The Path of Peace, the Way of the Weave... (Open RP thread)

[Peregrinus]

Falson Almaran, sorcerer, Kingseeker Initiate, the "Keeper" of Dragonwatch, knelt above the south gate of Dragonwatch meditating as the sun dipped below the wester sky. He felt the magic of the structure, it was old, but strong, dark magic leftover from the draconic cult, the emanating shadow from the ancient alter, and an even older magic from the time the fortress was built, long lost in the shroud of time. He also felt the more recent magic, the magic he had added to reenforce the old, the magic of the geomancer as he subtly strengthed the old crumbling walls, and the magic of the others who constantly passed through the fortress.

He sensed Jae nearby, playing with Skia and her cubs. Drakin lay near his master, keeping a silent watch. The Brutes, there harsh grunts and calls as they patrolled the fortress occasionally punctured the calm eve. The power of a cleric eminated from one of the tents, the one where Samael was staying. Then there was the ever-shifting patter of the weave about Heaven, who occasionally came to the fortress to talk with Falson.

Slowly, the sorcerer stood, adjusting his red, black and copper robes. He nestled his sword into his robe, quietly concealing it. He made his way down off the wall, exchanged a quiet word with one of the Brutes, and made his way towards Samael's tent to speak with the strange man.

[Cerberus]

Samael sat back in his tent, thinking on the events of the last few days... he had to keep his secret from everyone at first, unable to remove his helmet in front of anyone... and now he was here... and he wasn't sure why. It was difficult to go outside the tent, so he remained here at the behest of the sorceror Falson.

He knew Uroch would show himself soon... hopefully word had travelled to him that Samael had been taken "prisoner." And they had to kill him on the spot, or he would pay for his betrayal. He had given up the tomes and the gem to Lone's Hunters... and he himself... he had the Four Moonstones. Everything Uroch needed, they had... they would either win, or lose.

Samael shook his head. The others were not pleased with the revelation of Samael's identity... and Lone's face and voice to tell them. Everyone showed him immediate hatred and pain... they showed him their pain, and some even blamed Samael for his part. He tried to explain his place, and tried to explain how he was going to die either way... some did not care, and the others said that fate had already sentenced him to die once, he shouldn't be here at all in the first place.

Heaven... she was the worst. He remembered her vividly, a dear friend before the bastard Kell split Lone and Samael apart... She was an incredible woman, and Lone felt completely responsible for everything that had happend to her. Lone blamed himself for taking such a good person and corrupting evil into herself, tainting her very soul. He brought the stones to her... he brought her to Kell... he did not interfere when Celadrith started her work...

Heaven... Lone lost a part of him when he turned to give the order to kill her if she interfered. He called on the Hunters to help... he told the Hunters that they were necessary because he could not count on the Kingseekers to interfere with Heaven... but deep down within him, it was because Lone would not kill Heaven. He would let Heaven kill him first.

Samael sighed, and went back to his own thoughts, pushing his memories as Lone away.

He missed Zel. She alone spoke to him as if he was a person in his own right... everyone else just called him a usurper, a barrier to bringing Lone back. Samael sighed and blinked to himself. He had not seen her since coming to stay at Dragon Watch... he wondered if she would find him.

Pushing away the cleric's power that he could control, though he knew not why Anu continued to entrust this body with such power, he stretched out to the weaves of magic, and a ball of flame appeared in his hand. He transferred it from hand to hand, studying it. He found the arcana easier to control than Anu's power, but this body limited his study of it.

As if the thought deemed it, the ball flickered out and he cursed. Sighing again, he focused, bringing the ball of flame to his hands. He gasped as a gust of wind blew into his tent, Falson swinging the flap open. Losing control for a second, he tried to channel the fire away, but he lost control, and the three candles in the tent flamed upwards as if erupting from underground. Looking at them, startled, he bent the weaves weakly, turning the fires back down to their wicker flames, and turned to address Falson.

[Vahene]

Next to Dragonswatch, where the harpies tried to sneak and pray on innocents who walked down the road, a sorceress lay in the grass next to a snoring psuedodragon near the entrance to the massive keep. Rather, near the entrance to the keep's road. Heaven was barely within the falls area, overlooking the very top of the scenic falls, and enjoying every moment of it while her familiar slept.

'I have never felt this way,' Heaven remembered telling Falson with an uneasy tone as he let her feel a calmness in the weave, a.. serenity, that she didn't know existed. It was how she imagined druids felt, or rangers perhaps, when they found perfect balance, which she figured was all the time since they usually sought to balance nature and that sort of thing.

'You are chaos,' Chra'Noa's words echoed in her head. She relayed what he said to both Falson and Den.. hoping it would make more sense if she repeated it out loud, but with Falson, well, she somehow expected him to disagree, but he hadn't. He agreed that she was chaotic.

Heaven's eyes drifted shut and she began to simply think about her magic. The spells of fire burst over her first, then the other elements one at a time. The pure elements began to fade, and another darkness crept in, but instead of pushing it out, she welcomed it, and all at once, a battle began to take place within her own thoughts for dominance.. between the elements, and the necromancy. And then slowly, a third crept in.. slowly sneaking.. so slowly Heaven didn't even see it until it was too late. Her eyes flared open right as she felt a brief moment of pure satisfaction, a feeling that absolutely frightened her.

She didn't know what it meant. Her hands were shaking, and her familiar was wide awake, glaring at her with accusing eyes.

Heaven picked up her pseudodragon gently, and winced as she got a nip on the hand, ignorning the blood trickling down her finger for her irritation of waking her dragon up, and immediately walked through the trees towards Dragonswatch. The hour was growing late.. it was getting dark, and she had no idea if what she just felt was good or not.

.

[Peregrinus]

"Samael," Falson spoke softly, his voice calm, composed and soothing, ignoring the man's accidental loss of control, "dinner will soon be served, I think you should eat."

The sorcerer breathed deeply, sensing Heaven on her way up to the keep, and closed his mind to the Weave a moment, instead focusing on the man in front of him.

"I know you feel pained by the way we speak of you and to you... I was harsh in my judgement... perhaps you time is not turly come, perhaps you've been gifted a second life."

Falson paused a moment, listening to the sound of the Brutes greeting Heaven with a cheery roar, they enjoyed having female around, it softened the harshness of the ruined fortress.

"However, I know that this body is not the one you belong in, not truly. That body is Lone's... and while I understand you once were one, you are no longer."

The mage paused, glancing over his shoulder to look at Jae who was greeting Heaven.

"I only know of two ways to join a soul with another," Falson spoke softly, "one is... intimate, the ways of a husband and wife... the other. The other... is an act of the gods."

Falson turned away from the tent, letting the man to his thoughts.

"Dinner is shortly, though if you don't come, I can't blame you... its roasted minotaur and barbicued harpy... again..."

Falson strode quietly towards Jae and Heaven, again opening himself to the Weave of magic, and noting another change in Heaven's aura in that realm.

[s4rx7]

A lone figure sat on its knees, just in front of the great statue. The only light in the room was from the wall mounted torches, but too sparse to be of much use. Deep, dark words echo in the room. The words repeated over and over again, bouncing around the room, making it sounds like a number of people where chanting. Each word made the shadows dance, defying nature itself, the shadows danced through the light drawing closer to the chanting figure. The shadows encircled and climbed onto of each other until the man was encased in a ball of shadows.

A ghostly shadow slowly grew up from the ground inside Samael’s tent.

“Fear, it turns even the most skilled mind into a primitives” the voice was deep yet soft. “They do not understand how or why, so they want to destroy you. They will of course make excuses for their actions, so they can sleep easy at night, still little comfort to you.” The shadow lowered itself to be at eye level to the sitting Samael.

“You have a destiny. You know it can not be completed here, around them. You know they hate you, you know they will kill you. To be free all you need to do is ask for it”

[Cerberus]

Dinner was relatively uneventful... Falson took Heaven away after only a few minutes, leaving Samael alone at the fire with Zel, who had run into him.

Samael had gone into the tent after dinner, after Zel took off to disappear into the night. He wanted to ask her to stick around to talk to him more, but she had her important things to do, whatever they were. She didn't tell him, and told him she doesn't talk about them... but still, he was never more comfortable than when Zel was around.

He told her he missed her... and she replied that she had missed talking to someone too... but he didn't think she had gotten what he was trying to say... and he didn't pursue it again while they were there... he was just enjoying himself in her voice.

Then came the shadow into his tent.

Samael studied the shadow intently. "Lone's soul will be used up in the summoning ritual... and I will die too. It is impossible to sever the link between us, we will die within minutes of one another. Unless you have a way to stop Uroch from opening the Dark Gate..." A glint appeared in his eye as his hands began a soft golden glow, gathering divine power within them.

[s4rx7]

The shadow seemed to smile "The gate shall be opened, it is only a matter of time. It is true that opening the gate requires a sacrifice, however you presume much. If you where to be that sacrifice do you really think Uroch would let you walk freely." The shadow paused as if letting the information sink in.

"You have many questions, and there are answers, some I can give, some you must find, but you shall not find any unless you ask." The shadow appears to be looking out the closed doorway.

"Even now they gather and whisper about you. You are something that to their way of thinking should not be. You are differnet and unknown, it is in their very nature to fear either let alone both. Their fear has already become hate, and your own inner guide confirms my words." Turns back to Samael.

"This is enough to think over for tonight. Let the night bring you peaceful rest" The shadow melted away.

[Mon-Da-Oth]

The goblin tracker examamined the bodies of his tribesman. They should have been safe this far away from the village as few travled this far into goblin lands but the scene that lay before him spoke otherwise.

Black fletched arrows protruded from each of the bodies but on each arrow shaft was a painted green cresting. The arrows still throbed with Elvish magic and it burned the trackers palm when he reached down to pull one from the throat of his tribesman.

"Could one puny Elf do all this?" the Goblin snarled in its gutteral language.

A groan from behind him caused him to spin about with his small black blade waving about looking for his foe. Freezing for a moment he heard it again and slowly made his way to the sound.

The body of goblin laid face down in the leaves with a large pool of blood around it. The tracker reached down and rolled the body over.

A brief flicker of life passed on the face of the fallen goblin as it stared up at the tracker. "Giggling Elf, giggling death" it spoke belching out large spurts of blood in its effort to speak.

"You still alive?" the tracker asked pulling his blade closer to the wounded goblin. "Then you should have killed the Elf!"

The tracker plunged his blade through the chest of the wounded goblin piercing its heart and lungs.

After wipping his blade on the body of the now dead goblin he straightened and scanned the surrounding forest again. A strange sound like that of laughter echoed from deep within the forest.

The tracker snorted. "Giggling death indeed". and then shrieked in pain as a black fletched arrow with green cresting lanced into his upper thigh.

[Vahene]

With Samael.. indisposed.. while she was talking to Falson.. the conversation itself turned directly to her magic, straight to the point. Falson, she knew was likely one of the two most knowledgeable people in Dasaria about magic (she wasn't likely to go to the other since Kell wanted to kill her with all due certainty). But the thought of the third power that interfered .. being the Plane of Shadow.. never entered her mind in a million years.

She knew a few spells that were illusionary, it was true, and all of those spells were her most powerful defensive spells. Heaven called on them constantly to protect her, thus she did have a constant stream of power flowing from the Plane of Shadow. It made sense.

'I've been there,' Heaven had blurted out.

'You've told me that before,' Falson said, looking almost thoughtful. She should have kept a better eye on that look. Before she knew it, they were headed to the Plane of Shadow. A place she had only been two times before, both times with Lone, oddly enough. She wondered how Samael would react if he knew. Yuna had come up to the keep and went with them to the Plane of Shadow as well.

Her journey back however, was a much quieter and much slower one. She didn't say much of anything, and sat now outside the keep staring at the water, her dragon almost sleeping, fading in and out of a light snooze beside her.

She had a lot to think about.

[Rego Blin]

Tathar sat away from the fire burning within the keep, preferring to stick to the darker, more peaceful parts of the place.

He had spent the last few days in and out, between Dragonwatch and the forest nearby, always though the man he had met in Dasar known as Lone to him was around. He had wanted to speak with him, but upon hearing the interactions between him and the others around the keep he decided to keep his distance and observe, besides he still had to wait for Myles, or even the one named Den that I read on the papers found in the wagon.

As Tathar chewed on some of the food he had foraged for in the forest he watched the as everyone moved about the keep, and he felt a little glad no one was paying much attention to him, he never was a people person anyways.

Tonight though he decided he had to speak with he saw as Lone and others called Samael. Finishing what he was eating quickly, he rose and made his way towards Samael's tent.

[Alice]

It was mid afternoon by the time Zel crawled out of bed. It was a ruff night. First she found Sam in some old fort outside the city. Then she had to go meet with some associates that had some information she wanted on Heaven, Falson, Ivea, Den, Kell and someone named Uroch.

It all made her head hurt. She never cared about anyone before so why should she care if Sam lives or dies? As she walked to the closet she passed a mirror and paused to take a long look at herself. Damn, the scars never had healed right. The clerics said they couldn’t do anything for it because there was too much time between the damage being done and her seeking help.
-----------------

Once she had trusted someone and while she slept he ran off to collect the reward on her head. The Varanites are not as gentle as the people of Dasaria. They knew she was in on the theft of the temple artifacts. They went to work on her for over an hour before they asked their first question. It didn’t matter what she told them. Hell, they didn’t care about the temple or the goods. They just enjoyed the sport of it.

After being burned with acid to her jawbone, having her jawbone shaved down with a dagger and having some of her teeth pulled out they told her they were just starting.

The only thing that saved her life was an attack that drew her “interrogators” away from the room. Thinking fast she was able to use a splinter from her own jaw to pick the locks on the restraints. By the time the attack ended she was long gone.

She traveled to Daris to seek a cleric that could fix her, but that was only to lead to more disappointment as the cleric could heal some but not all of the damage.
--------------------

As Zel came back to the present she noticed a tear running down her face as she stared at the scars that were an all to important reminder that you can’t trust anyone but yourself.

With a deep sigh and a wince of mental pain she pulled on her mask and made her way out of the room. As she passed the mirror she took one last look and punched it, shattering the mirror.

The day was rainy and overcast, just right to fit her mood. She had work to do. Sam was counting on her to help save his life wen so many have turned their back on him.

Oh, she needed a new mirror to.

[Kell]

A carefully laid out map on the desk showed what Falson called the "Weave". Kell had taken time to put it all down on a parchment, for further studies and possible enhancement where he saw it fit. He could see the knots and strings sorcerers had so easily access to. This way, it was easier to understand what was going on. He'd asked Celadrith to explain it to him in the smallest detail so that he could map exactly who was where and what was going on. With small pins he had marked the names down of all those mages and sorcerers that meant something in the lands of Dasaria. There were many, but only a few were big enough to really keep in mind, so he saw. Also, he was able now to see who made use of what and that was a major step forward. He could see who was where now and how they probably stood against or for him.

Heaven had shifted.

Not a surprise. It was never meant to be anyways. He'd known it from the start, but he hadn't quite seen the use of trying to work against fate and the way the world seems to work. At the time it had been good fun trying to manipulate and corrupt the poor soul, but eventually it hadn't exactly been worth their time. She'd go, shift the "weave" so many times as she saw fit. She was chaos. Chaos unbound. As usual.

A while ago, he'd told Samael that in the game of the Deities, he only was a puppet. A balancer. And maybe he was, albeit in somewhat of a different way then what most people saw as a balancer.

With all the problems that had arisen around Lone, Samael.. Well, they just should have listened. He'd told them to return the stones to Anshar, and bring it back to the state it was supposed to be. Somethings shouldn't have changed. Of course, Anu had wanted those stones destroyed. But there is always something the deities want that should not be accomplished. There should be a balance to it all...

The drow sighed softly, leaning in again over the map. He wiped some silvery white locks from his face, behind his ear, peered intently at the parchment.

Samael had asked Kell to help him find a new body, so that maybe Samael could live further in this time. There were some questions though, that the drow wondered about. Firstly; Samael was not -meant- to be in this time. Would it be justified to put an old soul into a new body like this? Kell realized that by his doing the souls of Lone and Samael were split up, and he didn't regret it, but to go this far as to create another body so they could live separately.. Two souls once one, living separately as two. Ancestors roaming the same time and place as the descendants?

He frowned. He'd brought it this far, essentially he was the creator of this problem, which kinda made him responsible for solving it as well. But why on earth would he suddenly develop a sense of duty and responsibility because of this? He'd created the chaos for these beings, now why wouldn't he just let them solve it themselves? After all it had never been his question for them to come to him with their problems and their questions of him helping them. Basically it was none of his business. It was their problem, not his.

Maybe he should find Falson and discuss this issue. Just maybe, if he was allowed close enough, he could explain straight and to the point what his worries were and maybe they could discuss the consequences of taking this thing one step further. Or leaving it where it is right now.

For once, he felt, it maybe was better to play all cards and lay them open on the table. This game already had gone too far and even though he hated the fact he had been drawn into this so far, he couldn't help feeling the need to somehow put a stop to this. Because where it came to meddling with the spirits of old, there were some very strict rules. And those rules were about to be broken.

[Pvt.Zombi]

Den sat quietly in a room above the Blue Boar, going over some notes of Lone's left at Dragonswatch. Many of them pretaining to possible recruits, some concerning Myles. Den leaned back in his chair and gave another heavy sigh.

You shouldn't have let Samael stay in Dragonswatch ya know.

That wasn't my choice it was his, but yeah, I agree. With the number of people that come and go out of there..it won't be long until Uroch figures things out, assuming he hasn't already.

So, now what smart guy?

Not much to do really, tie up a few loose ends.

Den took out a fresh piece of parchment and began to write.

-----Things to do-------

1. Stay alert

2. Find Myles' sister and his cure

3. Find Myles and get him cured

4. Find the Orb of Torment

5. Kill Uroch

6. Make sure Uroch stays dead

7. Find Serena from the Far South

[JaeEleutheria]

As Jae Eleutheria:

He was always there for everyone and everything, trying to sort things out, and sometimes, he seemed to forget the thing that waited for him to come home, until he came home and got to bed. Heaven needed guidance, and Falson was there for her. Jae on the other hand, had balanced herself out and really didn't feel that things within herself needed to be guided much anymore.

She was balance. She had been called that in her youth, being the one standing between the boys she had grown up with when they had fights over multiple things. She was the peacemaker, the keeper of the scales. Coming into control of her magic she found the overwhelming desire to keep the scales balanced. She was not totally neutral, but she could see that good and evil must retain a balance in order for things go come along smoothly.

Her scales were in balance...

That is, until she officially met Samuel... more or less saw his face.

First came tears of outrage, and now pure anger. In all simple means she at first thought the bastard should go to hell or whatever it was that evil things must go to.

Then after meditation, she came to a conclusion. She communed with Ea, asking for guidance. She roamed through the forested areas near Dragonwatch, watching the now "teenaged" panther cubs romping around and pouncing on poor unsuspecting little bunnies. She prayed to Erra, the lesser known goddess of fertility and the land that her former bodyguard was devoted to, prayed Skia will have another non-threatening pregnancy. Then she prayed to whatever other god seemed to care for more guidance and how she could balance out the scales.

His mere existance in this place and in this time, threw everything out of balance. He was a ripple in the weave that made everything tip over on its head. He did not belong here. His time was over.

But it was not her time to act. She feared what would happen if her more violent former bodyguard chose to act. Jae wondered if Samuel was really evil or if he was not. She could hardly control her own emotions, so she just simply moved back into the walls and shifted herself to not be seen, and went to a nice comfy corner of the place to continue her meditation.

At which, she found herself taking a nap on Drakin. Hopefully the panther didn't mind too much...

[Vahene]

Going back to the temple was.. a strange but odd pull, something she felt she had to do.. finding Kell there was even stranger, but then having a civil conversation with the drow, and walking further, finding Falson there.. Heaven thought her head was going to explode from trying to make sense of it all.

She had started to walk towards town but stopped and returned to the altar where the three of them talked about Samael, and what to do. Heaven was firmly now even more than ever of the opinion that fate should pretty much take its course. If Samael wanted a body of his own that badly that he would approach Kell, than perhaps he needed to learn what would happen if he breached that unspoken rule of magic.

Kell was right, however. Heaven let her lips twitch upwards. The gods wouldn't stand for it if Samael tried. "Let nature take its course," She said softly, touching the stone of the altar again.

Good would be balanced so long as Lone got his body back. But was it a good balance? She wasn't sure she cared anymore. She was getting fond of Samael, it wasn't fair to make him go away, was it? Heaven frowned. She couldn't believe Kell actually had a moral issue with this. A drow necromancer.. had a moral issue--she tossed her head from side to side and sighed.

Would wonders never cease?