Sacred Light

[zanarkand]

"What a relief to have some help doin' this! It's normally just me!" Otis spoke almost too loudly, cutting through the cold silence of the forest. He was a tall frail looking man, it'd be quite surprise to learn that he'd been doing this job alone.


The group had been hired to light the magistone lanterns between Aberdeen and the village of Darkwell and deliver an overdue shipment of magistone to the village. It was only a 15 mile stretch but a recent snow storm made travel over the worn dirt road almost impossible. The lanterns ahead would probably be burned out by now, hopefully Darkwell itself had the supplies to see the storm through.


Nearly every town for the last 25 or so years had a torchlighter to keep towns and even the smallest villages well lit even at night. For the night brings death and terror to those that travel without a fire to ward off the shadows.


The sun was already setting, the long shadows of trees crisscrossed the road and a black mist rose from the dark side of the trees themselves, it wouldn't be long before the creatures of the shadows would fully emerge.

Spoiler

@solvernia @Frey @Ceros @StormyDay
Also magistone is a common runestone made of artificial crystal. They are usually used to create light in lanterns because they last up to 2 weeks with constant use. After the light burns out the crystal breaks and must be repaired by an alchemist.

 

[StormyDay]

Amber rays of the setting sun filtered through the trees around the small band of hirelings. Among them a young woman turned her attention towards the elder before her, wincing slightly at his raised voice. Rustled by the cool evening breeze, the deep gold robes of her monastery fluttered gently around her cinched by a white sash wrapped several times about her waist. A serene calm seemed to emanate from her as she studied her other companions with piercing blue eyes that betrayed open curiosity. The corner of her mouth tilted upward slightly at the thought that she must look very strange to them, unarmed and unarmored, but most startlingly, with short cropped hair the color of the snow blanketing the ground.


She bowed her head respectfully to the elder and smiled amiably, "You have my services."

 

[solvernia]

Rosemary tucked her chin into her fur-lined cloak and tensed her shoulders, giving a sour look from the frosty air as the wild wiped her blonde hair around her face. She hiked through the snow with the help of her broomstick. The elf carried with her nothing more than warm clothes, a good pair of boots, and a satchel over her body.


"I hope they pay you well, mister." She spoke plainly. Her voice was smooth and sharp like a sword and she had a distinctive disgruntled looked about her.

 

[zanarkand]

"I do this for free!" Otis turned to smile at his companions while they walked, "Job ain't gonna do itself!"


Glancing at the rapidly darkening forest, he held up his lantern and struck a match against the side. When he touched the lit match against the small piece of magistone it lit up in a bright blue colored light. Black mist rising from the outstretched finger-like shadows of the trees were banished where the light touched.


"It's a real shame we got out here so late. Night Walkers will be out soon but...I guess it's a good thing we got all this stone, eh? They'll stay back as long as we got some light." He nodded to himself and looked ahead at the snowy trail, "And lucky we don't got a lot of Soul Eaten either!"

 

[Enigmatic Cat]

Spoiler

Several members of the Perceivers of Dusk sit around a large table in a well lit common room located inside the Library of Dusk. at one end of the table is Cornelius Brax, the leader of the organization, and at the other is an old man from Clearfell. He is there to sit in on the group, understand their methods and then decide if he wants to put a portion of his wealth towards their cause. all others present are from the human and orc factions except for Aegor who is sitting to the left of the Clearfell resident, who eyes him with a look of disdain. "thanks to everyone for assembling so quickly in such a sort amount of time." The old Brax spoke loud enough for every member to hear, "in front of you is a parcel of information of locations near and far that I would like each of you to investigate. This time around we are checking to see if changes in climate and other sorts of weather phenomena effect the Shades in anyway, no matter how minute. Everyone here was hand picked because you have the special ability to call on your individual gods to protect certain areas from attacks... I know this comes with it's risks... but you all are the only ones who can get close enough to the Shades to study them in this way.. I am sorry to ask this of you, but I'm sure most of you understand." A few of the members chuckled lightly, before Ronthal, A sturdy orc spoke. "I'm sure I speak for us all when I say we know the risks... but we also know this could lead to us no longer fearing the dark.. besides it's our job to figure this kind of stuff out for everyone else." "Hear Hear!" several others said in agreement. The group started to move about, looking at the information that they were given. Aegor simply sat at the table with his eyes closed until a charm on his antlers gave off a brief hum. The elf opened his eyes and looked back at the old man whom was still staring at him. He was no doubt displeased by the fact that an elf was sitting in on something this important... the older citizens of Clearfell still remember when the Shaal Alari elves were at war with them... which of course prompted the wall standing between the two peoples to be built. The fighting was long over, peace had settled, but the more stubborn of Clearfell's people still held a grudge despite the new threat. Aegor simply smiled at the man and stood up to face Cornelius, to whom he gave a half bow and then started heading out of the Library, to start his journey to an area near Darkwell.

The sound of an animals quickened foot falls echoed in the snow covered trees as the sun was beginning to set over the land. Aegor had cleared Darkwell not that long ago and was continuing on his path to some ruins along the pass between there and Aberdeen. The white stag passed through the thicket of trees and brush between him and the ruins, and then emerged on the other side in his Elven form. Time was short as the sun's light began disappearing, Aegor unslung his satchel and moved quickly into the ruins. The space used to be a large fort back in the day, owned by a wealthy human. However, ever since the man died the fort has fallen into disrepair. The stone walls had become covered in moss and ivy, the furniture that was left behind by the looters had succumb to the elements and fallen to pieces, and everything else of value had been stolen... The empty space, now covered in snow from a recently started storm, gave the ruins a feeling of lonely gloom that clung to the place. Rounding a corner Aegor came to a stop in a room that was open to the path below and he quickly set to work.


Using his spear He carefully dug a large circle in the snow that had collected on the ground and then he produced a bag of crushed magistone from the satchel. He poured the contents into the circle and then lead a trail of it to it's center. A few more markings on the doors and around the collapsed hole in the wall and the elf finally sat down in the circle and began chanting. The markings on the walls, entrances, and the circle around him began glowing and soon a dim barrier could be seen encasing the small space. The spell shifted slightly, letting more power show than he would have liked, everything in the area would know something was just cast and it would likely draw unwanted attention to him before long, but only time would tell.


Aegor sat in the protective tranquility barrier and waited for the sun to set and cast darkness over the ruins.






[dice]23657[/dice]


[dice]23660[/dice]


(not sure if I needed to roll for the first transform since I entered into the story already in stag form, but here it is.)

 

[zanarkand]

The bright light caught Adina's attention. The ruin wasn't too near the road but anything giving off a sudden light would surely be seen. She paused and stopped walking, only listening to the sounds of the forest and the footsteps of her companions on the snow covered trail.


"I saw a light. We should check it out. Someone could be in trouble." She said, her voice, although gentle and sweet as it was still cut through the quiet like a knife.


Otis glanced back at the straggler, "If ya'll wanna go check it out I'll wait for you here. I'm not much for checking out weird stuff in the woods."

 

[solvernia]

Rosemary grimaced and looked at the orc with a doubtful look. She turned her nose up at the idea.


"Otis has the right idea." Rosemary crossed her arms in defiance and spoke in a haughty tone. "We're the ones that could be in trouble if we go running off into the woods after something you might have seen. I didn't see anything."


Rosemary glanced in the direction that the light flickered through the snowy trees. She indeed saw it but it would be easier to walk away.


"But even if you did see something and someone was actually in trouble, who would stay with this fragile old human." She uncrossed her arms to touch Otis's arm. "You know humans are prone to dying from random things."

 

[zanarkand]

Otis feigned offense by scoffing at the elf, "I been doing this for 25 years all by myself, young lady. If I was fixing to die then I'd be dead a long time ago."


Otis stood taller and tugged the front of his thick coat "Besides. I am a wizard of some renown. Now you younguns go see what that there light is. Could be someone that aint gonna make it through the night alone."

 

[Enigmatic Cat]

Aegor continued to sit inside the ruined fort a short way off the path below, he slowly exhales chilled breath as he steels his mind for what was about to transpire. The barrier around him was a way to guard against physical attacks only.. from previous attempts to use the spell the organization found that the Shades quickly adapted their attacks to be more mental in nature to unease or outright break the individuals sanity. This wasn't Aegor's first time inside a tranquility barrier however, so he had at least some idea of what it would be like... but the dangers were always present no matter how many times he had seen them up close. The sun above continued it's steady decline, it's light already having left the hallway before his current place of rest gave rise to shadowy masses that seemed to writhe as they pulled themselves up from their depths along the corridor. Darkness had also started building behind him under what was left of the buildings old roof, within he could feel a presence's eyes peering into him and from them he felt nothing but ill intent that caused him to feel unease.. He could already tell it was going to be a troublesome night, and he found the image of the magistone dangling from his antlers fading in and out in the back of his mind..

Spoiler

A troublesome night indeed (skull)


[dice]23681[/dice]

 

[zanarkand]

The creatures surrounded the elf, their bodies twisted and churned like living tar and black mist eminated from them, blocking out all light. From the dark recesses of Aegor's mind a thousand voices whispered. Visions of something unknown assaulted him, eyes in the darkness watching, waiting. The voices grew louder until there was nothing else. Only Them.

Spoiler

@Enigmatic Cat.
take a -1 wisdom debility. A debility reduces your modifier by 1.

 

[zanarkand]

Adina rested her hand on the hilt of her sword, "You can stay with Mr. Otis if you want to but I'm going."


She began her walk toward the light coming from the ruined building. If there was one thing that she must do, it was to help others no matter the personal cost or danger.

 

[solvernia]

Rosemary watched Adina walk off into the darkness and against her better judgement, she followed her. There was something to admire about a completely selfless person - Rosemary felt herself drawn to the orc. She marched through the deep snow to catch up.


"See ya later, grandpa!" She hollered back to Otis.


"So what do you think it was, hero?" She walked briskly next to Adina for a moment before hoping onto her broomstick to keep up better.


[dice]23733[/dice]

 

[zanarkand]

GM

The broomstick wobbled when she got on it but steadied as it began to move forward. The light coming from the ruins flickered and began to fade as the pair walked through the snow.

Adina lit a magistone lantern as they walked further from Otis. She was glad that the elf followed her, it could be anything in those ruins. Bandits or worse.


"We're going to find out soon enough." She replied, please don't be something dangerous. They soon reached the building only to find an elf surrounded by Night Walkers. They were grabbing and touching the elf, their limbs seemed to go through him entirely.


Adina held her lantern high and pointed to the Night Walkers. "Leave him!" she commanded

Spoiler

[dice]23735[/dice]

GM

@Enigmatic Cat Two grotesque figures came into view through the overwhelming darkness and the other Night Walkers cleared a path for them. One flew and appeared to be a mass writhing tentacles and eyes. The other was hulking and dripped with black tar that didn't leave a trace on the ground.

 

[Enigmatic Cat]

The other times he was inside a tranquility barrier were nothing like this...Whether it was because they were drawing power from the ruins they were in, or because they were simply just more plentiful here than in other places... maybe he hadn't prepared as much as he should have, he wasn't sure. The moment the protective rays from the sun dissipated from the room they were upon him with a fury he had never experienced before... The first few inside threw themselves at him, only to pass harmlessly through, but once they made contact he could feel their intent to kill him. He watched as the physical attacks slowed and then stopped all together... There was an almost calm moment before they violently started spinning around him in a maelstrom of shadowy shapes and figures, all eyes on him, the display was dizzying and soon after he found that he could hear them inside his head their voices slowly growing louder.


They screamed at him in a tongue he didn't recognize, and in the back of his mind he could see images and shapes of things he couldn't decipher.. but they were all having an effect on him, his mind dulled slightly under their assault. Regardless the elf held on keeping his focus as best he could so as to keep the barrier strong, just in case Aegor slowly reached into his satchel and procured a pair of flint stones from the assortment of adventuring supplies he had toted with him... If things got too out of hand he would light the magistone hanging from his antlers and be done with it. The attack continued and the elf grimaced, he knew they could not physically hurt him... but their prying into his mind made his head feel like he was being beaten with a blunt object. Without stopping their screams, the maelstrom slowed, permitting two shades who seemed to be treated as some sort of leaders... or at least of higher standing. These two, one flying, cloaked in tentacles and eyes that pierced through ones very soul and another that's giant mass seemed present and also ethereal stood in front of the elf. Their presence was intimidating to say the least.


"Who are you??" Aegor asked inquisitively, he could barely hear his own voice over theirs, "And what is it that you want from me, from us??"


From outside he could hear the faint sound of a woman shouting at the Shades to leave the elf be, part of him wanted to tell her to be cautious of getting too close, he wasn't sure what she could see through the churning darkness. However the majority of his consciousness was affixed to those in front of him, doing his best not to miss anything regarding the encounter...

 

[zanarkand]

Adina moved quickly toward the elf and placed a hand on his shoulder. She'd seen this before in her travels. People playing with things that ought to be left alone. She held the lantern closer to the elf's face, his eyes were completely black and void.


"I'm here to help you." She reassured.

 

[zanarkand]

GM

The hulking creature moved forward and placed a hand on Aegor's shoulder. It was even more terrifying up close. It's face was like a shriveled corpse smeared with black ink. The creature held up a twisted lantern and briefly looked like a (beautiful) Orc woman.


"I'm here to help you." The creature spoke in a rough and gutteral voice.

Spoiler

you just had to roll bad!! It's ok though. The most interesting things happen when you roll bad.

@solvernia your turn next!

 

[solvernia]

The young elf approached on her broomstick. She grimaced at his freaky eyes and hovered nearby.


"Snap out of it, man!" She yelled at him.


Rosemary lowered herself closer to the ground and her cloak brushed the deep snow. She snapped her fingers at his face as her other hand held an explosive potion that was strapped to her belt, ready to blast him away of things got out of hand.


@Enigmatic Cat

 

[Enigmatic Cat]

The two shades continued to move closer to the Aegor, one of them held up something peculiar.. a twisted lantern that... 'What was that?' the elf thought to himself as the lantern moved closer to him he caught what he thought was a glimpse of a fair orc woman clad in scale armor before his vision re-clouded and the image was replaced with that of a grotesque corpse drown in black ink. It's hand was on his shoulder without passing through, which meant that it had no ill will towards him.. Something wasn't right here...


Aegor scrutinized his surroundings, and noticed that with the arrival of the shades' lantern the churning maelstrom around him had disappeared, on top of that what use would a Night Walker have for a lantern twisted or otherwise? The lantern, the touch, the orc, and the lessened presence of shadows aside from those in front of him... He wasn't one hundred percent sure, but the elf was beginning to feel like he may be being fooled, and things were not as they appeared.

Spoiler

[dice]23808[/dice]


@zanarkand

 

[zanarkand]

GM

The darkness cleared thanks to the orc's lantern and the snapping of the young elf's fingers in Aegor's face became all too prevalent. The sun was completely gone now and the chill of a winter night was setting in.


Night Walkers lurked in the edges of the shadows and the cries of human Soul Eaten echoed through the forest. They sounded close but with the stillness of winter it was hard to tell just how close.

 

[zanarkand]

Adina was relieved as the blackness left Aegor's eyes. He was probably lucky that they saw the light coming from the ruins. The Night Walkers could ruin a person's mind just as much as their body. She glanced at the spell that Aegor had prepared, the symbol on the floor and the markings near the door and a whole in the wall. He was either a stupid man seeking thrills or one of the researchers from the Perceivers of Dusk, still a foolish venture that had led too many people to be touched too deeply by the dark.


"Are you alright?" She set the lantern on the ground beside her and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder, "I'd hate to see what would have happened if we hadn't seen your spell."

 

[solvernia]

"Yikes." Rosemary said. She patrolled perimeter, watching the shadows writhe in the dim light.


"You're lucky, dummy. What're you doing out here anyway?" She questioned him, still hovering on her broomstick.

 

[Enigmatic Cat]

The snapping of the elf on the broom stick's fingers rung through Aegor's pounding head causing his eyes to snap shut briefly. The illusion had been broken down with the intervention of his new found friends, the damage however, had already been done. The elf had a headache that would put the heaviest of drinker's hangovers to shame.


Aegor blinked a few more times before looking at the orc in front of him as she placed her lantern besides them and clapped his shoulder, frost that had found its home on his leathers lifting into the air as she did so.


"Yes... I do believe I'll live. Thank you for your assistance." He said as he stood up and brushed himself off. Night had fallen completely and the cold chill in the air clung to the elf.


"Admittedly I'm not sure how things would have gone if you hadn't shown up when you did... The shades can be nasty creatures sometimes and I, thanks to my own folly, was not as properly prepared as I should have been." Aegor lowered his hood and lightly ran his fingers through the longer portion of his hair that was hidden beneath, wishing that he had something with him to treat the discomfort he was currently feeling...


The other elf present spoke to him, floating on her broomstick as she did so. He found the orc's companion to be slightly off putting with her discourteous manner, despite this he was grateful to the both of them for aiding him.


"I was sent out to research the Night Walkers in the area.. a foolish venture to be sure, and with it's risks... but one that must be pursued by some if we are to one day understand these creatures and deal with them..." Aegor drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly as he replaced his hood against his antlers.


"I don't mean to be rude but, normally people don't venture out into the forests this late into the night... May I ask what brings you out here?" He was genuinely interested.. He'd however understand if they didn't feel like talking about it with a stranger they just more or less rescued from himself.

 

[zanarkand]

Adina stood when the elf did. She bent to pick up her lantern and hung it on the end of Rosemary's broomstick, hoping that it would stay on until they reached the road. Glancing uncomfortably at the creatures just at the edge of the light she turned to Aegor again.


"We're bringing a shipment of magistone to Darkwell. It's the first time since the latest snow storm that anyone's been able to use the road." she said, it wasn't like it was a top secret mission or anything. "If you want to, you can come along but I don't think they'd anticipate paying an extra person.


She paused and offered her hand quickly as if she'd rudely forgotten to introduce herself, "I suppose that we should introduce ourselves. I'm Adina and this is Rosemary."

 

[solvernia]

Rosemary watched the two for a moment as she tugged the hood of cloak over her head and shivered against the biting frost. She wasn't one for cold weather and the wind seemed to go right through. As Adina placed the lantern at the end of her broomstick, Rosemary settled the handle into a knot of the wooden handle.


"Yeah. I'm Rosemary." she said, offering her hand to the man.

 

[zanarkand]

GM

Before Aegor had a chance to properly introduce himself to the two women, a terrible scream rang out. It was coming from the road! Bursts of light could be seen coming from that direction...and then nothing but silence.