The Griffin Sword Saga (storyline)/2002-09-20 - Shadows (log)

Twin shadow beasts have been plaguing Solhaven for weeks, summoned into this plane of existence by Draezir as his scouts scour the Cairnfang Forest in search of the second shard. Alisaire had been standing staunchly in defense of the city alongside many, keeping watch atop Niima's Temple on the widow's walk each night. But she did not expect their sentience, or their proposal. And, likely surprising even the shadows, she accepted.

Agreeing to be their anchor in the world, the third of a Triad involving spirit, mind, and body, she would allow them to merge with her own and become a new, greater entity so that they could finally exist. All it took was the final step of the ritual. But it was not to be. Ulstram had seen visions of what might come to pass and led a group in search of the prepared site. They arrived, midway through, and interrupted the ritual, banishing the shadows back to whence they came. They thought they were saving Alisaire. They did not know that she had agreed to her role, nor did they realize what their actions would ultimately drive her to do almost two months later.

Date of partial log is approximate. It is taken from Alisaire's perspective. It has been edited.

You feel yourself being pulled away...
[Darkness]
There is nothing but a hazy darkness surrounding you, starker than a lifeless void. Obvious exits: none.

You take a few steps back.
You shiver.
You softly say, "Cold.. I don't remember it this cold afore."
You clearly ask, "Are you here, creatures of shadow?"

Two voices cut in unison through the darkness, "We are here.  And so are you.  The time is close."

You close your eyes for a moment.
(Alisaire nods slowly.)
You hesitantly ask, "What will happen once.. it is finished?"
You shift your weight.

Two voices cut in unison through the darkness, "Focus on the darkness, being of flesh."

You check your footing.
You think to yourself, "Darkness.. that's not too difficult in this place, where there is naught else."
You quietly ask, "What will happen?"

Two voices cut in unison through the darkness, "We will be greater.  Our destiny will be fulfilled."

You ask, "And myself?"

Two voices cut in unison through the darkness, "You... will also be greater, surpassing the flesh."

You think to yourself, "..there may yet be time to resist them if.. ah.. but the potential of what can be.."

Two voices cut in unison through the darkness, "Knowledge... that is what you sought.  You shall have it, a brief glimpse at the surface before you feel its raging torrent..."

You cock your head.

Two voices cut in unison through the darkness, "Focus now... and become enlightened."

(Alisaire takes a step forward, almost eagerly in the darkness.)

You feel a strange sense of connection in your mind, as if something else was within it, yet the feeling is all around you, as well.  The blackness recedes into a vision of even deeper darkness, a void so great that it is the very fabric of nothingness.

You shiver.

As you drift within the all-consuming darkness, you pass by *others*... countless others.  All there, in the blackness, each a potential in itself lying dormant.

You softly ask, "What is this..  these things..?"

Voices reach you from afar, "Us."

Suddenly, a spark alights in the blackness, or perhaps only a subtle shift in the color.  You drift toward it, drawn to it inexorably, driven by a hunger for something yet unknown to you, but yet it feels so completely part of you, part of your purpose, part of your very destiny...

(Alisaire stands still, enraptured with the things overwhelming her senses.)
You furrow your brow, probably adding a wrinkle or two in the process. 
You softly ask, "It.. it is familiar.  It beckons.. Is this what you promise?"

Voices reach you from afar, "This is but our beginning, being of flesh..."

As you reach the pinpoint of light, your vision zooms into a cave... a dark cave filled with the sounds of night.  A feeling of terror overcomes the being you sense within the vision, and its eyes close... giving way to darkness.  Your darkness.  You spread *yourself* into the mind of the being, and feel its mind give way to the terror that *is* yourself, filling you... making you utterly, undeniably and unfathomably *complete*.  Rapture overcomes you as your purpose is fulfilled for a time, and as the being startles into consciousness, you feel yourself slipping... back to the void's grasp.

(Alisaire laughs suddenly, her face contorted in a giddy expression.  Then, "Oh, no.. not yet!  Go back--that was.. that was amazing!")

As your vision reawakens into the black depths, you see other pinpoints of light blossoming into existence, like an endless canvas of stars in a sheer alien sky.  Each a consciousness waiting to be filled by you, your essence. Your terror.

Visions whirl past you as the void teems with consciousness, a collective consciousness that is both you and a part of you, but separate as well.  A vast tapestry of memories, thoughts, all collected from the beings which harbored your essence in their dreams.  Always and ever refining you into the terror which spreads into the minds of all.

What must be ages pass before your very eyes, the caves give way to huts, which give way to stone buildings, which give way to cities and elaborate furnished rooms... you are one in a trillion things in the minds which harbor you night by night endlessly... but you retain a consciousness, an awareness separate of everything.

Voices reach you from afar, "It was this we both knew, forever and always."

Alisaire smiles slowly, still standing nearly motionless, caught up in the sensations.  "I see now.. always, always there, endless, and unstoppable.. It is truly incredible."
You hesitantly ask, "..why do you offer this?"

Voices reach you from afar, "This is but a hint of what is, being of flesh.  What we knew so long... it was to change.  This was what to happen."

Time trickles by, nonexistent in the place of darkness... and the tapestry of memory grows, the weave of all knowledge from the beings that have fallen victim to the shadows' denizens.  Suddenly, you feel yourself *ripped* from the place of blackness, into a world of sickening light.  A form surrounds you, black and rippling and dripping with the ichor of shadows itself.  You come to a dawning understanding as you experience actually *existing* for the first time...

You think to yourself, "It is.. lovely.  But why?"
You shiver.
You think to yourself, "This.. is this the true beginning?"
(Alisaire softly echoes her question, "Why do you offer this, creatures of shadow?  Why me?")

Voices reach you from afar, "We ceased to exist in what you gazed upon before.  Your world... your minds... but a window to gaze through for the briefest time.  *Existence* is what we desire."

(Alisaire nods slowly.)

Voices reach you from afar, "You are the focus."

You quietly ask, "Why?"
You quickly ask, "Why not Revalos, or Haxley, or anyone else?"
You think to yourself, "This.. ah, what will their answer be?  Perhaps this will be the true telling of whether or not to accept."

Voices reach you from afar, "You are flesh, and your soul... we can *see* it.  *Focus* on it.  We know not why."

You sense that you are not a wizard and thank your lucky stars.
You hesitantly ask, "You could not for another?"

Voices reach you from afar, "You and you alone are who we see from our brief time in this world."

You furrow your brow, probably adding a wrinkle or two in the process. 
You quietly ask, "Was it Draezir that sent you to the three--for the Triad?  Or was it by other means?"

Voices reach you from afar, "Brought forth from the darkness were we by the dark priest.  He spoke of following our *desire*.  The Triad is what we *desire*."

You quietly ask, "And once the Triad is completed?  Then what?"

Voices reach you from afar, "Then... we shall bring forth what must be brought forth.  The world of terror will *exist*... through us."

You softly ask, "What of my kin?"

Voices reach you from afar, "Your *desire* will mesh with our *desire*.  We will no longer be what we were, but both in the same.  One mind, of combined *desire*."

(Alisaire shifts her weight slightly, the first hint of being uncomfortable in the darkness.)
You quietly ask, "..If I desire to aid my kin, you will as well?"

Voices reach you from afar, "Yes."

(Alisaire nods slowly.)
You say, "I see."
You tilt your head up.
You quietly ask, "Do you serve anything save your desire, creatures of shadow?"

Voices reach you from afar, "We do not.  It is what drove us for the things you term 'millenia'."

(Alisaire chuckles softly, then nods again.)

Voices reach you from afar, "The time comes.  We go to the site where we shall mesh, being of flesh."

You close your eyes for a moment.
You nod.
You softly say, "..I'll do it, then.  I'm ready."
You think to yourself, "After this.. ..maybe then.. the Way..  it is one path, it will be mine."

You feel yourself being pulled away...
[Dark Alley, Cul-De-Sac]
The cul-de-sac is decorated liberally with numerous remnants of dead bodies in various stages of decay.  Blood completely drenches the cobblestones in the semi-circular area, glistening with every ray of dim light that filters down from the surroundings.  A ragged pattern is traced out in the blood, and a border of runic sigils is crafted from the grisly remains of dried skin and bone.
Obvious paths: none.