Lasius Sethi Thu Apr 19, 2012 9:30 pmPrologue
The fitful flickering of the lamplight was making it difficult to concentrate on the spidery scrip on the faded parchment in front of her. She sighed and set the cracking leather bound copy of The Thirteen Elements aside, closed her eyes and rubbed her temples in a slow circular motion. Her head was pounding, a dull throbbing feel behind her eyes that she couldn't seem to shake lately. In other times it might have bothered her, happier times, when there wasn't so much weighing on her. Opening her eyes she reached for the now cold cup of tea on her desk, but paused narrowing her eyes. There were ripples on the surface of the slick dark liquid. She couldn't feel the vibrations, but she knew they were there.
Frustration mounted inside her and she banished it from her mind embracing a calmness she had achieved from years of meditation study. She passed her left hand over the cup willing the liquid to a reasonable drinking temperature. Steam slowly began to rise from the surface as she turned to pick up the book once more. The answers simply had to be here, her attention was drawn to that irritatingly nonsensical paragraph again. As the base elements began to fail, only the guardians balanced the inevitable. We sought the Sethians to bring the balance back, but even they could only delay the inevitable collapse. It became clear that nothing we could do would repair the imbalance. The twelve Elements were turning against us one by one. It was simply too late.
She resisted the urge to ignite the book and chuck it at the wall. The base elements were beginning to fail, it simply wasn't possible yet there it was. Three out of every four days held a raging storm, the earth itself trembled at least twice a day. So far it was only mild, but it wouldn't stay that way. The arcane and fringe elements were as yet unaffected but if this truly had happened in the past, as this text indicated, then it was only a matter of time. Yet if nothing could be done then how was the world still here? They had stopped it somehow, but the book ended there.
She picked up the cup and took a sip of the tea grimacing a bit at the slightly bitter flavor it had from being reheated, how many times had she done that thus far? She banished the distracted thought and forced herself to concentrate. Twelve Elements, three Domains, the base Domain has begun to fail. Air, Fire, Water, and Earth, it's the only explanation for the bizarre weather patterns. Too many ignore it, The Magi can fix the weather fluctuations, so what did it matter? Oh some might gripe at the extra work, but as long as it didn't exceed their ability to correct it what was the problem? She shook her head. That was exactly the thought-line that set her down on this search in the first place. Too many were concerned with how to fix things with no thought given to why it was that way. She had brought it up to the elder council, and was politely but firmly told to stop wasting her time on impossibilities. Perhaps they were right, this text was the only piece of evidence she had found in her weeks of searching.
No, something is wrong, she stood and walked to the casement windows looking out over the fading sunset. The golden, soft light played across the artfully designed stonework buildings. If that text is right Magic can only hold things together so long. When the fringe Domain starts to fail magic too will fail, and the world itself will buckle under the weight of the other collapsed elements. A chill ran down her spine as she watched the sun sink slowly below the horizon. The book said nothing could be done, that they were too late. It made sense, once the elements began to fail it would have been already too late, but that was simply impossible. If the Elements had failed they must have been restored, nothing short of the recreation of the world would restore the Elements. But the existence of the book precluded that possibility.
“I need more time,” her own whisper startled her. Was she so exhausted she had begun to talk to herself? Perhaps she did really did need more rest. She turned from the window and dropped the cup, he breath caught in her throat as the cup shattered on the polished granite floor tiles. A shadow stood by her desk leaning over as though studying what was there, her eyes darted around the room, no one else was there, there was no accounting for the shadow, but it was there nevertheless. There was another oddity about it, the lamplight flickered but the shadow remained steady, it seemed to resist the shifting light, everything about it screamed unnatural.
She tried to calm herself and focus despite the hairs rising on the back of her neck, however that focus was shattered as a voice sounded through the room. It's source was the shadow but it seemed somewhat distant. “Time is something I can help you with Malkate.” Her eyes widened and she took another involuntary step back feeling the smooth glass of the window stop her short. “Who, what...” she started to say.
“Relax I'm not here to harm you, I'm here because you are the first of your kind to realize the truth of what is happening to our world. Human's have a, talent for ignoring the world around them.” The shadow straightened from the desk and shifted towards her slightly. “I'm sorry, I should have introduced myself earlier. I am Daegan, commander of the Sethian city of Cyrida.”
Taking a deep breath she forced calm on her racing mind and straightened her back as she stepped away from the wall. “Sethian you say?” skepticism heavily laced the words, Sethi were legends, no one had seen a Sethi in recorded history, only faint tales remained, mostly centered around the creation of the world, humanity and the myths of the elemental gods. Regardless all had long since dismissed from modern theology, most myths may be based in fact, and on some abstract level she could accept Sethi having existed in the past, or even specialized magi passed off to the uneducated masses as Sethi, but the idea of one in front of her struck her as obscenely absurd. Enough so that it shook off her unease at the shadowy apparition in front of her and stillness washed over her mind once more. “You'll have to forgive my doubts master... Daegan is it?”
The shadow shifted slightly, giving the impression of turning, it's head cocked slightly to the side abruptly without crossing the intervening space it was directly in front of her. Malkate's heart skipped a beat and despite the stillness over her mind she heard her breath catch once more as it's distant voice seemed to rake its cold fingers over her spine once more. “I care not for your doubts, nor for you, I care for this world, and your race is a part of it. We cannot hold it together without you, I fear even with you it is hopeless.” A sigh more like a death rattle escaped the shadow and it retreated across the room to her desk once more, a hint of strain touched the voice as it continued. “Hope aside, it is not the Sethian way to surrender. We will fight to save this world with or without your help. It is a strain to cross the world and I have much left to do this day, I'll have your answer now, help us or not, it is your choice.”
“I will help as I can, however you obviously have far greater knowledge of what is wrong with this world than I perhaps if you would share it with me I would be of greater use.” She hung onto the stillness in her mind by a thread, but it was enough. She raised her hand and the book on the desk lifted gently into the air and crossed to her hand.
“So be it,” Daegan's shadow raised it's left arm, and icy pain suffused Malkate till she thought her marrow would crack and shatter, the stillness melted away from her, color and shape slid away. She tried to scream only to find she had no throat, there was a concept of movement without motion, the room rushed through her in a blur, the wall passed through her, or was it she who passed through the wall? It was a strangely numb sensation, terror ripped through her sense of self, that sense was all that was left of her. The world seemed to slip by there was no concept of distance or time, but there was a darkness, through the shades of gray, it moved behind her, at first she thought it was Daegan, something told her it wasn't, she didn't run from it but it followed her, ahead there was a light, insubstantial as everything else, it seemed if she stretched she could touch it though.
She tried to reach for it but there was nothing with which to reach, she strained her sense of self towards that pinprick of light through the shades of gray. The darkness was closing around her, there was nothing threatening about it, but in her mind there was an odd cold certainty that if it touched her she would die. So she strained her sense of self towards the light as hard as she could until the stretching sensation built in her bordering on pain. It was so close she could almost touch it, straining yearning, a sudden agonizing tearing feel and the world crashed in around her once more.
She sprawled in an ungraceful and shivering mass on unfamiliar cold gray marble tiles, in front of ~insert throne & Daegan description here~
***
Daegan bounded out of the throne and started down toward the quivering form of Malkate, but caught himself short halfway down the dais, his eyes widened and he hissed softly. The sun still shone through the tall slender steel bared windows, it cast it's square of light across the form of Malkate illuminating her clearly, but it wasn't the human's form or condition that brought Daegan up short. This woman had no shadow, the golden sun should have cast her shadow halfway across the great hall at this angle, but she had none, involuntarily he took a step back, his eyes widening. A square of light! His eyes darted to the window where the bars should have broke that square into sections but they too cast no shadow. He raised his hand into the light slowly trembling slightly. He felt the heat of the sun on his flesh, but on the wall behind his hand there was nothing. There were no shadows at all!
His rage was like a physical thing perched on his back, controlling the trembling that seemed to be spreading from his hand to the rest of him was difficult. He was tired from manipulating the Shadows, from reaching across the world to speak to this human, self discipline was never his strong suit anyway. He spun teal silk robes flaring out to face the quivering human Magi on the floor, “Take her to suitable chambers! Fetch a Life Sethi to tend her till she recovers.”
A guard in black leather and steel plating stepped away from the wall and touched his right hand to his chest in salute before tucking Malkate's unconscious yet still trembling body effortlessly under one arm and departing the hall.
Daegan stood silently for a time, taking several minutes to compose himself and coldly consider the concept that Shadows were failing. He closed his eyes and turned inward reaching through the part of his soul that let him touch his element. He could still feel it there, the strength filled him, but it was empty, he stretched forth trying to find shadows, to drink in to pull into his control, reached till he hit his own limitations, and pushed harder. Quickly reality began to fade, sanity started to slip and he had to let go. His eyes popped open in full sunlight. The entire hall glowed in light as though the walls were not there everything was as bright as noonday
Gasping he stared uncomprehendingly, it could simply not be possible, he was the strongest Shadow Sethi in hundreds of years, If he couldn't find a shadow within his reach there must be no shadows left in the world. Fear started to rise inside, but he struggled to fight it down, he began to run, footsteps echoing through the marble tiled halls of the Tower of Shadows. He came to a spiraling staircase and climbed it, his thoughts racing. He didn't know where he was going till he reached a heavily fortified door with a guard on either side at the top of the staircase. The guards flinched back as he smashed it open his eyes wild and emerged onto the top of the Tower.
The Tower proper rose majestically above Cyrida. It was the tallest building in the city, from atop it you could see miles in any direction, and for those miles what Daegan saw horrified him, light of the sun shimmered across the city, not a single shadow to be seen. People milled about in confusion, Sethi were more disciplined than humans, it was a small blessing, panic would have led to mobs, but he couldn't be thankful not in the face of this.
“I figured you would be up here.” A voice spoke behind him causing him the jump slightly, that the voice startled him was a measure of how shaken he was. Sethi trained years in combat, even the rawest soldier was always intimately aware of his surroundings even in his sleep. He lowered his gaze and clenched his fist tight enough he could feel the nails digging sharply into the flesh of his palm. “Its happening faster than we expected Lasius,” Daegan's voice was soft, barely above a whisper, but it was steady, regaining a little calm for dignities sake if nothing else.
He turned to face the man, Lasius was slightly taller than he himself was, his eyes were as gray as the marble tile that sheathed his tower, and his shorter black hair hung wetly in his eyes. He wore bleached white leather armor, unnaturally bright in the unbroken sun, and a cloak lined in royal purple velvet. His leather bracers bore the three golden triangles of the Lord General, but it was insignificant when confronted with the sheer presence of the man. Lasius was a strong Sethi, in both presence and power, it shown in the confidence in his eyes, as befitting the Lord General of his people, He bore his duty with a strength of perseverance that was lent to others around him.
The stray thought came that it must have been raining in the capital of Sethia, and he dismissed it, more storms could not matter in the face of this. The reassurance he usually felt from his friend's presence was washed away by the utter feeling of powerlessness he had at the moment.
The fitful flickering of the lamplight was making it difficult to concentrate on the spidery scrip on the faded parchment in front of her. She sighed and set the cracking leather bound copy of The Thirteen Elements aside, closed her eyes and rubbed her temples in a slow circular motion. Her head was pounding, a dull throbbing feel behind her eyes that she couldn't seem to shake lately. In other times it might have bothered her, happier times, when there wasn't so much weighing on her. Opening her eyes she reached for the now cold cup of tea on her desk, but paused narrowing her eyes. There were ripples on the surface of the slick dark liquid. She couldn't feel the vibrations, but she knew they were there.
Frustration mounted inside her and she banished it from her mind embracing a calmness she had achieved from years of meditation study. She passed her left hand over the cup willing the liquid to a reasonable drinking temperature. Steam slowly began to rise from the surface as she turned to pick up the book once more. The answers simply had to be here, her attention was drawn to that irritatingly nonsensical paragraph again. As the base elements began to fail, only the guardians balanced the inevitable. We sought the Sethians to bring the balance back, but even they could only delay the inevitable collapse. It became clear that nothing we could do would repair the imbalance. The twelve Elements were turning against us one by one. It was simply too late.
She resisted the urge to ignite the book and chuck it at the wall. The base elements were beginning to fail, it simply wasn't possible yet there it was. Three out of every four days held a raging storm, the earth itself trembled at least twice a day. So far it was only mild, but it wouldn't stay that way. The arcane and fringe elements were as yet unaffected but if this truly had happened in the past, as this text indicated, then it was only a matter of time. Yet if nothing could be done then how was the world still here? They had stopped it somehow, but the book ended there.
She picked up the cup and took a sip of the tea grimacing a bit at the slightly bitter flavor it had from being reheated, how many times had she done that thus far? She banished the distracted thought and forced herself to concentrate. Twelve Elements, three Domains, the base Domain has begun to fail. Air, Fire, Water, and Earth, it's the only explanation for the bizarre weather patterns. Too many ignore it, The Magi can fix the weather fluctuations, so what did it matter? Oh some might gripe at the extra work, but as long as it didn't exceed their ability to correct it what was the problem? She shook her head. That was exactly the thought-line that set her down on this search in the first place. Too many were concerned with how to fix things with no thought given to why it was that way. She had brought it up to the elder council, and was politely but firmly told to stop wasting her time on impossibilities. Perhaps they were right, this text was the only piece of evidence she had found in her weeks of searching.
No, something is wrong, she stood and walked to the casement windows looking out over the fading sunset. The golden, soft light played across the artfully designed stonework buildings. If that text is right Magic can only hold things together so long. When the fringe Domain starts to fail magic too will fail, and the world itself will buckle under the weight of the other collapsed elements. A chill ran down her spine as she watched the sun sink slowly below the horizon. The book said nothing could be done, that they were too late. It made sense, once the elements began to fail it would have been already too late, but that was simply impossible. If the Elements had failed they must have been restored, nothing short of the recreation of the world would restore the Elements. But the existence of the book precluded that possibility.
“I need more time,” her own whisper startled her. Was she so exhausted she had begun to talk to herself? Perhaps she did really did need more rest. She turned from the window and dropped the cup, he breath caught in her throat as the cup shattered on the polished granite floor tiles. A shadow stood by her desk leaning over as though studying what was there, her eyes darted around the room, no one else was there, there was no accounting for the shadow, but it was there nevertheless. There was another oddity about it, the lamplight flickered but the shadow remained steady, it seemed to resist the shifting light, everything about it screamed unnatural.
She tried to calm herself and focus despite the hairs rising on the back of her neck, however that focus was shattered as a voice sounded through the room. It's source was the shadow but it seemed somewhat distant. “Time is something I can help you with Malkate.” Her eyes widened and she took another involuntary step back feeling the smooth glass of the window stop her short. “Who, what...” she started to say.
“Relax I'm not here to harm you, I'm here because you are the first of your kind to realize the truth of what is happening to our world. Human's have a, talent for ignoring the world around them.” The shadow straightened from the desk and shifted towards her slightly. “I'm sorry, I should have introduced myself earlier. I am Daegan, commander of the Sethian city of Cyrida.”
Taking a deep breath she forced calm on her racing mind and straightened her back as she stepped away from the wall. “Sethian you say?” skepticism heavily laced the words, Sethi were legends, no one had seen a Sethi in recorded history, only faint tales remained, mostly centered around the creation of the world, humanity and the myths of the elemental gods. Regardless all had long since dismissed from modern theology, most myths may be based in fact, and on some abstract level she could accept Sethi having existed in the past, or even specialized magi passed off to the uneducated masses as Sethi, but the idea of one in front of her struck her as obscenely absurd. Enough so that it shook off her unease at the shadowy apparition in front of her and stillness washed over her mind once more. “You'll have to forgive my doubts master... Daegan is it?”
The shadow shifted slightly, giving the impression of turning, it's head cocked slightly to the side abruptly without crossing the intervening space it was directly in front of her. Malkate's heart skipped a beat and despite the stillness over her mind she heard her breath catch once more as it's distant voice seemed to rake its cold fingers over her spine once more. “I care not for your doubts, nor for you, I care for this world, and your race is a part of it. We cannot hold it together without you, I fear even with you it is hopeless.” A sigh more like a death rattle escaped the shadow and it retreated across the room to her desk once more, a hint of strain touched the voice as it continued. “Hope aside, it is not the Sethian way to surrender. We will fight to save this world with or without your help. It is a strain to cross the world and I have much left to do this day, I'll have your answer now, help us or not, it is your choice.”
“I will help as I can, however you obviously have far greater knowledge of what is wrong with this world than I perhaps if you would share it with me I would be of greater use.” She hung onto the stillness in her mind by a thread, but it was enough. She raised her hand and the book on the desk lifted gently into the air and crossed to her hand.
“So be it,” Daegan's shadow raised it's left arm, and icy pain suffused Malkate till she thought her marrow would crack and shatter, the stillness melted away from her, color and shape slid away. She tried to scream only to find she had no throat, there was a concept of movement without motion, the room rushed through her in a blur, the wall passed through her, or was it she who passed through the wall? It was a strangely numb sensation, terror ripped through her sense of self, that sense was all that was left of her. The world seemed to slip by there was no concept of distance or time, but there was a darkness, through the shades of gray, it moved behind her, at first she thought it was Daegan, something told her it wasn't, she didn't run from it but it followed her, ahead there was a light, insubstantial as everything else, it seemed if she stretched she could touch it though.
She tried to reach for it but there was nothing with which to reach, she strained her sense of self towards that pinprick of light through the shades of gray. The darkness was closing around her, there was nothing threatening about it, but in her mind there was an odd cold certainty that if it touched her she would die. So she strained her sense of self towards the light as hard as she could until the stretching sensation built in her bordering on pain. It was so close she could almost touch it, straining yearning, a sudden agonizing tearing feel and the world crashed in around her once more.
She sprawled in an ungraceful and shivering mass on unfamiliar cold gray marble tiles, in front of ~insert throne & Daegan description here~
***
Daegan bounded out of the throne and started down toward the quivering form of Malkate, but caught himself short halfway down the dais, his eyes widened and he hissed softly. The sun still shone through the tall slender steel bared windows, it cast it's square of light across the form of Malkate illuminating her clearly, but it wasn't the human's form or condition that brought Daegan up short. This woman had no shadow, the golden sun should have cast her shadow halfway across the great hall at this angle, but she had none, involuntarily he took a step back, his eyes widening. A square of light! His eyes darted to the window where the bars should have broke that square into sections but they too cast no shadow. He raised his hand into the light slowly trembling slightly. He felt the heat of the sun on his flesh, but on the wall behind his hand there was nothing. There were no shadows at all!
His rage was like a physical thing perched on his back, controlling the trembling that seemed to be spreading from his hand to the rest of him was difficult. He was tired from manipulating the Shadows, from reaching across the world to speak to this human, self discipline was never his strong suit anyway. He spun teal silk robes flaring out to face the quivering human Magi on the floor, “Take her to suitable chambers! Fetch a Life Sethi to tend her till she recovers.”
A guard in black leather and steel plating stepped away from the wall and touched his right hand to his chest in salute before tucking Malkate's unconscious yet still trembling body effortlessly under one arm and departing the hall.
Daegan stood silently for a time, taking several minutes to compose himself and coldly consider the concept that Shadows were failing. He closed his eyes and turned inward reaching through the part of his soul that let him touch his element. He could still feel it there, the strength filled him, but it was empty, he stretched forth trying to find shadows, to drink in to pull into his control, reached till he hit his own limitations, and pushed harder. Quickly reality began to fade, sanity started to slip and he had to let go. His eyes popped open in full sunlight. The entire hall glowed in light as though the walls were not there everything was as bright as noonday
Gasping he stared uncomprehendingly, it could simply not be possible, he was the strongest Shadow Sethi in hundreds of years, If he couldn't find a shadow within his reach there must be no shadows left in the world. Fear started to rise inside, but he struggled to fight it down, he began to run, footsteps echoing through the marble tiled halls of the Tower of Shadows. He came to a spiraling staircase and climbed it, his thoughts racing. He didn't know where he was going till he reached a heavily fortified door with a guard on either side at the top of the staircase. The guards flinched back as he smashed it open his eyes wild and emerged onto the top of the Tower.
The Tower proper rose majestically above Cyrida. It was the tallest building in the city, from atop it you could see miles in any direction, and for those miles what Daegan saw horrified him, light of the sun shimmered across the city, not a single shadow to be seen. People milled about in confusion, Sethi were more disciplined than humans, it was a small blessing, panic would have led to mobs, but he couldn't be thankful not in the face of this.
“I figured you would be up here.” A voice spoke behind him causing him the jump slightly, that the voice startled him was a measure of how shaken he was. Sethi trained years in combat, even the rawest soldier was always intimately aware of his surroundings even in his sleep. He lowered his gaze and clenched his fist tight enough he could feel the nails digging sharply into the flesh of his palm. “Its happening faster than we expected Lasius,” Daegan's voice was soft, barely above a whisper, but it was steady, regaining a little calm for dignities sake if nothing else.
He turned to face the man, Lasius was slightly taller than he himself was, his eyes were as gray as the marble tile that sheathed his tower, and his shorter black hair hung wetly in his eyes. He wore bleached white leather armor, unnaturally bright in the unbroken sun, and a cloak lined in royal purple velvet. His leather bracers bore the three golden triangles of the Lord General, but it was insignificant when confronted with the sheer presence of the man. Lasius was a strong Sethi, in both presence and power, it shown in the confidence in his eyes, as befitting the Lord General of his people, He bore his duty with a strength of perseverance that was lent to others around him.
The stray thought came that it must have been raining in the capital of Sethia, and he dismissed it, more storms could not matter in the face of this. The reassurance he usually felt from his friend's presence was washed away by the utter feeling of powerlessness he had at the moment.
