The Griffin Sword Saga (storyline)/2005-07-31 - Eryael Wakes (log)

Previously struck by an unnatural coma, thanks to those pesky meddling Resistance members, Eryael was able to reach out to two devoted to Mularos in the final moments before he fell into slumber. His Anchors, Avidleigh and Uniana, held onto their resolve, doing what they could to keep that link alive - and to strengthen it. Almost a year has passed, but it is finally time for him to awaken. They are the two to feel his return on 7/31/05, from within the dark sanctuary accessible to Dark Alliance supporters.

This log is from Avidleigh's perspective. It has been lightly edited but retains a number of mychars.

Shadows race across the deep black pendant and envelop you...

[A Dark Chamber]
A vast dome arcs overhead, the dark beams that reinforce the ceiling wrought with a myriad of twining patterns.  A large central design has been engraved upon the floor, its borders crafted of lustrous silver singed with black runes.  Several arched doors are set into the far southern wall, and a long hallway stretches north.  You also see a large pool of oil ensconced by a border of dark crimson.
Obvious exits: north

You hang a spherical deep black pendant around your neck.
You mutter something inaudible.
You glance around the room.

Tendrils of incense float in from the north, dancing sinuously in the air before dispersing into nothing but a barely noticable scent.

You take a deep breath.
You sigh.
You sit down near a large pool of oil ensconced by a border of dark crimson.
You think to yourself, "I wonder what brought on those questions."
You ponder the meaning of life, the universe, and everything.

Uniana fades into sight from the surroundings.
Uniana suddenly fades into view.
Uniana hangs a spherical deep black pendant around her neck.

You cock your head at Uniana.

Uniana walks towards you.

Several acolytes in black robes wander through, engaged in hushed conversation.  One of them withdraws a key from his robes and unlocks the eastern door, and they proceed to step through.

You hear a *CLICK* from the door.

Speaking in Elven, Uniana says, "Come, Sister of my heart."
(Uniana extends her hand to Avidleigh.)

(Avidleigh clasps Uniana's hand in hers and rises to her feet.)
You stand back up.
You join Uniana.

Uniana's group just went north.

[A Long Hallway]
Diffused light filters down in thick, amber waves from the high ceiling, casting wavering shadows across the area.  A long rug stitched with sinuous thorn-shrouded vines is laid across the cold, black metal floor, while arched windows line the narrow hallway.  The varying scent of different incense mingle with one another, and fractured echoes of voices hang in the air.
Also here: Uniana
Obvious exits: northeast, southeast, south, southwest, northwest

Uniana's group just went northeast.
[A Small Shrine]
The lingering scent of rose hangs in the air of this chamber, and crimson-hued tendrils of incense twine about slowly before fading away.  A lithe statue of pale ivory marble melds out of the far northeastern wall, depicting a man with his hands bound above his head and a faint, twisted smile on his face.  A small altar is erected before the man's feet, and a large crimson orb pulses with crackling energy atop it.
Also here: Uniana
Obvious exits: southwest

You glance at a large statue.
You sigh.

Uniana stands in front of a large statue.
Uniana kneels down.
Uniana cocks her head at you.

You tilt your head down.
You kneel down.

Speaking in Elven, Uniana says, "No, dear treasure.  The time for mourning is over."

You blink.
You cock your head at Uniana.
Speaking in Elven, you ask, "He has stirred?"

Speaking in Elven, Uniana says, "He is rising."

You give a sigh of relief.

Uniana smiles at you.

Speaking in Elven, you say, "Blessed are we. That is welcome news."
You place a hand over your heart.

(Uniana pulls Avidleigh's hand to her own heart.)

You gaze with interest at Uniana.

Speaking in Elven, Uniana says, "I do not know how to make him stronger or what he wishes.  I know nothing of his plans...but he is not dead to us.   All our fears, unspoken and said, can be forgotten now."

You sigh.

(Uniana moves her arms to tightly wrap around Avidleigh's neck.)

You lean softly against Uniana.
You sigh.

Uniana gives you a lingering kiss on the cheek.

Speaking quietly in Elven, you say, "Pray Sorrow's child rises swiftly in his waking..."

You give Uniana a lingering kiss on the cheek.

Uniana whispers, "Take comfort, love.   I saw such beautiful and terrible things."

Avidleigh smiles gently.

Uniana whispers, "He will come back, stronger than ever and the wicked deeds of our enemies will not go unpunished."

You quietly whisper to Uniana, "My heart is near-bursting with joy. For you, for us. For him, finally."
You quietly whisper to Uniana, "And yet, I have a concern..."
You furrow your brow, probably adding a wrinkle or two in the process.

Uniana whispers, "Speak to me, you know there is nothing that should go unsaid between us."

You quietly whisper to Uniana, "...as Myrisa was asking questions. About you. Did something... happen, or is she taking a wild stab in the dark as to your allegiance?"

Uniana whispers, "It came upon me like a violent storm.  I had to claim it was a vor'taz sickness.   Mekthros came when I cried out to him in thought, she found him there and I could not hide the fact he was concerned."

You grimace.

Uniana whispers, "She is easily enough fooled.   Give me a day with her and she will never know."

You sigh.

Uniana cocks her head at you.

Speaking in Elven, Uniana asks, "What still weighs so heavily on your mind?"

Speaking in Elven, you say, "Mm. Lies, and the lack thereof. Nothing to concern yourself over, sister of my heart."

You smile at Uniana.

Speaking in Elven, you say, "I left the girl someone precipitously, and I expect she will have taken offense. Hopefully not enough to attempt to cleave my skull again."
Your face goes blank.
You shake your head.

Uniana frowns at you.

You wave your hand in a dismissive gesture.
Speaking in Elven, you say, "Fret not. I have plans for her. They are merely waiting for the right time to be brought to fruition."
You smile quietly to yourself.

Speaking in Elven, Uniana says, "She will get what she has earned, soon enough, I swear it."
Uniana chuckles to herself.
Uniana leans softly against you.

You rub Uniana tenderly.

Speaking in Elven, Uniana says, "Let us give thanks my Sister.   And think of nothing save that which is most important."

You give a sigh of contentment.

Uniana tilts her head up.

Your heart skips a beat.

Uniana gazes with awe at a large statue.

You hold your breath.

Speaking in Elven, Uniana says, "He is so good to us---"

You place a hand over your heart.

Uniana cocks her head at you.
Speaking in Elven, Uniana says, "Even as it beats in my own heart, I can feel it echo in yours."

Speaking softly in Elven, you say, "...yes..."
(Avidleigh's eyes grow unfocussed, her gaze fixed on the orb on the altar.)

(Uniana slips her hand into her longcoat.)
Uniana removes a thorn-hilted shadowed ivory dagger from in her vivid scarlet longcoat.

You think to yourself, "My lord, grow strong through us, and rise from your slumber. Please..."

(Uniana turns the cuff on her left arm, folding the fabric back neatly.)
Uniana closes her eyes for a moment.

Uniana runs the edge of her shadowed ivory dagger across her wrist, and as the blood blossoms upon her skin it swirls upward toward the orb and disappears within it.

(Avidleigh's knuckles dig into her chest over her heart, and her other hand drops to brush the knife in her boot.)
You furrow your brow, probably adding a wrinkle or two in the process.

Uniana smiles at you.
Speaking in Elven, Uniana asks, "Sister, will you not partake with me?"

You slowly and deliberately empty your filled lungs.
Speaking in Elven, you say, "...I will. He is closer... I am overzealous in my reaching."
You tilt your head down.
You remove a curved bone knife from in your buckled leather boots.
You kiss your bone knife.

You run the edge of your bone knife in a slow, methodical circle across your wrist until blood blossoms upon your skin - it rises up instead of falling, swirling into the orb with a faint *whoosh* sound.

Avidleigh focuses her mind and her will on the pain in her wrist, and the beating of her heart.

Your vision is overwhelmed by a haze of violet, and through the miasmatic mist you glimpse the world through eyes not your own.  As you gaze at your sister, her veins and nerves appear as fire -- blazing blindingly across her skin as if she were a celestial being manifest before you.  And her heart -- half of her heart, shines with brilliant tones and hues that mere mortals have no words for.  The wounds upon her wrist swirl with color, the droplets of blood taking wing upon ephemeral winds and fluttering about you like petals -- the mere sight of them sending you into a euphoric whirlwind.  And then the vision, and the sensations, taper off into normalcy.

You stare at Uniana.
(Avidleigh opens her mouth to speak, then shuts it again.)

You see Uniana.
She appears to be a Nalfein Elf.
She appears to have come of age and shorter than average.  She has violet-shadowed, pale lilac eyes and ivory skin.  She has long, silky black cherry-hued hair twisted into loose ringlets.  She has a delicate face and thin eyebrows.  She has lush carmine-tinged lips.
She has a fractured and bleeding left hand, and some minor cuts and bruises on her right hand.
She is holding a thorn-hilted shadowed ivory dagger in her left hand.
She is wearing a spherical deep black pendant, a sprig of vivid red bleeding-heart tucked behind one ear, a flowing vivid scarlet longcoat, a side-ruched garnet faille gown with a gauzy ivory chiffon underskirt, a bisected slender eahnor band, and a pair of soft alabaster slippers.

Uniana gazes in wonder at you.

You shudder.
Speaking appreciatively in Elven, you say, "Sister, you are beautiful."

(Uniana continues to look Avidleigh over, her eyes searching over the half-Tehir.)

You gaze in wonder at Uniana.
Speaking softly in Elven, you ask, "It fades, but oh, such wonder. Is this how he sees...?"

Speaking quietly in Elven, Uniana says, "You are the very manifestation of...perfection."

(Avidleigh draws a fingertip across the edge of her knife, and watches the thin trail of blood swirl into the orb.)
You sigh.

(Uniana speaks in a distant, starry-voice, "Your willingness.  Your scars, your...desires, I see it all as he does.")

You tilt your head down.

Uniana gazes with interest at a crimson orb.

Speaking in Elven, you say, "No power but His, for Him and His children. Perhaps pain can draw him further, sister..."

You run the edge of your bone knife in a slow, methodical circle across your wrist until blood blossoms upon your skin - it rises up instead of falling, swirling into the orb with a faint *whoosh* sound.

Avidleigh reels internally on the tail end of that euphoric vision, her heart beating faster as a result.

You stare at a crimson orb.

Uniana runs the edge of her shadowed ivory dagger across her wrist, and as the blood blossoms upon her skin it swirls upward toward the orb and disappears within it.

The pain in your wrist begins to become amplified as your skin tingles with increased sensitivity, and soon enough, the pain becomes blinding, consuming all of your world as if it were the only thing that had ever mattered.  It continues to build and build, and then, almost as if you were expecting it, it blossoms into a wave of unparalleled euphoria that washes over you comfortingly, overwhelmingly, sweeping you up into its embrace as your mind's eye glimpses the image of a pair of violet eyes fluttering open.  Then the feeling, and the sensation, fades to nothing.

You take a deep breath.
You shudder.
Speaking weakly in Elven, you say, "...sister..."
(Avidleigh's hands tremble, and her grip on her knife slips alarmingly.)

(Uniana opens her eyes slowly, her body shaking faintly.)
Speaking softly in Elven, Uniana says, "Words...fail."  Her eyes watch the orb then shoot back down to her wrist, "in all my experience, the touch of Mularos, it has never felt so..."

(Avidleigh curls forward, cradling her bleeding wrist against her abdomen, and draws in ragged breaths.)
Speaking weakly in Elven, you say, "...sublime. Intense. Unparalleled. Pain has never been so."
You shiver.
You pass a hand over your face to bring some color back into your complexion.
Speaking softly in Elven, you say, "...and his eyes, oh, his eyes..."

(Uniana begins to touch her face, neck, chest and arms.  She feels her skin almost in a motion of irregularity.)

You close your eyes for a moment.

Avidleigh has always feared and been drawn to Eryael's eyes.

You breathe very slowly and deliberately, calming yourself.

Speaking softly in Elven to a crimson orb, Uniana says, "Arise, Lord, Love.  Be renewed in our sacrifice and in our souls."

(Avidleigh presses her blood-streaked palm against the floor of the chamber, supporting herself on a stiff arm.)

Uniana runs the edge of her shadowed ivory dagger across her wrist, and as the blood blossoms upon her skin it swirls upward toward the orb and disappears within it.

You bite your lip.

Uniana cocks her head at you.

(Avidleigh turns her wrist outward and digs the tip of her blade into it once again.)

You run the edge of your bone knife in a slow, methodical circle across your wrist until blood blossoms upon your skin - it rises up instead of falling, swirling into the orb with a faint *whoosh* sound.

Speaking softly in Elven, you say, "Drink and be strong..."

You run the edge of your bone knife in a slow, methodical circle across your wrist until blood blossoms upon your skin - it rises up instead of falling, swirling into the orb with a faint *whoosh* sound.

A soft caress touches your mind like a flutter of silk, "Mmm... my pets?" It asks, dazedly, before intoning in a more familiar, pleased fashion, "My *pets*... my dear, dear precious pets..."

You shiver.

(Uniana clenches her jaw tightly, the delicate cheekbone grows in defintion, while she carves an elaborate pattern into her forearm.   Her cuts seem even more precise and measured, spilling a greater amount of blood from her insiscions.)

(Avidleigh's blade-hand falters for a moment, but resumes its motions.)

You run the edge of your bone knife in a slow, methodical circle across your wrist until blood blossoms upon your skin - it rises up instead of falling, swirling into the orb with a faint *whoosh* sound.

(Uniana cries out longingly, "Lord, it is us!")

You bite your lip.
You think to yourself, "Painlord... we anchor..."

You run the edge of your bone knife in a slow, methodical circle across your wrist until blood blossoms upon your skin - it rises up instead of falling, swirling into the orb with a faint *whoosh* sound.

You shudder.

Uniana runs the edge of her shadowed ivory dagger across her wrist, and as the blood blossoms upon her skin it swirls upward toward the orb and disappears within it.

Speaking wistfully in Elven, Uniana says, "Return, return to us..."
Uniana closes her eyes for a moment.

Speaking softly in Elven, you say, "We welcome you home, my lord. Feel, and grow strong again..."

You run the edge of your bone knife in a slow, methodical circle across your wrist until blood blossoms upon your skin - it rises up instead of falling, swirling into the orb with a faint *whoosh* sound.

You break out in a sweat.

You run the edge of your bone knife in a slow, methodical circle across your wrist until blood blossoms upon your skin - it rises up instead of falling, swirling into the orb with a faint *whoosh* sound.

You think to yourself, "Never even... approximate... such pain and joy... as he feels..."

(Uniana tilts her slender neck to one side and pushes the bloodied blade of her dagger to the perfect skin of her chest.   Tears begin to well up in her eyes before she drives the sharp tip of her dagger into the flesh, pearls of scarlet beading up.)
Uniana trembles.

You shudder.
(Avidleigh painfully shifts position, fumbling her dagger into her bloodied hand, and stretches forth her unmarred arm.)
You swap your bone knife from your right to your left hand.

Speaking in Elven, Uniana says, "...darling rapture, return...we long only for you..."

(Avidleigh draws the tip of the blade in a wavering line from her elbow to her wrist, leaving trail of welling crimson behind.)

You run the edge of your bone knife in a slow, methodical circle across your wrist until blood blossoms upon your skin - it rises up instead of falling, swirling into the orb with a faint *whoosh* sound.

You think to yourself, "Sorrow, strengthen Your chosen child, that he may return to us in force, and bear Your standard forward..."
You furrow your brow, probably adding a wrinkle or two in the process.

You run the edge of your bone knife in a slow, methodical circle across your wrist until blood blossoms upon your skin - it rises up instead of falling, swirling into the orb with a faint *whoosh* sound.

(Uniana continues to slash in a calculated fashion against her chest and collar bone.  The drops of blood spill forth from her wounds and within a second are taken into the orb.)

(Avidleigh draws another line of crimson from her elbow downward, ending in the bloody mess that is her wrist.)

You run the edge of your bone knife in a slow, methodical circle across your wrist until blood blossoms upon your skin - it rises up instead of falling, swirling into the orb with a faint *whoosh* sound.

Uniana trembles like a leaf.
(Uniana weakly exchanges the blade in her right hand to her left.)
Uniana tightens her grip on her shadowed ivory dagger.
A pained expression crosses Uniana's face.
(Uniana pulls back the sleeve of her right arm.)
Uniana breathes in slightly.

Uniana runs the edge of her shadowed ivory dagger across her wrist, and as the blood blossoms upon her skin it swirls upward toward the orb and disappears within it.

The voice once again returns in your mind, its touch like warm breath upon skin, "Ah...my pets... I am aware once more... and to have my first sight be yours is something I shall cherish, yes.  But I must rest, now that I can reach beyond the golden cage the old man has erected... he is... becoming distracted... but I shall return to you, soon, for the bounty of your veins and the parting of your skin is as honey to me, my darlings..."  And with that, the voice is no more, yet a faint blissful wave washes over you as it departs.

You shudder.
(Avidleigh leans heavily on her bleeding arms, drawing in great heaving breaths.)

(Uniana lets out of a soft, deep-driven cry, her body slumping to one side.)
(Uniana's fingernails dig futilely at the floor, tears pouring from her eyes.)

You shake your head.
You shake your head.
Speaking weakly in Elven, you say, "...we have served, sister. Oh, how we have served."

Uniana smiles in elation as she sobs out a bounty of emotion.

(Avidleigh lowers herself on shaking arms to touch her forehead to her bleeding hands.)
You sigh.

(Uniana drops to the floor next to Avidleigh, her feeble body quivers in a torrent of weeping.)
Uniana lies down.
Speaking emphatically in Elven, Uniana says, "Thank you," pausing to sob and utter wordlessly before she chants, "thank you, Sorrow.   Thank you..."

(Avidleigh tilts her head, shifting her weight. Her fingers gently stroke Uniana's hair, leaving the faintest glisten of blood behind.)
Speaking softly in Elven, you say, "He is with us, and guards His children."

Uniana smiles pathetically at Avidleigh, giving a slight nod.

Avidleigh smiles briefly, eyes wet with their own unshed tears, before lowering her head to her hands again and breathing deeply.

(Uniana pulls her arms to her chest, scarlet-stained hands gripping towards her heart.)

(Avidleigh pushes herself upright again, grunting slightly.)
You kiss your bone knife.
Speaking quietly in Elven, you say, "He is with us. Now, more than just in spirit. He has woken, and it shall be glorious."
You sigh.

Uniana smiles broadly, kisses the tile once before she follows her sister's lead and sits up.
Uniana sits up.
Uniana slowly empties her lungs.

You kiss your bone knife.
(Avidleigh carefully wipes the blade of her knife against the unraveled remains of her arm-wraps.)
You put a curved bone knife in your buckled leather boots.
(Avidleigh sits back on her heels and rests her wrists on her knees.)

Uniana glance at the dagger in her hand.
(Uniana uses the inside of one sleeve to remove the blood from her dagger.)
Uniana put a thorn-hilted shadowed ivory dagger in her vivid scarlet longcoat.
(Uniana turns down the cuffs of her longcoat, concealing her brutal markings.)

You sigh.
(Avidleigh stares at her hands, but does not seem to really see them.)
You shake your head.
Speaking quietly in Elven, you say, "...I will return to the Garden, sister. There is much to think about."
You give Uniana a lingering kiss on the cheek.

Uniana smiles at you.
Speaking emphatically in Elven, Uniana says, "Yes, and much to prepare for."

You nod to Uniana.

Uniana folds her arms, grasping her shoulders.

Speaking in Elven, you say, "Yes... very much."
You smile quietly to yourself.
You stand back up.
In a strange gesture, you bow to a large statue.
You nod to Uniana.
Avidleigh smiles fleetingly.