Asheri Rising

In this section I will list the posted in bold and there post will follow

Ezra Al'Teyr

Ezra looked down the passage where Gaxx had created a smoldering cloud of smoke. He could still sense the spirit signatures of Kal's parents, and he led the party silently down the corridors and caves for almost tow hours, backtracking where the captr had led the family astray, perhaps in an attempt to dismiss the signatures. However, it was a vain attempt against Ezra. His companions followed him in a tense silence, not knowing what their defacto leader was doing, or where he was leading them. Soon, they came to an opening, and Ezra silently pointed inside.

"Your parents await, my friend,"
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Ezra Al'Teyr

Ezra and Thinious, along with Gaxx, waited outside of the cavern as Kal rushed in. After many moments of crying and sobs from his sister and mother, plus laughter from his father, the four Rublicams came out of the covern to approach Ezra and Kal's friends.

"Sir Rublicam, I would like to introduce Gaxx, and my apprentice, Thinious."

"Well met, and thank you for coming to our aid. I expected no less of you, Ezra,"

"Of course," Ezra muttered to himself, he didn't think anyone heard, but Thinious seemed to almost jump. Ezra composed himself.

"... seven ..." He said softly,"I think I can do seven..."

Just then, they heard something coming from one of the other tunnels. Somethng coming towards them.

OOC: Cue Enfinious, or Nascha or both!

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Ezra Al'Teyr

Linerin rose from his bed, a construction of gold and silver, it looked quite out of place in the room, carved out of marble as it was. His long hair fell about him, and seemed to annoy him, as his smallclothes wafted in the slight breeze that seemed to come from nowhere. He had heard that name from the Master of the Shadow in his dreams, and he knew that he must find out where the other stones were from him.

"Cadwallon" He muttered, as he dressed imself, and wove body magics to drop his blonde hair from his head, and replace it with short raven black hair. He liked to change his appearance often, it kept his few remaining enemies guessing.

He walked to the shadows, and pictured the place shown to him by the Master as he shadowshifted himself into a small cave near the old sage's hut. As he emerged from the crevice in a limestone rock outcrop, the hut was plainly visible. It was old and shabby, but appeared to have a wizened look about it. Linerin considered letting the Shadow embrace the hut and the old man, to let the Master torture the locations out of the old man, but that would be cheating himself, he reasoned.

As Linerin entered the hut, the old sage looked up from the desk at which he was sitting, and visibly shuddered.

"The Light protect me!" He shouted at Linerin as he defiantly stood from his chair, knocking it to the ground.

"It shall do no such thing," Linerin stated calmly, raising an arm to open his palm towards the old man, "The creator has forsaken the people of Asheri, the only true light now is the power of the Shade,"

Cadwallon reached out with his spirit magics, attempting to force his will over Linerin, but encountered a sort of sickening barrier that flooded his mind with maddening thoughts. Linerin laughed as the Master's gifts protected him, and he put the point of his Shadow spear to the old sages throat. He made it a point to cut the old man just a bit, and he could see the cut already beginning to fester.

"Tell me what you know about any of the stones of power, and I'll let you live,"

"Y-y-yes, One of them lies in the Crozius Arcanum, in Fayre,"

"Any others?"

"N-n-n-n-no sir... no,"

"Excellent,"

He raised his spear to run it through the mans throat.

Cue: Carlisle

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Carlanus Silverfinger

Carlanus continued these new incantations until he could stay awake no longer. After resting for awhil, Carlanus peaked outside to check on the oxen, and then he began again.

As he spoke he took only brief breaks to consult the ancient Tomes of Mechanus he had in his possession. He was very careful to read every incantation correctly because he did not know what would happen should he make a mistake.

"These incantation are so taxing on the body," he thought to himself. "I guess that for something as ancient as they are, I should expect it."

"Soon my friend, you shall have life and the ability to think much like me. You shall be able to use similar abilities to those that I use as well as some new ones that will help both of us. I have waited a long time to try these incantations, and longer still to create something I can call a friend. You will be my traveling campanion and we shall learn much together. When your life has come to be, I shall call you Wingrazor."

After Carlanus had spoken to this shell of a creature, he continued his incantations for Mind Share, and consulted the Tomes as needed.

"With your shell I do speak,
Of things great and things bleak.
Unto you as my friend, I do pass,
Thoughts and dreams that will mass.
Magic and science into you I infuse,
Life beyond measure, and power to use."
...

Carlanus continued more incantations until the sun came up, and then he collapsed again and slept knowing that when he awoke, he would implant the final incantations to give his "construct", Wingrazor life.

Visions of Mechanus filled his head as he fell into sleep.

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Carlisle

As the man raised his spear to strike, Cadwallon spun the magicks of the air sphere around himself and he began to move faster. The quickness was not limited to movement however, for his heartbeat was doubled as was his breathing. Cadwallon suspected that such magicks most likely aged him as well, but he wasn't too worried about that right now.

As he turned from the suddenly slow moving man in black, Cadwallon's lips twisted in distaste. He had not wanted to divulge the location of even one of the stones he knew of, but he had needed to buy himself as much time as possible to draw on the magic of the air sphere for he had not done so in quite some time.

Concentrating extremely hard, Cadwallon sent his thoughts west.

***

Marten shot bolt upright in his bed and grabbed at the pendant hanging around his neck which had begun to grow uncomfartably warm. He took the pendant from around his neck and clasped it tightly in his hands. As he grasped it, he felt the sphere of air begin singing to him for some unknown reason.

Cadwallon's voice came into his head, "Marten," said the old man in a calm though strangely hurried voice, "You must listen to me very carefully. The man that I told you about, the one that went to Nyliam, he is after the stones of power. I have little time. You will go to the city of Rysend in Farai and locate the estate of the Al'chandon family. That family holds the stone of earth. Sneak into the estate, steal the stone, and find somewhere to hide. The hollow crags could be a good place to go. Find a suitable hiding place away from civilazation and keep the stone safe until someone that you feel you can trust comes to you. Take the pendant I gave you and throw it into a gutter somewhere. Take whatever else you are carrying and get out of Miltus as quickly as possible. It will take him an hour or two, but the man I have told you about will be able to track my link with the pendant to your present location."

A picture of a dark and brooding man with icy blue eyes, blond hair, and a face that seemed made of chiseled plains and angles appeared in Marten's mind, "If you ever see this man, Marten, run. Run far and run fast and do not look back."

***

Linerin hesitated for a few moments as the old man's image suddenly blurred before him. With astounding speed, Cadwallon formed a complex sign with his hands and his lips began to vibrate quickly as though he were speaking. There was a buzzing noise from which Linerin could distinguish few actual words other than one...."Marten".

A few moments after it had begun, the man slowed to normal speed and dropped his hands. The milky white eyes turned to stare into Linerin's blue orbs with startling intensity considering the man was blind. The man's jaw was set and he glared at Linerin defiantly. With a shouted oath, Linerin drove his spear through the old man's throat so far that the point ground into the dirt floor of the hut.

The old man shuddered violently as corruption spread through his flesh and he quickly decayed into a months-old corpse. Kneeling by the body, Linering did a cursory search of the man's robes and found nothing. But there was something.....there was a lingering taste of spirit magic in the air. It was directed somewhere distant, but where?

Cue: Linerin. If you're going after Marten keep in mind that by the time you had killed and searched Cadwallon, the boy was already about halfway to the city gate. If you hold to Cadwallon's estimate of the time it'll take you to track the link Marten will be an hour or two out of Miltus and he's running about twice as fast as a horse could run.

***

Marten wasted no time. He opened the window and leaped the ten foot drop to the street landing agilely on all fours. He took the pendant and threw it as far as he could and ran the other way. His mind racing in fear at the urgency in Cadwallon's voice, Marten drew from the elemntal spheres and became suddenly blurred as his speed increased tenfold in a matter of moments.

When he reached the city gate, which was closed for the night, Marten planted one foot without slowing and leapt. He collided with the wall about three-quarters of the way up its height on his feet and ran up it to the top. At the top, he again planted his foot and leapt, there was a muffled oath of surprise from a guard as the boy went sailing over the wall to plummet to the ground.

Just as he hit, the air magick in him surged and arrested his fall enough to alleviate most of the impact. In his mind, Marten felt a tug pointing to the northeast and so he ran in that direction. The spheres hummed and his pony tail bristled with static as he skimmed along the ground. Miltus was soon lost to sight behind him.
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Zahgo

Zahgo sat.

There is something about the Hollow Crags. Perhaps its the wind, the cold, the snow...whatever it is, it's refreshing, he thought. Yes, I feel quite...chipper.

He grinned, and took another bite of his sandwich. He had traveled many days south, through the foothills of the Crags and over the rolling plains that lay afterward. A tireless walk, without horse or wagon, without haste or dallying, a singular drive to the lands of the Lunari. He had suffered for his Art, the art of shadow and shade, and now it was time to test it on a true mage, not these backwater shamans.

Besides, it had been three years since he had been acquianted with alcohol.

Zahgo finished his ruminations, and stood atop his windswept hill. Just beyond this overblown mound, he thought, was Lunari land. And that smoke in the distance was no doubt a Lunari hamlet. With a Lunari champion.

He tapped the Shadow Weave medallion...
From the ground, from the darkness created by blades of grass, stones left on the fields came shadows, wrapping, binding themselves tightly to his body in a vicious knit, forming an ebony carapace woven from the very fibers of shade. Curling obsidian smoke flowed freely from the newly created armor, and continued to effuse with the essence of blackness as he made his way, chuckling underneath his breath, to the unsuspecting peasant town.
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Salamander Armada

For the first time in a week, Salamander sat up. A slightly sleepy soldier was at his bedside.

"You there. What has happened?"

The soldier snapped to attention. "It's good to see that you're awake, sir. A lot has happened." He saluted.

"Start at the beginning, that is always a good place."

"Well, it seems that the soldier we thought was dead in the battle with those Dancers really was dead. It was a magical virus that assimilated his body. He died here, you saw that. But he spread the virus to about half of the army, including yourself."

"And how many remain? Is it still spreading?"

The soldier began to count on his fingers. He shook his head. "About half of our men are dead. The elite guards are all dead. Even Keichi contracted it. But the good news in all this is, we found a cure. That's why you're still alive. Here." He tossed a small pouch into Salamander's lap.

Inside was a small, pearl colored stone. "This is... How did you get this?"

"When the council was told of the army's condition, and moreover of yours, they were more than willing to lend this to us. They also feel it would be good for it to remain in your care, lest anything else happen."

"Even so. They let you take the Holy Stone from Crozius Arcanum?"

The soldier nodded. "The disease has stopped spreading. Many thanks go to Keichi before he died, he was the first to suggest that we use the stone." He stood up. "There has been no movement on the Nyliam front. Just thought you should know. We did get all the troops here from Callendar that they could spare, and we also have a fleet of ships. Mostly merchants ships, but while you were out, we contracted some workers from Balanum to install weapons and such. But such things can be discussed later. You need sleep. Take care, General."

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Carlanus Silverfinger

Carlanus awoke hours of sleep due to exhaustion from the incantations. When he awoke again, it was already dark. He tended his animals again and went to his workbench.

"I have only a few more incantations, and then Razorwing will be whole," thought Carlanus to himself.

Carlanus put on his Mechanus Robes, took out the Tomes and began the final incantations.

"As it was deemed and is true now,
Your life is whole. complete, I vow.
And as you animate and come to be,
Together a journey we shall see."

"Ancient forces come and scieces of old,
Come hither come now, come to and behold.
Mechanus, your power I do now call,
Come to my hands and help animate all.
Your power is great as only few know,
But come to me now and come make it so."

And with those final words, the wings of the "construct" began to flap. The creation began to move and twitch.

"Hello, my friend," said Carlanus, "welcome to your life."

"Who are you?" a voice said in Carlanus' head.

"I am your creator," Carlanus said almost instinctively.

"So, you are the one who created me and whose thoughts revolve in my head." said the voice. "Then, I guess we are bound by Mind Share, I shall help you when the need arises and I believe you will do the same for me. As traveling companions, we can learn much. From now on, you can call me Razorwing as it is the name you have given me, and from your thoughts, you are Carlanus. Thank you for giving me life my friend."

With that, Razorwing flapped his wings and flew around the wagon for awhile.

It was during this time that Carlanus noticed a side effect form Mind Share. If he closed his eyes and concentrated for a brief moment, he could see through Razorwing's eyes and communicate with the "bird."

This could get interesting he thought to himself, and then he collapsed and slept again. The last couple days had been very taxing on his Mind and Body.

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Salamander Armada

This topic will be re-opened when the move is complete. Because of the large number of errors we have had, I don't want anyone to lose anything.