be shut down.
This however, seemed to be more or less in working order. If there was a single malfunction, it could turn on them like a madman. AI’s were dangerous.
It was clear it had activated the ship, but she couldn’t help but to wonder why, and why now.
The AI, of course, decided that the best time to answer that was right then.
’There is a force of darkness approaching. You must listen very carefully.’
One of the Speakers replied with a short ‘We are listening.’
They will come under the guise of friends and protectors, but make no mistake; they are monsters, each and every one. They will claim to be your ‘guardians’, but those are lies.
If you make the mistake of trusting them, they will enslave your youth and kill your animals. They will not leave a single Tribe standing, and will make you servants of darkness. They will not rest until you are all dead, either physically or mentally, in the service of the dark god.’
There was silence. Then one of the Speakers replied;
‘We have warriors, AI. If they are what you say they are, we will defeat them.’ he paused ‘ I… we are not entirely sure if we should trust you, either. You come to us, speaking of destruction and death. We will not turn away visitors from our gates. We know nothing of you, but you seem to know a lot of about us. This is our home, but we did not summon you here. We will be cautious, but we will not be fooled by an… AI.' The last word was spat out full of disdain.
Needle wasn’t sure what to think. This was the Homeship’s AI, but that did not mean it could not lie.
The same Speaker grunted, then turned to Haev. ' Cut it off from the ship controls. We cannot let it control us like this.'
Haev nodded. 'It will be done, honoured Speaker.'
If there was someone coming, friend or foe, they had to be ready.

-----
 
Sothurn made his way through the rubble filling the doorway. His old master had rebuilt the Palace, just so they could destroy it again.
He had taken seven of the Vanguard with him to seek for the Stone, but so far, their search had turned up no results.
It had not been in the Sanctum, nor in any of the towers rising high above any other building in the Palace, but he could sense it somewhere in there, calling.
It was dangerous, he had no doubt, but it was also quite powerful.
The doorway had led them to a balcony overlooking a massive waterfall. The water, coming from a canal on the upper levels, fell into a complex of pipes and chambers,
eventually ending up on the other end of the Palace and feeding the fountains surrounding the Sculpture Garden.
Elaborate carvings had been made into the three stone bridges moving above the waterfall, decipting the Old Gods and works of art made in the world.
Astra'ath wasn't present, which did not surprise him in the slighest.
He took his sword and quickly carved the Astra'ath's mark into the stone wall next to him. While it would probably have no actual effect, it made him feel a little better.
Feeling the Stone, yet not finding it, was incredibly frustrating to him.
He focused on it's presence, a psychic supernova to his mind. It was near, he was sure of it.
Inside the waterfall? It was possible.
As he looked harder, he realized there was indeed something there, hidden by the roaring waters and held in place by his old master's power.
He chanted a quick prayer to his new lord and jumped after the Stone. Shouts from his warriors came from behind, but he ignored them.
Sothurn landed neatly on a small stone hovering in place right behind the waterfall.
 
Inside it was the Stone of Madness, just as he'd hoped. Sothurn took his blade and struck the stone. It split in two with a single strike, revealing the green-glowing Stone inside.
Sothurn began to fall, but grasped the Stone while he did. The fall would not harm him.
 
Probably.
 
------
 
Coradin re-entered the Refuge, drawn in by Dragnar's call. His sibling was waiting for him, along with a servant he did not recognize. Still, there was a familiar... feeling to it, but he didn't have time to focus on that. It was with Dragnar.
 
'Shouldn't you know better, brother? I left Natus in your Library, and as far as I know, he's still there.'

[Karnewarrior]

With a sigh, and a tsk, Mania left the unresponsive Luna to whatever it was making her unable to speak. Mania did however leave a solitary peice of bacon on the floor, as a gift to the queen of the night.

Mania dissappeared in a burst of bubbles, sunshine, and cod liver oil.

***********************************

Mania solidified underneath of the great slab of stone, recognizing the power here.

"Well well well, What have we here?" He altered his guise to a woman in a thin, open coat. "Will you give me the stone, please? It is my sphere after all, not Aster'aths...ths...ths" The woman stumbled over the name, then giggled and reached for the stone mans face....

[Caesar]

"I may breathe, I may still 'live', but so do you, in a way."
She felt strangely rejected, turning away of him, disregarding his hand on her shoulder, instead taking in her hand the longsword that Gheronatons minions had forged for her, leaving the shield on the great table in the midst of the hall. She moved her hand along the sharp edge of the beautiful blade, and a single drip of blood left her finger.

Brightly red the blade shone for a moment, then returning to its normal state.

Back to Phaedron she turned, not seeming to have noticed the light. "If it is fight I should, then fight I-"


It did not feel right. Something entered the Refuge, and she did not like it.
Turning to the doorway Poena was met by a familiar face, that of the God Dragnar, and by a creature she did not know. It sent chills up her spine.

Cautiously she took the hilt of the sword in both her hands, thinking up a name for it: 'Ertanon'


Poena unknowingly enchants the longsword that was in her possession.
Poena names the longsword 'Ertanon'.