The Ultimate Sacrifice (The Journal of Lone Starraiser)

[Cerberus]

Knowledge of an enemy darker than any known emerges, and all the evils of the world compete for its favor...

The Pale Moonstones... they're evil. Corrupting the land around them for years, those who search for them only find legend and mystery, and lores from beyond... A man in the Blue Boar had been around attempting to solicit some hunters to find them. I was one of those, led by the promises of gold and treasure...

A dark and eerie chamber, a statue of a large demon standing in the center. Mitchifer looked at an oddly placed anvil in the room with content. "Lone, you see they need to be destroyed..." The cleric, glittering in his armor turned around to see his companions, deep within the Ruins of Palemoon.

Lone nodded. "Yes, master. It is obvious." The apprentice cleric's armor was not as clean or shined as Mitch's, but he felt it protected him well enough. "We really don't have any choice..."

A black-clothed rogue emerged from the passageway behind them. "WHAT?! Do you have ANY idea how much money that guy is PAYING for these?! I haven't come all this way, nearly being killed MULTIPLE times to just give them up!" Zieg placed his hand to his head.

Isha entered the room, calmly listening to the conversation, idly fondling the sack at her side.

Mitch eyed Zieg carefully. "Is the money all that is important --" He stopped as Zieg held up his hands, as if to display the clothes he was wearing. Mitch chuckled and approached the rogue. "Fine, I'll pay you your share. Lone, get the stones."

As Mitch clinked out stacks of gold into Zieg's greedy fingers, Lone turned to Isha. "Alright, Isha, let's get this over with."

"What do you plan to do?" She asked.

Lone blinked at the woman. Was she not listening? "We're gonna stick them up there on the anvil and destroy them," he said, pointing.

Hissing, she clutched the sack to her side. "No! They're Miiiine!" The sudden hostility brought looks from the three men in the chamber. "THEY'RE MINE!"

Lone's jaw dropped for a moment before recovering. "Isha... look at this place, its obvious they need to be destroyed." Mitch nodded in agreement. Zieg was not paying any attention, gleefully stuffing his pack with gold. Taking a step forward, Lone held his hand out. "Come on, Isha... there will be plenty of other ways for us to find gold." He smiled fondly, referring to the multiple Varanite raids they had accomplished together. Quite a picking, they were.

Freezing, Lone gasped, staring wide-eyed at the woman staring back at him, sensing her spirit. "It's... it's not her..."

"THEY'RE MIIINE!"

"Isha?! Where is she?!" Lone pleaded... "Bring her back to me!"

"Um...hello?" Zieg quietly appeared behind Isha, tapping her on the shoulder.

Isha started, and glanced behind her. Taking advantage of the distraction, Lone took his chance... she was becoming worse each moment. Chanting a spell, a blast of negative energy took Isha offguard, knocking her down...

We thought we had destroyed the stones, and all was well... Until we arrived back in Daris. It was obvious Isha was upset with me... but she claimed she could not remember what happened. I found it odd that she DID remember what I did to stop her... although I agree with her that perhaps another course of action could have been taken. It pained me when she accused me of trying to harm her.

We saw each other around town from time to time, but each time, I could sense... something... I'm not sure if it was a remnant of the evil that possessed her or her own honest hatred for my being... but I remembered those words each time I saw her.

"You hurt me..."

"You did WHAT?" Timmy exclaimed, jumping backwards a foot. Lone put the stones back in his pack, hushing Timmy and looking from side to side, hoping no one heard. Daris was unusally abustle for an evening, but fortunately, no one paid any mind to the two men standing in the dusty street.

"I want to help Isha... and the stones were the cause of the problem, so I went back to collect them. Now I just have to figure out what to do with them."

Timmy stared at the cleric, carefully deciding. Several moments passed while he held his fingers to his lips. Shaking his head, he spoke slowly. "You're a cleric... can't you just do a blessing ritual, make them good again?"

"I hadn't thought of that..." The two men stared at one another, then turned to walk towards the Anu temple outside town.

The evil that permeated the temple... it scared me... I only succeeded in pushing the evil outside the stones, to flow and move around inside the temple. It refused to come within several feet of me, but we could feel it, there. Scared, we fled and locked the temple, to decide what to do.

I spent the rest of the day around town, holding onto the stones, wondering what needed to be done. In the end, I couldn't top Timmy's suggestion to go to Dasar, and speak to the priest there. So, I let the people I had come to know that I was travelling that way. It was a good thing I did...

--FROM HERE ON, GENEROUSLY AND WELL-DONE DMING BY LOFANG WAS PROVIDED...ALTHOUGH HE "CATEGORICALLY DENIED" ANY INVOLVEMENT UNTIL LATER... HAHAHA--

The small party eyed Lone carefully, now having full knowledge that he still held them in his pack. He finished speaking and held them out for them to see.

Den and Heaven exchanged a careful glance. Den just shook his head, Heaven breathed deeply. Ra'enya leaned against her bear, watching passively. The dwarf with her, Sulinus, leaned on his hammer.

"One last thing," Lone continued. "Den. I'm holding--" His sentence was cutoff as a deep blackness reached over his shoulder, stretching for the stones.

The party sprung to life. Fresh from the shadow plane, several shadows and shadow fiends approached, their long slim arms extended in front of them. The nearby farmers were easily tossed aside as the dark spirits slowly moved towards the stones in Lone's hands. He almost dropped them as threw them into his sack, retrieving his morningstar and unstrapping his shield from his back. Set, Lone looked up... ...to see all the shadows disappearing, and Sulinus using the spare moment to spit at one that lie on the ground. "Damned things... ther' dinnae be spirits in these lands.."

Lone looked at his friends, then pulled the stones from their sack. They pulsated stronger than ever before, the evil that was thought to have been released in the temple filling them with a dark blood glow. He looked up to see everyone looking at him. Lone thought quickly, but what happened next decided for him.

The loud hissing Lone hadn't heard since he had delved into the Shadow Plane echoed across the farmland. Portals from the Shadow Plane were being opened in front of them! Everyone grasped their weapons and slowly began making their way across the fields.

The road was darkened by the many portals to the Shadow Plane, and the group fought their way valiantly. Sulinus and Lone danced amongst the shadows, turning what they could and fighting the rest. Den swiftly melded into the night almost as effectively as the shadows themselves, appearing to strike with his bow and quickly disappear again. Heaven and Ra'enya lit the night like the sun as the shadows were torn apart by their whips of magical lights. Not a step was taken that was not fought for with a shadow.

Several miles from the town, Lone spotted Hunar's place in the distance, and his tiring friends. "Quickly! He called! Finish these off and get into Hunar's!" The party, renewed from the thought of a break from the deathly darkness, showed new vigor in killing off the shadows.

"What inna hell?!" came another dwarven voice from the darkness. A shorter dwarf ran past the party, purusing a single shadow into the night. "Come back here ya stoopid spreet!" Wielding his hammer, he caught up to it and began bashing it to the ground.

"Beer!" Lone called, addressing the dwarf who had just appeared. Beer Zork'Rr, who Lone had met briefly when he found his body laywasted west of Daris past recently, and restored him from near death to life.

"Where?!" Den called. Heaven chuckled lightly, and made her way to Hunar's.

"What be this' things? What you been up to, Lone?" Beer asked.

"Not much time to explain, Beer, but we're headed to Dasar in an emergency, and your strength would be a great asset..."

A smile crawled across the small dwarf's mouth, and raised his hammer in the air. "Aye! Bashin spreets!"

We found a moment's repose in Hunar's shop, but it didn't last long. I only let everyone rest as long as was necessary... I didn't want to bring the shadows down on the man's establishment...

...We battled long and hard. The Nyar had burrowed all the way from Pale Moon, and set up a bottleneck on us. It had taken us by surprise, but we barely were able to make it by.

The only thing we were greatful for were all the dead creatures that we passed by on our way to Dasar. The Minotaur, Lizardfolk, the Dark Druids, had all been consumed by the Shadow or Nyar and left for dead. That, and the fact that Oraan's Crossing was left untouched. We could only assume the large amounts of people kept our enemies at bay.

Then we got closer to Dasar...

Sneaking through the woods, Lone called a halt. Everyone stopped as their jaws dropped at the scene before them. Nyar and Shadows, fighting amongst themselves. "Let them fight..." Lone said, and watched them at it. Only a moment had passed before a shriek was heard tearing through the fighting. "THE STONES WILL BE OURS! WE WILL TAKE THEM TO OUR MASTER!"

Den growled. "Drow..." Lone turned to answer his realization, but found him already gone. "Dammit!" Lone called, and lurched forward from the trees hiding them, following where he knew Den had gone.

Arrows flittered from the trees, coming faster than Lone could count, each one finding its target in a Drow priest or militiaman. The chaos caused the perfect opportunity for surprise, and the party took it into advantage. Heaven and Ra'enya called on their magics, the dwarves stood back to back, bashing Nyar, Drow, and Shadow with equal ease, and Lone alternated between his divine magics against the shadows, and his morningstar to break the faces of the cruel monsters.

The battle melted as a loud scream tore at their ears. Everyone looked at the source, a Drow High Priestess... with Den's sword stuck through her body. A cruel smile was worn on his face as he twisted the blade, and then stood back to let her slide off. Shaking his head, he bent down and wiped his blade on the dead drow's cloak.

Nodding, Lone led the way to Dasar, continuing to clash with the different enemies along the way.

It was their greed that allowed us to pass safely. The Shadow, the Drow, the Nyar... they had all gotten in one another's way. I quiver with fear to think upon their strength if they had worked together... fortunately their ill desire to gather the stones stood in between that and their ultimate goal.

We reached Dasar in triumph, happy to be once again within safe walls again. I went to the temple of Anu, and showed the stones to the High Priest there. He, unfortunately, could not conclude what to do, but he did recognize glyphs written into the stones, and recommended we see Lady Nara at the temple of Nana-Sin.

"Place the stones on the altar, Lone." Lady Nara calmly stated, motioning to said altar in the middle of the temple. Lone nodded and looked into his sack. Blinking, the stones weren't there.

Before he could react, Den stepped up, handing them to him. "We thought it was safer if you didn't carry them..." Den said, remembering Lone's fervor to help Isha. Shrugging, he handed the stones to the cleric, who placed them on the altar.

Lady Nara stepped forward, and started to sing softly. Her tone was soft, yet commanding... comforting, yet with the regalness of royalty... Lone found himself swaying softly to and fro to her rhythm, watching the stones intently. The evil... it didn't disappear, but Lone could barely sense it any longer.

Slowly trailing off, Lady Nara nodded to herself. "It is done. The stones of this temple will prevent the Nyar burrowers, the sacred ground will hold off the shadows. The drow," she smiled slyly, "we have brigades of crusaders to deal with them. You can be assured they will be safe here."

Ra'enya spoke up softly. "What about all that, the drow, the Nyar, the Shadow... why were they fighting amongst themselves?"

"A deeper, darker, power is manipulating these designs, using these stones as focus points. Any one of them would pay a high price to have these in their possession, to gain the favor of the Darkness."

"Darker power? You mean Nergul?"

Lady Nara muttered fiercely to herself. "Please, do not speak such names. However, that is not the one I refer to."

The party stood silently, pondering her words.

Lone shook his head. "What about Isha, will she be okay? And the temple?" He explained all that had happened.

"If the evil was within her, than perhaps with these sealed away she may recover. As for the temple, it was release of that energy that drew your enemies to you... but the evil returned to the stones."

Lone bowed. It was enough. Hopefully, it was enough. "Thank you, my lady."

I'm at Hunar's now, on my way back to Daris, and thought it pertinant to write my thoughts in my journal. I find myself feeling guilty... a dark sinister plot of a deeper evil has been revealed, and all I care about is that Isha might look at me with the adventurous twinkle in the eye she had before we ever set foot on Palemoon.

Well, perhaps not ALL I care about... I have come to like this land, and these people here. Instead of moving on, I will stay awhile, and get to know these folk better.

And if the evil comes, I will fight it.

If the evil comes, it will not just be their war. It will be the world, the people, the Good, versus the Evil.

--Lone Starraiser

[Kell]

ooc: Great read! Thank you. You have a way of writing that really sucks the reader into the story. Keep it up, alright?

[Cerberus]

Thank you

Although I have to thank all of the characters who were involved... really all i did was pull this from the roleplaying we did online, with minor changes for story continuity and the fact that there's no way I could include ALL the details without writing a short novel.

But, they did great too, helping me with my story, so thanks you guys!

What will I do with Lone next..........?

[Mon-Da-Oth]

Nice. Thank you.

[Vahene]

Good summary Lone.

[Wormez]

(( Exellent work Lone mate. I hope for Timmy's sake Lone doesnt turn into evil or gets lured by the stones. Timmy bonded with Lone very much. Like brothers. I think what happens next is going to be what happens to Isha, and how that effects Lone. isha would turn evil? doing what ever it takes to get the stones. Ummmm. isha could get better living happily with Lone and whoever else, but the stones try get her back and mabybe the evil try's to assinate her. Whaa, im liking this lone Cya in game mate.

Great story ))

[Pvt.Zombi]

Den's sword stuck through her body. A cruel smile was worn on his face as he twisted the blade, and then stood back to let her slide off. Shaking his head, he bent down and wiped his blade on the dead drow's cloak

MWAHAHAHA!!!! Excellently written Lone, can't wait to see where this leads.

[DM Artorius]

I enjoyed that. I like how you seperated events. Well done.

[s4rx7]

((great read! Sorry Isha couldn't be there Well stay tuned folks I get the feeling this story is only just getting started

[s4rx7]

Isha sat in a darkened corner of the Salted Rim, content to watch in hidden as ladies chased gold from unscrupulous men. “Even so close to a temple, wicked minds prowl in plain sight”, thinking to herself. Sitting in the corner sipping absinthe as she waited. It was not long before a waitress gave her the nod..

Isha entered the room locking the door behind her. She placed the only chair in the room under the door handle, knowing all to well that a lock was little protection here. Looking around the small room there was a large round tub which almost completely filled the room. After removing her armour and most of her clothing, she grabbed the bottle of absinthe, a glass, and climbed into the steaming tub. Isha sat in the soothing warm water, watching the door and continued to drink.

Warm water soaked into her skin, relaxing tense muscles. Eyes now heavy, forms begin to take shape in the steam. The empty bottle fell from the tubs edge, bounced and then rolled into the corner. Isha however did not see or hear this at all. Her body sat motionless except for the movement behind closed eyes, her mind was no longer in this realm.

Images past came flooding in, nothing but glimpses, reminders of why she had left her hidden village, and its people. Her life in the village had been foretold, she was the first step in a dire prophecy. “You shall have many trials, some you will pass… others you may think you have failed” the voice rang in her ears. The image rippled as if a looking at a reflection in water, changing the view to see a bird eye of the world, flying away from her happy village. Soaring to great heights, over forests, over snow capped mountains, and over a sea, all the while feeling calm, she could feel the breeze on her skin and in her hair, enjoying every moment, until sand. It felt as though she was dropped from a great height and slammed straight into it.

Coughing, spluttering, and gasping for air, looking up only in time to be hit with a great wall of wind and sand. The wind, flung her around like a rag doll, blown from building to mountain side for several minutes, finally landing on top of something. Unseen forces held her head down a hole, where 4 figures stood. It was that temple, she could see Mitch, Zieg, Lone, and, at first glace it look like her but something was wrong, the figure was covered in an odd glow. A haze washed over the image, she could now see what her mortal eyes could not. The strange glow was coming from the four stones, seeping into the armour, Isha blinked and could see inside the armour. The green glow was encasing and leaching into her body. Lone voice trickled into her ears, it was the negative energy spell, she tried to scream to stop but it was to late.

The pain, she remembered that, but now she saw why, the green glow seemed to devour the spell. The spell had not removed the curse, it had empowered it, it had take over her body to provoke the clerics, to feed of there power. Now she saw and relived the pain, it was as if she had been set alight and dropped in acid, every hair, every bone, for a split instance every cell in her body burst into this terrible pain, and then it was over, in that instant the glow had returned to the stones. It wasn’t Lone…….

The Temple of Anu flashed before her eyes. There Lone stood preparing to cast something over the stones. She tried, to yell, she tried to scream, for him to stop, but it was too late. The evil trapped in the stones devoured his spell again, but this time something came out of them, it flew around the temple with a terrifying yell. It was lose, it was hungry, it wanted….Her physical body sprung violently forward, eyes bursting open, yelling “LONE!”

Absinthe still coursed through her veins. Her once nimble finger fumbled to place her clothes and armour back on, they fumbled at the chair and the lock. Her legs and feet had lost all sense, she tried to run, but could barely manage to stumble. Laughter filled the salted rim as all watched Isha stagger out of the bar. Ghostly white and panic stricken, the ‘boots only noticed the overwhelming smell of alcohol and left her be. She stood for a moment before the temple door, tightened her grip, stead her self, and then charge through the door and into the middle of the empty temple. Standing there spinning round, there was no evil to be found, there was, no one to be found at all. Falling to her knees, she felt a lump in her throat, her eyes watered, and through a crackly voice “Lone, you stubborn….. this was not your fight….. this was not your time….” Tears rolled down her face until sleep caught her.

[Cerberus]

Lone sat back in one of the chairs provided to guests of the Blue Boar, and silently watched Isha as she slept. It had been a surprise for him to enter the Temple, prepared to pray for Anu's guidance, to find her there on the floor, her armor and clothing looking like it had just fallen on her haphazardly with no proper look in mind. He had picked her up and taken her to his room at the Inn, and laid her to rest on the bed. Surely it was more comfortable than the stone floor of the temple.

His thoughts raced through his head. Earlier in the day he found someone who seemed to understand the situation Lone was in, and it had helped his frantic thoughts to speak to someone about his feelings. Lone blinked at the floor. Unfortunately, it also brought back a lot more than what he had bargained for.

Since his encounter with the strange man, more memories of the past, memories not his own, flooded to his mind. It always seemed to be from the same point of view...

...Samael, An elf of the Rian, liege guardian to two of their fiercest warriors, a husband and wife. The poor elf was lovestricken with the wife, Eamane, but it was a love that could never be. Her guardian was as close as he could get, but to be that close, he was thankful.

Samael stood with a man, alone in a clearing. The taller, gruffer elf stood silent, a staff in his hands, leaning on it. Samael turned and spoke him. "Are you sure this is a good idea? This is a demon... they cannot be trusted."

The elf turned and looked Samael in the eyes with a fervor that caused Samael to wish he had not spoken. "Any price..." he said softly, "is worth saving Eamane."

Samael nodded and turned, eager to look away from that face... "I only suggest. It is my duty to protect you two, after all."

"It is not just your duty. It is your destiny. The Council has said it so."

Lone blinked out of his reverie and looked up at Isha again. Thoughts from the past in his head or no, he knew what he was here for now. Rocking on the legs of the chair, Lone patiently waited for her to wake. He only hoped she would be happy to see him. Everything would be for naught if it didn't work...

[s4rx7]

Isha Yawned and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Her gaze fell on Lone, she blink and rubber her eyes, he was still there. Springing from the bed Isha landed a hug on Lone almost knocking him of his chair “You’re alive!” Retreating from the rare sign of affection, she regained her cold front. “I know what happened in that temple, I was wrong to be upset with you, you where just trying to help…..” all emotion faded from her face “I know what the stones do and…” she paused remembering what the vision of Lone in the temple of Anu. “The stones, where are the stones now?”

[Cerberus]

Lone, excited at Isha's reaction, had a hard time relating the entire story to Isha, but accomplished it, starting from when he first went back to get the stones, to their sealing in Dasar. He told her of the many battles they went through and about the Lady Nara, and her words, and the emergence of the deeper evil.

He also told her how the evil in the temple was afraid of him, how it refused to take hold of him, to come closer than it needed to, how the stones remained more docile in his hands, that they did not react as they did for others.

He sat back and looked at Isha, grinning.

[budgie1]

More, write more, write more now.......

[Kell]

They sat. Minutes past by and the longer it took the faster time seemed to go. Cold bones surrounded in a soft blue hue lay over the forehead of the young priest. Eyes stares into each other even though the lids were closed. It was a one way direction. The priest was blind for the world beyond, but the drow wasn’t. The more he concentrated, calling upon his abilities, the more the ever present fog seemed to thicken. They were always there, but not as apparent as when he called upon them. Spirits of the past, the present, sometimes the future. With closed eyes Kell stared into the eyes of the young human sitting opposed him. The soft skin felt warm against his hand; there was a certain resistance. But he pushed further, nothing could stop him now that he’d come this far. Certainly not the weak will of a human, still a child. He would find the weakness to this creature and he would use it to break him and form him to his own will. There was potential, but Lone’s faith was too strong right now. Anu had his slippery fingers all over this boy. It would take time to draw them away one by one, but from what Kell had seen now, it would be worth it. This was a soul worth fighting for.

That resistance.. The fog around them began to seem suffocating. The thick wiry strings swarming about them both began to materialize. Black dots appeared from all sides, twisting and twirling into the gaps between the dead and the living. When two of those would meet, they would spin about. Then a soft glow would appear in them. The meeting of the living will and ultimate destiny, ending in a battle between opposites, decided in death. A spirit was created and a creature had died. So beautiful to the drow’s eyes, but there was too little time to admire. Too little time to stand still by the ending of life and the beginning of those things he loved so much. Too little time to consider the resistance. Too many things happening around him, he felt how distraction took the better of him. Before he knew it, this resistance had now turned against him. He was no longer the observant, he had become the subject.

The longer he stayed in that place, the less the material plane seemed to vanish. The eyes that belonged to Lone, began to seem more and more familiar. Where had he seen them before...

A humbling sensation of shame, maybe a sense of guilt, fell over him. He felt he was being judged by those eyes. Why didn’t he recognize them? He knew them. Who did they belong to?

Staring straight into the eyes, he grew more and more restless. The feeling of needing to escape crept upon him slowly but those eyes kept drawing him closer.

A moment later, Kell crawled back from Lone, startled and confused. He didn’t quite understand what just happened. He was the master, how did a spirit dare to patronize him like this? Lone noticed Kell’s change of behavior and his eyes fluttered open. A curious glance into the drow’s direction made Kell retain his posture, seemingly his calm self again.

“What did you see?”

What did he see? He had been judged and punished by the Spirit he found when he was trying to stare into the soul of this young man. Appearances were deceiving. But he knew why the evil of the stones had seemed apprehensive to this man. If he were smart, he would act the same way.

“Nothing.”