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| Thread: Anthologies of War: The Rise of the War Wizards (PRP) | |
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RedSoxFan3
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posted November 22, 2005 03:08 AM |
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Anthologies of War: The Rise of the War Wizards (PRP)
Note: This is the first PRP to be created in Glade and it will be written by Shadowcaster and I. It is loosely based on LHW.
All feedback should be directed here.
Thousands of years ago the first men began living amongst the elves and learning their ways of life. These men were taught of the various magics of their world. After they learned the ways of life from the elves they went out into the world to create their own cities and villages. Soon all of mankind lived in civilization.
However many could not wield magic as the first men who started civilization and thus lived as peasants under the rule of the Magi. As civilization grew, the Magi continued their studies of magic learning from the elves. Eventually mankind discovered a magic unique to their own race, which they originally called Physical Magic. The simpler applications of this magic could be used to call upon great muscle strength, agility, swiftness, and biological immunity. However more complex applications included the manipulation of seemingly immaginary forces, which could lift, propel or break objects, as well as giving special properties to specific objects, such as making a sword lighter and stronger, or granting better accuracy to bows, arrows, or spears.
The destructive and chaotic nature of humans of course decided the most useful applications to this type of magic was for war. And thus humans began making schools of magic teaching the applications of Magic in War. However soon humans began looking into the spells from which the elves had taught them to meet their need of war, such as fireball, lightning bolt, haste, slow, and various other spells.
Soon humans began to take the philosophy that these types of spells were far more powerful and contained far more potential than that of Physical Magic and thus created their own schools of magic. The first school to be created was the School of Fire Magic and had forever since been considered by Magi to be the superior school of magic, capable of defeating all other types of magic except one other school of magic, The School of Water Magic, which so happened to be the second school of magic to be founded and recognized by mankind.
As more and more Schools of Magic came into existance, the rulers of mankind decided to create a counsil to oversee all forms of magic and create laws and regulations on the legal ways to use magic. This body not only oversaw every schools of magic, but also joined all civilization into one governed body. It was called the Royal Order of Magi.
The empire existed for a thousand years before the first of many great wars fell upon mankind. The first of these was the Forsaken War. The Forsaken War took a great toll on the southern parts of the empire, completely obliterating its largest cities. Many non-magic users believed that the Royal Order of Magi did not do anything to protect the southern lands. The magi of all schools of magic other than the School of War Magic remained in the northern capitol, Divintia, only going to battle when the legions of the Forsaken Ones were on their doorstep.
All of the magi in the world were working on the creation of the magical gems including the master emerald. All known forms of magic were used to create the master emerald and even a few forms of magic gained enough recognition to give birth to new schools of magic. However the School of War Magic did not partake in the creation of the Master Emerald and instead took part in its own projects, such as the most powerful weapons and armor to ever to be created by mankind, including the Ice Mace and the Staff of the Clouds.
The story begins during the aftermath of the Forsaken War.
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Shadowcaster
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posted November 28, 2005 07:17 AM |
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(Major Edit: Completely revamped the story; doubled post length.)
The history of shadow magic is one etched by outcasts who were driven into solitude and forced to dwell in darkness because the Dark Arts were equated with evil. This was likely due to the fact that it was born outside of the Order, pioneered by the queen of all assassins, and refined by her bretheren after her fall into darkness. One could ask how an assassin could fall any further than he or she already has, but it must be noted that this was no ordinary assassin. It was Alivia, a Forsaken, and the only to have ever been mortal.
Alivia's line was carried on by her only son, who she raised in the assassin's guild to become the next leader of her people. No one but his mother knew where the boy's father was, and she intended to take that secret to her grave. Alivia focused solely on her son, naming him Zion in hopes that he would lead the guild to greatness.
Zion showed great promise as an assassin, but he developed an uncommon attraction to his mother even as he grew into a hardened warrior. Some called it love, others, respect, and still others, fear, but the bond was undeniable. In Zion's eyes, Alivia could do no wrong, a feeling reinforced by her prioritizing of the boy above all else.
Needless to say, when his mother first began striking bargains with the dark and sinister figure in the woods late at night, Zion became jealous. What had she to hide from him? He resolved to fight to retain his mother's attention at any cost, and immediately cast the figure into the role of rival. The next night, when he noticed his mother approach the ominous glade, he tagged along as well. Using all he had learned, the boy remained undetected as he listened in on their conversation. Alivia spoke first.
"Do you have it?"
"Of course," the voice sounded calming, almost...friendly. Yet something evil, deceptive even, lurked deep within those tones. The silhouette reached down and removed a jeweled scabbard from her belt, handing it and the sword inside to the assassin queen. Alivia removed the weapon and held in into the night, the black blade sharply contrasting the moon above as the aura swept over the blade's new master. Zion noticed a passion in her eyes that he had once believed was reserved solely for him.
"Excellent," she said, sheathing the sword.
"And now for your part of the bargain, my dear," said the voice from the darkness, the last word gaining special emphasis. Whatever this...thing...was, it had a hold on Alivia. The assassin queen looked attentively into the face of the Motherdark, awaiting her next command, but not even she could prepare herself for what was next.
"Deliver your son to me by this time tomorrow, and you will receive the power you desire." Alivia looked shocked upon hearing those words, but the Queen of Darkness would not allow her long to wait. "You must decide now!"
"A-alright," Alivia said reluctantly. "If you swear that this power will help the guild overcome the Royal Order that threatens our existence, I...will do as you ask."
"Good," replied Motherdark with a smirk, "and remember, he must come with us willingly."
"Of course."
Upon that assurance, the dark figure disappeared into the shadows of the night. Alivia slumped to the ground, still disbelieving of what she had just done. A mother had betrayed her only son for the power to combat the Royal Order that had so long ago cast her into exile because of her lack of magical abilities. It was too late to turn back now, however; the deed was done. Motherdark had forged the magical sword that gave birth to a new breed magic, an arcane art that would delve those holy magi into the darkness upon which her people thrived.
Yet, Zion still remained in the trees, unbeknownst to Alivia. Distraught at his mother's betrayal, he crept silently away from the clearing as his mother began to weep remorsefully. She had chosen her guildmates over her own blood, and all for revenge on that smug and ancient Order. The assassin queen remained in the forest until morning, then returned to retriever her son and to do her duty.
When she arrived back at the guild, Zion was nowhere to be found. Alivia searched all morning, but to no avail. She began to suspect that he knew, that he had been there last night in the glade, but that was impossible. She would have heard something. Immediately, she struck off on a journey in search of they boy, but he was nowhere to be found. She searched for weeks on end in the hopes that her long-lost son would appear, but he was nowhere to be found. She returned home, crushed by her loss. He had known of her betrayal.
Alivia lost focus, and was soon overthrown as the leader of the assassins by those brothers to whom she had shown such devotion. The guild banished their queen once her power of them had diminished, and all she had left was her sword, the source of her newfound powers over darkness. She resolved to strike back at all who had betrayed her trust and retreated into seclusion. It was then that Motherdark sought out the recluse and inducted her into the newly spawned ranks of the Forsaken Ones. Alivia truly believed she had been forsaken by all, so she joined without hesitation.
"But why?" she asked Motherdark in the moments before she received her powers from her newfound brothers and sisters. "Why take me back in place of my son?"
"We never wanted your son. That was simply a test to see how far you would go to attain power. You chased your own son into his grave and your guild chased you away from all else - truly commendable! I believe that your unique hatred can serve us in our assault on humanity."
"Yes, I will do whatever it takes to make sure they all pay dearly for their transgressions."
Motherdark grinned. "Then welcome to the ranks of the Forsaken."
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But where had Zion gone?
He had gone off in search of his phantom father, a search which spanned the course of many months. Ironically, the very day his mother had given up all hopes that she would ever find her son again, he located his father in the unlikeliest of places: the Royal Order of the Supreme Magi. His father was on the High Council of Magic.
Long before, a lowly maiden had caught the eye of the then strapping young man who headed up the guild of wind magic, a very ambitious master magician who had high hopes for his future in the Royal Order. At the unheard of age of 25, he was named the head of an entire school of magic and had developed many indispensable techniques of his own that harnessed the wind to increase his speed. This fierce warrior's name was Eros. He had fallen in love with Alivia and they had a son, Zion, not long after.
Yet, all good things must come to an end. The council which presided over all schools of magic, a group of old and weathered magicians, offered him a seat among the Elite. They only had one term: that he rid himself of his "pretty little wife," simply because she had no magical talents of her own. All who lacked the magic touch were highly discriminated against, and Alivia was no exception. Without hesitation, Eros accepted the position and sealed his wife's fate. Without warning, Alivia received a note saying that she was to pack her things and go. It was an exile notice; Eros could not face Alivia and would ensure he would never have to. Upon seeing his true colors, Alivia fled with her newborn son, whom Eros had loved very deeply.
When Zion came into the Chamber of the Council more than sixteen years later, the Council immediately recognized his proficiency with magic. It had been suppressed by his mother, but the assassin's father was bent on reform for his newfound blood. And so began Eros' journey through the Royal Order. The boy was of both worlds, inside and out, and quickly became famous. Though his talent did not reach the level that his father's had, Zion still rose far within the ranks of the school of fire.
Ten years passed, and a new threat descended upon the world. A great force of 13 that referred to itself only as the Forsaken Ones arose to challenge the might of the Royal Order and its vast empire. Each of the Forsaken held great power and slayed many men, both inside and outside of the magical walls of the Royal Order, including Zion's father. Alivia had murdered him herself, completing her quest for vengeance against her husband of long ago.
Eventually, the Order found a new way to combat this menace, or, at the very least, to contain them. All of the schools of magic had worked together, the first occurence of its kind, to find some way to seal the powers of these monsters before they overwhelmed the world that was helpless in their path. The combined might of the Royal Order gave birth to a new magic: the magic of Time.
With this magic, they constructed four crystals and set them under the jurisdiction of four guardians, one of which was Zion. He was the first to control the might of the Flaming Ruby, an artifact that would later fall into the hands of a thief who, by fate or chance, became entrenched in the second Forsaken War after he had stolen the artifact from an old relic collector. No one really knows how it was lost, as history has washed that evidence away.
Using the powers of the gem, Zion and the other three guardians began their quest to end the reign of terror the Forsaken had administered unto themselves, and, through the course of many epic battles, finally cornered the Forsaken Ones and stripped them of their power. Zion did not even recognize his mother at first because she had become so twisted by the darkness, but she knew him. As he drained her of her might, the fallen assassin smiled and uttered one simple phrase: "My own blood has overcome me." She was not angry; her line would live on. When she awoke millennia later, she still bore that same fascination with the question of her blood's survival. This is perhaps why she became so involved in the life of Mordikai Schattier, for he served as the son she never had the chance to see grow into a man.
Her bitterness quelled, Alivia broke off, with much effort, from the Motherdark's ranks. Her fallen son had saved her from eternal torment. Of course, this is not her story.
Upon the sealing of the Forsaken, Zion began to study the magic of the Forsaken along with the rest of the guild leaders. He had recognized his mother again as her face softened upon the draining of the last of her powers. Reluctantly, he helped seal her away into the Master Emerald and seal the door to the chamber. It was not until later that the earth magi saw fit to bury the city the Order had built to contain the Forsaken Ones.
The only memento Alivia left her son was that sword which had long since faded. Yet, weak traces of that shadow magic still lay within the blade. In honor of the mother he once knew, Zion used the powers of the blade to create yet another new form of magic: shadow magic. Zion left the most powerful school, fire magic, in order to pioneer a new magical guild utilizing his mother's power. The High Council was reluctant to allow the creation of a magic based on the arcane arts, but Zion was able to convince the Council over time that this balance was needed.
The official school of shadow magic was created on the same day that the school of time magic first came into being.
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RedSoxFan3
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posted December 01, 2005 01:08 AM |
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"Thousands of years ago mankind created the first schools of magic. A few hundred years later, mankind began to specialize in their studies of magic, by creating the first schools of Fire Magic. Over the past two thousand years, man has advanced their studies and discovered new types of magic and it's possible applications.
"Today we set history. Today is the beginning of time magic being a widely sought after school of magic to learn. You are all a part of what will be the spreading of new knowledge."
Conso Seius looked behind him and pointed to several men and women dressed in white and blue robes. He spoke their names and appellations as each man stood for applause.
"These professors will guide you on your ways to becoming Time Magi. Soon you will learn of the numerous applications that we have discovered over the past few decades. But first we will eat. I'm famished. The professors will guide you to the dining halls."
Exactly one hundred twenty-four students stood up and talked excitedly amongst each other as they were led to their first meals at Time School.
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Shadowcaster
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posted January 15, 2006 09:52 PM |
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"You have each been selected due to your proficiency in some matter of stealth." Zion addressed his first class, a set of advanced shadow stalkers that had once been a part of the dwindling assassin's guild from which both he and his mother had come. These reformed killers now sought only to become invisible, and were the cream of the crop as far as studies in shadow magic were concerned. If the students below, in less advanced courses that would soon be taught by those in this room, were able to become half the men these were, the shadow guild had a future. Only time would tell, though.
"The school of shadow magic is built upon the principles that darkness is not only a tool for ill intentions, but one that can be bent to fit its bearer. To bear the darkness," he said, walking over and extinguishing each torch in the room slowly, "we must first become so comfortable in shadow that it can no longer blind us."
The last torch went out, and the room descended into darkness, the only light shining in from around the doorframe. "A normal human cannot see in the light, but each can hear. Before we train our eyes, we must first train our other senses." Zion was pleased to see that each head was following the sound of his voice. "Good," he said in a halfway sarastic yet satisfied tone, "you can all hear."
He walked to the door and spread his cape, banishing the last light from the room. "Class dismissed," he announced, watching the faint outline of each student poke his way through the darkness. As he moved from the doorway, he opened it and said one last thing. "Before this week is done, you will each be able to find this door without fail. I promise."
After the class had all gone away, Zion remained behind in the dark. He removed the mystic sword and shifted the blade from hand to hand before thrusting it in the air. Any light that was left disappeared from sight, and his clear vision of the room faded.
He began to concentrate and closed his eyes in hopes that his will would pierce the darkness. Now his own lesson was to begin.
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RedSoxFan3
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posted January 16, 2006 08:26 AM |
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Students of all ages murmured amongst themselves as they waited for the professor to arrive and teach their first class. Some students were accomplished magi from other schools here to learn the arts of Time Magic. Some students were no older than a teenager here to receive their first rank in the arts of magic.
The classroom was in the shape of a slice of a circular ring. The professor's desk stood about ten feet in front of the doorway. Ten tables, each seating two students, were arranged two rows of five facing the professor's desk. Numerous windows poured in light from the back of the classroom. It was wider at the back, then at the front of the classroom where the entrance from the hallway sat.
The hallway wasn't really a hallway at all. It was more of a spiraling gradual slope that reached to the very top floor of the tower and descended all the way to the ground floor. Looking from above, the tower was divided into twelve segments in the bottom third, and six segments in the middle third, and three segments in the top third. Above the middle third of the tower, the hallway narrowed and morphed into a spiral staircase.
This classroom was naturally in the bottom third of the tower as students were not allowed to enter the upper levels of the Time Tower. Only once these students were officially given the title of Time Sorceror should they be allowed to enter the upper levels of the tower without special permission.
Above the door to the classroom hung a massive clock as there was in every room. Though many of the clocks in the bottom third of the tower were identical, the clocks were increasingly unique and extravagant the further up the tower in which it hung. This particular clock hung in the room where these twenty students waited for the professor to arrive. It displayed the time being just seconds before the class was scheduled to start.
Just as the second hand pointed at twelve, the professor suddenly appeared.
"Good morning class," he said with a smile. "I'm sure all of you are excited to have your first class here at the first School of Time Magic." Conso snapped his finger. The chalkboard at the back corner of the room began rolling towards the front of the classroom.
"The first thing you are probably wondering is why class only lasts twenty minutes long. Well this is after all a school of time magic. Don't you think we can be efficent with how we manage our time?" He paused waiting to see how the reaction from the students. A few students widened their eyes, but most of them gave him an odd look. With a chuckle he introduced himself once again.
"As you already know, I am Conso Seius, First Supreme Magi of the school of magic. Though I'm a busy man, I think I can find the time in the day to teach a few classes here and there," he said with a chuckle. "So anyway. Welcome to Time Flow 101: Simple Variations in Time and Space."
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Shadowcaster
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posted January 23, 2006 06:39 PM |
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Patience was a virtue quite worthy to Zion, so he contented himself with his slow and steady pace of learning and placed his sword into its jeweled scabbard, then back into its hiding place. He would continue to extract the magical properties from the sword, but this shadow magic would be, for now, merely a trick to conquer the darkness. Zion had said he needed more time, but the Council insisted he start his school then or it would never be granted that chance again. If only he had more time to prepare.
This was the problem he now sought to address. Conso Seius, the leader of the Order of Time, was already well-versed in the art of manipulating the hours and bending them to his own will. Seius had been vital in creating the Crystals, so surely he could help his partner in grand openings with this little task. Unfortunately, Zion had hardly met the man before, and though he seemed light in temperament, the shadow mage knew all too well that appearances could be deceiving.
He made his way to the Tower of Time, hoping to catch the busy man between classes.
As he entered, the incessant sound of ticking filled his ears, no doubt to attune the neophyte time magi to the rhythm by which their trade was dictated. Hardly anyone stood in the expansive chamber, but one small, bespectacled man stood in the corner. Zion approached him hoping to find the man he sought.
"Excuse me," he said as he approached. The man started, as if awakened from a trance, and looked up at the dark figure. His eyes were disproportionally large compared with the rest of his head, and they grew larger still behind thick lenses. The man let out a surprised grunt and asked what Zion wanted.
"Do you know where I can find Conso Seius?"
"He is in the top floor of this tower," the man exclaimed in his mousy voice. As Zion turned to go, his guide interjected from behind him: "...unfortunately, you are not allowed to meet him there. Only advanced students of time are allowed in the highest rampart of the tower." Zion tried to hide his aggravation as the man continued.
"Now, if you want to set up an appointment, I can direct you to-"
"Nonsense, Regulus," a voice interrupted from behind. "This is Zion, the founder of our sister school. He needs no appointment."
Regulus returned silently to his desk. He was too servile for Zion's tastes, and would not go far in the school of time were he to remain shackled by the chains of his subservience.
"Now, what brings you to this tower?" the time mage asked.
"I actually have a favor to ask, if you will oblige."
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RedSoxFan3
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posted January 30, 2006 03:13 AM |
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"Ask away," said Conso. Zion lowered his eyes and gathered his thoughts. He took a deep breath and looked at the numerous people buzzing around, many of them looking at Conso and Zion.
"Could we find a place more private?" Zion said finally ending the silence.
"Why of course." Conso held out his arm displaying his surroundings. The ground floor had intricate designs of circles, spirals and many other curved shapes. It was made of polished granite and marble. The sunlight shining through the window was reflected off the floor. The shadow mage held up his hand to the glare as he looked around the main lobby.
"We can visit my office and I can give you a tour of the building." Zion nodded his head.
"Thank you. That would be great."
Conso headed for the back of the lobby where the massive ramp began its ascension to spiral around nearly forty times, before it reached the very top of the tower. It was the largest tower in height ever erected in the history of the Royal Order. The main lobby in the center of the building had no definite ceiling and no definite walls. The long ramp that spiralled up to the top of the tower, was the closest thing that resembled any walls at all.
Zion looked up at the seemingly endless spiral ramp. He could see people walking around and around dozens of yards above.
"Is this the only way to get up the tower?" asked Zion as he looked up wishing he had never asked to go to some place private.
"Yes," said Conso with a grin. "Looks like it will take forever to get up there doesn't it?"
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Shadowcaster
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posted February 09, 2006 02:18 AM |
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And within what seemed an instant they were at the top.
"Impressive," Zion said, still experiencing a bit of vertigo. The pair had somehow been removed from time and whisked up to the top of the tower.
"Yes, it is quite a magnificent sight," Conso said, missing the shadow mage's point, "won't you please come in?" He motioned to a large oak door that stood in the middle of the tower, the Guildmaster's office. Zion obliged and walked through the open door, but when he turned back to explain why he had come, he found the door closed and Conso nowhere to be found. Perplexed, he turned back to the desk to find the time mage had been sitting there the whole time.
"Please try not to do that so much," he began in a half joking tone, "I might get dizzy."
Conso smiled, understanding the shadow mage's motive behind his words and agreeing not to bend time anymore. "So, tell me why you have come."
"I need your help," Zion began, "I've no need to tell you that this a big day for both of us, the start of two new guilds. That's never happened before." He paused, and looked up dolefully at the time mage.
"But this never should have happened, my guild should not have started. I was pressed into a hasty preparation by the Council, and now I face a guild of students who wish to learn an art I have not yet mastered."
Conso listened somberly as the shadow mage explained. He knew the story all too well. Zion had poured his heart into his new school, even abandoning all he had known within the Fire Guild to carry on the memory of who Alivia had once been to him. The time mage realized the strain that had been placed upon the Shadow Guild to start on the same day as the School of Time, and the great difference that separated the two. The art of time had been harnessed all throughout the Forsaken War, it even now held them immobile and powerless within the Guardian jewels, and had been all but mastered by this time. It now boasted many followers due to the glory time magic had been given upon the victory over those dark creatures of old, yet shadow magic was still in its infancy and only a classful of pupils had shown any interest in learning the dark arts.
"I am sure that, if given more time, I could harness the magic in Mother's sword and save the guild from obsoletion. The Council would love nothing more than to see me fail, which is why I now come to you. Can you help me? Can you give me more time?"
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RedSoxFan3
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posted March 14, 2006 09:10 PM |
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"Give you more time?" Conso said as if to say he could not do such a thing.
"Time is not something that can be traded or bartered. I know nothing of gaining more time, nor losing time." Conso was correct in what he said. He knew nothing of gaining or losing time. He was the first to extensively research the intricacies of time magic and had not learned how to produce additional time or travel through it. Since he did know very well how to bend to his own will, he was able to help the Shadow Mage.
"I can help you though Magus Zion." Richard pulled out a pocket watch and handed it to Zion. At first he thought that the watch was broken as it did not tick. But it did move after a moment and he guessed that he had just missed something. It continued ticking and he thought nothing of it.
"What do you think of my watch? Anything unusual about it?" Conso asked.
"No looks to be working perfectly."
"It doesn't seem to be ticking a bit slow?"
Zion looked back down at the watch again and studied it for a moment. He lowered an eyebrow at Conso.
"No."
"Correct. It is ticking once every one second that passes just like every other watch does. But what if I told you that time was affecting us less than anywhere else. You see this entire tower is enchanted with time magic. Though time still passes, it doesn't affect us as strong as outside the tower in other places. What that means, is that you can do everything here in less time. Think of time as a fluid through which you move. Much like air or water. Normally all of us move through time as though we are walking through water. In this tower, we move as though we are walking through air. Can you not sprint much faster over ground than through water?"
"In this tower we have made time thinner, more easy to move through. However, you would think that this would age men much more quickly. That is not the case. Age is defined by how much total time you have moved through. Say you line up a dozen rocks on the ground in a line with about a meter between each one. If you walk past those rocks, you have travelled one meter in 12 rocks. But say you space those rocks out more, so that they are 10 or 20 meters apart. If you walk past those rocks again, you will have still passed 12 rocks, but you will have travelled hundreds of meters. That is the difference. In this tower we are actually making time less dense."
"It is these concepts that I learned how to apply them in the creation of the magical seal in the master emerald. Many people said that I simply froze mana in time. But inactuality I made time so dense that the natural flow of mana in our world seemed as if it was frozen mana. Anyone inside who might try to break the seal, would have to cast a spell for around a total of a million years in our world, before their mana could flow through time."
Zion looked confused.
"Is there something that doesn't make sense?" Conso asked.
"If time flow is constant, then why couldn't someone just walk through the time barrier. What is it merely a few inches in diameter?"
Conso wove a quick spell.
"There to your left I just cast a spell that has slowed down the flow of time ten fold to what you see now. I will throw this pen across the room through something that I called a Time Sink. A time sink pulls time closer together, so it affects things much more which pass through it."
Conso threw the pen across the room like a dart. Suddenly the tip seemed to slow down and the back end of the pen stopped moving. The back end of the pen slowed down and began to fall from gravity. The pen slanted down ward and slowly began to fall nearly straight down. When it was about three feet off the ground it suddenly picked up an immense amount of speed and plummeted to the ground.
"What you saw happen, was the front tip of the pen enter a place where time was much thicker. Though time was passing all the same, the pen could not move through time equally. Because of the change of time not being proportional to the change in space it created what I call a Time Irregularity Force. The tip was moving at the same velocity all this time. However, when gravity started acting on the bottom of the pen, it was pulling on the tip of the pen much harder, because of the weight of the pen. Then finally when the tip came out of the Time Sink, it was moving much faster than the base of the pen and caused the pen to plummet to the ground."
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Shadowcaster
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posted April 02, 2006 09:07 PM |
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"So how can I use this?" asked the shadow mage.
"I thought you'd never ask," Conso responded with a grin that almost hinted at mischeviousness. It was apparent that he had studied his craft far more extensively than Zion, but, to be fair, he'd had all the time in the world at his disposal. "I can place you in a sort of 'time lock', which will allow you to move freely behind an ultra-dense barrier. It will function much like the Master Emerald, except you will be able to move freely within the space beyond the barrier. Time will be slowed to a crawl, and, to you, months will pass within a single day of unaltered time. I trust that this will give you the time you need."
Zion looked down at the sword on his belt and then back up at the time mage. He seemed puzzled, "This denser time...will it affect the light that passes through the barrier?"
Conso hesitated for a moment as he seemed to ponder something. "It will slow the light, but not stop it. Your ability to mask it should not be affected, but I guess we can only know for sure once you test it."
"Heh, I guess you're right. Alright, what do I need to do?"
"Follow me."
The pair traveled through a small door in the back of the hall, almost invisible to the normal eye but easily detectible by an assassin's son. They had to crouch to fit through the narrow corridor, but it thankfully did not go far. They reached another door, before which Conso stopped. "This is the place where I test the limits of time. I'd hold on to something if I were you." Then, with a smile, he opened the door.
All at once, Zion seemed pulled in a hundred different directions as distorted time flowed out of the laboratory. The time mage motioned for him to travel further in, Zion did so.
"Do not worry," Conso reassured him, "we are in no danger here. It is simply an excess of time captured within one room. After all, I need plenty of it so that I can test what time can do. This way." He led to the back and motioned for the shadow mage to stand under a bright spotlight in the back. As Zion walked under the bright light, he couldn't help but grimace.
"Good," said Conso, "now stand very still." Zion could feel time surging and morphing around him as the time mage began to concentrate. He never realized that time was such a fearful force; hopefully darkness would share that same designation. For a moment, the shadow mage lost the ability to move as time swarmed around him, but it soon spread and formed a sweltering barrier around him. Zion was alone to train.
He looked up at the time mage. Conso seemed to be standing still, frozen in time, but Zion knew that it was he that experienced some strange timeflow.
"Thank you," he whispered before drawing his sword. It was time.
7/20/06
Zion peered deep into the runes of Alivia's sword, pondering their significance. Darkness was merely the absence of light, so the dark arts would involve removing light rather than creating shadow. He knew this already, for he'd stared unflinchingly into the darkest corners of his mind in order to uncover the secrets to mastering darkness, so why wasn't he able to harness the powers of darkness? The runes were in an indiscernible tongue and had been worn by years of frightful battle, sometimes even meeting the blade of the man who now held the artifact's hilt.
He began to wonder why this blade still existed. No other trace of the Forsaken had survived besides the jewels created to combat them and this sword. Why did it remain? Perhaps Alivia retained some of herself, willed the blade to stay somehow and serve a new master. Zion scoffed to himself; that was the nature of fairy tales. Surely there was some other explanation, something that would help reveal the secrets behind Motherdark's arts.
Conso had not been Zion's first bid to discover the answers to these questions. He'd taken the sword to linguists from all around, even venturing into the Council Hall to seek resolution, but it soon became apparent that this was the language of Motherdark, one that only she could decipher. For a brief moment, Zion considered asking for her to be released and held powerless by the four crystals so that he could find the answers he sought, but he knew she wouldn't cooperate. No one would have allowed it, anyway.
And here he sat now, given the gift of time to figure this out on his own. If the blade had been entrusted to him, then perhaps he would master it in short time. Zion earnestly hoped this was the case.
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>_>
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RedSoxFan3
Admirable
Legendary Hero
Fan of Red Sox
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posted September 16, 2006 09:10 AM |
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Terefin took a gulp of his steaming hot black coffee. It burnt his lips, his entire mouth some of his throat. It even burnt a little bit in his stomach. He took another sip of his coffee. He didn't care about that. He was too angry. He didn't even care that his coffee didn't have any milk or sugar.
"Honey don't drink it like that it's too hot." She took the cup out of his hand and put her other hand on his chest and gave him a quick kiss. "There's no need to burn your whole mouth on your coffee just because things don't go your way." Terefin said nothing holding his gaze out at the mountains. Finally he sat down on the porch next to his wife. She put his hand on hers and held it with both hands.
"Isn't it a wonderful day? Look at the trees," she said. His gaze moved to enormous tree in front of his house. It had to be three hundred years old. It was a majestic old oak, taller and broader than any other around his home. You could even say it looked old. And he was sitting there holding his wife's hand, or rather letting his hand be held, staring at the tree fantasizing about swinging his axe through those three hundred rings of wood until the whole thing came down. Something that big and that thick could take a very long time to chop down, but he knew he would enjoy it. He'd do it too, but then of course his wife wouldn't speak to him for probably a month. She wouldn't cook for him maybe even longer.
Perhaps there was something else around to take out his aggression. A few possibilities when through his mind. There had to be something that would his wife wouldn't disapprove of so strongly. Maybe he could build something like a shed and then break it with a sledgehammer before she saw it all finished. But that was an awful lot of work before hand. He knew he wouldn't be able to get it finished before he broke it and it would only make him feel better if it was all finished and looked nice. If only he could go out hunting with his fists. Except the only things that wouldn't run away would be something like a bear or moose and that probably wouldn't be such a good idea to fight hand to hand.
"Everyone was commended today, Shae," he said finally. "Everyone except myself and the rest of the War Wizards." His wife looked into his eyes with something between a cringe and a pout. She put her arm around his shoulder and the two sat in silence for a moment.
“Go break something,” she said breaking the silence. Terefin could not believe what he was hearing. His wife telling him to break something? Not possible. “That always makes you feel better now doesn’t it?” He nodded despite being confused. She had always scolded him for being so recklessly destructive in the past. Yes, even she could understand his anger. Something had to be done. The woman he loved, who never harmed a thing was telling him to break something, anything.
He nodded again. Terefin took in a breath letting his emotions stir to a boil. He stood up and headed inside to get his war hammer.
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Go Red Sox!
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Shadowcaster
Honorable
Supreme Hero
Shaded Scribe
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posted February 09, 2007 06:58 AM |
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Zion concentrated.
To draw light out of the spaces that we can see, he had to somehow move it into a space that cannot be seen. Light could never be snuffed out unless the source were to vanish, that was the burden of the shadow mage that he would have to pass along from generation to generation. Alivia was able to make the brightest places dim like a candle covered and concealed, but not snuffed out, and it wasn't in the nature of magic to destroy. Other than that of the barbaric war mages in the south, that is.
Where did the light go? If it was magic that depended solely on Motherdark, then his own would not work at all and shadow magic would become a lost art. There had to be a trick, something he was missing, something he couldn't quite comprehend. A key to unlocking the mysteries Motherdark had revealed to Alivia long ago. The sword was merely a catalyst, Zion simply knew, but he couldn't figure out where to even begin searching for his answers. He did know the source of his questions, though: they all had to do with the displacement of light. Then, suddenly, an idea struck him.
Illusion also involved the manipulation of light, specifically how it reflected what people could see and how they interpreted the visual stimuli that light provided. It was a rabbit chase, for many believed illusion to be mere trickery, the slight of hand and manipulation of the perception rather than real magic, which was the reason that it had not been granted its own school within the Order. There was still a loose coalition of illusionists in the town to the south, but it would not be easy to find them. After all, these men and women were probably illusionists for a reason.
Zion stood up and stepped toward the barrier, placing his hand on the wall of his little "room." Rock solid. How was he supposed to get out of here? He didn't need this much time, and he could spare no more trapped in the Time Tower like this either. He had to follow his lead to sate his curiosity. For once, Zion finally felt that he was making some progress in figuring out the way his mother had so seamlessly developed into a potent purveyor of darkness. There was only one other option: the sword.
The shadow mage held Alivia's blade at the ready, then tensed as he prepared to lunge. But something held him from actually attacking the barrier. Time knew no physical bounds, so why would it submit to brute force? Only Conso could free him from this trap, and so he would wait. He took out the parchment on which he had scrawled his lesson plans and turned it over. He had no ink, but Zion was also no stranger to pain. Remembering his roots as an assassin and the cunning (yet often conniving) ability to think on his feet, Zion drew his dagger, scraped up some mortar, spit in the dust, and mixed together an impromptu inky substance with which he wrote "Conso, let me out. I have a new plan."
All he had to do now was lean the note against the transparent barrier and hope that the time mage noticed his message soon.
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>_>
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Shadowcaster
Honorable
Supreme Hero
Shaded Scribe
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posted September 07, 2010 05:12 AM |
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His arm was throbbing before the barrier finally fell, but it wasn't until he had readjusted to normal floes that Zion realized he was alone. The time spell had seemingly carried with it a deadline, or perhaps it was deactivated by extended pressure on the barrier from within. Because Conso was absent, however, he might never find out.
In an attempt to regain his bearings as well as satisfy his idle curiosities about the time guildmaster, he glanced around Conso's laboratory at the various mechanisms that seemingly littered every flat surface in the room in a sort of organized mess. It was unclear whether the time mage was a tinker or a collector, or whether the piles belonged to the time mage at all. But he hadn't the time to speculate: his journey to the town the Magi had installed above the now buried Master Emerald chamber could not wait if his absence were to pass without incident. It would be his first visit to his mother’s resting place since her “passing.”
Grabbing a quill, he quickly scrawled a note explaining where he had gone and asking Conso to again cover for him, this time without waiting for an answer. If all went well, he wouldn't be gone long enough for his pupils to miss more than a few lessons anyway, and waiting around for approval from Conso or permission from the Royal Council would only invite more delaying questions and make things more complicated for him than they already were. He had no desire to stay and teach half-lessons to loyal pupils who deserved more any longer, either.
But more than anything, he simply had to know how Alivia had done all she had, what kind of power was worth betraying her own son. In a way, Zion felt solving this mystery would bring him closer to his mother than he had been since that fateful night, the source of a wound that had long since scabbed but never quite healed. Another side of him, a darker side, wanted also to surpass her augmented talents on his own to prove to himself that he was better than her, that he didn’t have to rely on others to get what he wanted. In truth, he both loved and hated her all at once.
No matter Zion's feelings, Alivia had imparted to him certain gifts for which he could not help but be grateful, as his assassin’s training allowed him slip out of the laboratory and the Time Guild unnoticed. Trying his best to blend with the churning crowds that dotted the various avenues that led to the Shadow Guild, he eventually reached his own tutelage and glanced around sighing. Conso's lab had enjoyed the bustle of busy bodies; it reeked of toil and smacked of discovery as any proper Guildmaster's Hall should. Here, only bare walls greeted him, a mark of his largely fruitless and solitary endeavor.
The Council certainly wanted to understand shadow magic, as did they the source of all forsaken magic -- especially that most closely tied to the Motherdark herself. But his reward for sharing the same ambition was a life of little thanks or even recognition. Those in authority believed the magic of shadows to belie and even evince a dangerous propensity for treachery wrought by hiding, much like that of the illusionists they had shunned, but they could not so easily turn aside one who had contributed so much to understanding Alivia and ultimately bringing her and the rest of her ilk down. So instead they raised the new shadow guildmaster as a hero while undercutting him at every turn to save face in both regards.
Zion quickly gathered a plain acolyte’s cloak, three pouches of throwing knives, and enough food and provisions to get him to the town and back should his journey pass without incident. Because he could not risk searching for Conso now, time was no longer a luxury the shadow mage could afford, so he also wrapped a black cloth around his face so that only his eyes were visible, a weak compensation for his necessarily hurried pace, but one that would have to suffice. He quickly made his way to the west gate of the Order enclave and again tried to disappear into the masses as he walked through the guard post.
"Hey, you in the black longcloak!" Zion tensed as a voice belted his description and footsteps approached from his left. A gate guard looked quizzically at his eyes for a moment, as if in recognition, then looked down at his waist and removed Alivia’s sword from his belt. Zion’s hand wandered toward his knife pouch.
"Nice sword, shadow peon," he bellowed as he removed it from Zion's belt, "but mine's bigger!” The guard dropped the sword to the ground, then walked away laughing boisterously. Another grunt war wizard unhappy with his position who took out his frustrations by picking on those he believed were acolyte passersby. Perhaps he was even targeting the shadow guildmembers specifically out of some misguided need to belong to the Order. No doubt it would get him in trouble one day, but not today. Zion was just happy to be free without delay, now one step closer to finding the illusionists and, with luck, the answers he sought.
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>_>
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