He watched her depart the chamber leaving to her rest.. his mind a tumult of thoughts.. feelings long since absent raging through him like some great storm at sea.. stirred both by her, and by what he now thought upon. He had considered this but once …
A small, bloodied hand set upon the center of the large altar the child lay upon, her broken, ravaged body crawling in a desperate, yet futile attempt to reach the still outstretched limb of her mother.
The twisted, macabre scene of her mother’s lifeless, mangled corpse as it lay, rendered near fleshless had been burned into the forefront of her memory where it would remain a haunting testament to her father’s weakness.. his utter inability to control that which he sought to seize from the unforgiving clutches of the nether..
“Sweet little morsel.. so like your mother..” The ragdoll body of her mother was jerked from the floor, escaping the small, shaking hand that failed to reach her by scant inches as the beast above her wrenched the butchered cadaver up by it’s hair, the dark mahogany tresses forever stained in the deep crimson of her life blood.
“Father! WHY?!” Utter terror, pain, anguish and betrayal echoed from the small girl in a voice so unlike her own.. the harsh rasping of a throat raw from the tormented wails of unbridled agony. He had taken everything from her.. everything that had been the safe cocoon in which she had thrived until this moment, and still the beast that had once been her father stood above her, poised and laughing through the ghastly gape of its mouth.
Even as the young child wept, her face smeared in the fetid amalgamation of tears, dirt, and the carmine of her blood she continued to utter the softly spoken incantation. Every syllable, every enunciation left her lips with such a perfected understanding that the demon that stood above her took pause, its gruesome visage twisting and contorting with a hatred born of pure jealousy.
“You hope to succeed where he failed, little girl?!” The deep baritone of his voice boomed in a dark cacophony of sound as clawed fingers grabbed at the nape of the child’s neck, hefting her broken body from the ground even as her mother’s was thrust against the cold, stone wall of the ritual chamber. A sickening crack of the woman’s bones elicited a shrill cry from the young girl that struggled in vain against the crushing grasp of her captor.
It was pure terror that drove the girl now, her hands clutching helplessly at the wrist of the demon that held her, dangling above the altar and as she closed her eyes, the child seemed almost accepting of her fate. Death awaited her, just as it had claimed everything that she had held dear.. everything that had once been precious to her.
Vicious claws hovered above her, their bloodied tips aimed to rend the heart from her chest and yet as she braced herself for the inevitable agony of her final moment, the deep echo of his laughter that had pierced her ears cut abruptly short.
The soft hitch in his throat, the gentle sigh of encroaching death that passed the demon’s lips forced the child to open her eyes. The scene before her wavered as the beast’s heart landed in a sickening thud upon the dirt beneath them, the darkness that sought to claim her narrowing her vision until only a single entity lingered at the apex of her distorted sight, and as her body crumbled upon the floor, two arms took her into their shelter, reverently cradling her in such a way as to remind her that she would never truly be alone.
” ..Sallos.”
He remained with her long after she had slept, one hand smoothing her hair, one wrapped around her shoulder.. a blanket separating them to keep the warmth. Even flushed with her blood as he was now, he knew it would not last long and she would need th…
The sickening sound of shattering bone filled the air with the impact as the man struck the wall with such force as to drive the blood from any path it might find. The broken body crumpled, but before it could strike the ground beneath the sturdy wood…
Much has happened in the life of the City of Narrowhaven. most recently a new king took the throne. Riku VanGroft, a blacksmith from deep in the mountains. little is known of about him and even less is asked. yet he managed to take the throne without a single objection. in fact many seemed more then happy for him to take the seat. all was well until one day, shortly after Riku was crowned, a plague struck Narrowhaven. with no clue as to how it started he began his search for answers refusing to let his people die in the streets. he soon realized this was no ordinary plague. those who died by its hands would soon rise and begin attacking the citizens of Narrowhaven. a few days into his search for answers he find Merrick Godfrey. the king of mythndale in narrowhaven searching for the asme answers. he was speaking to a woman in dark clothing, they would soon learn she was a necromancer. she was cryptic at best and insulting at worst but she aided them non the less in the search. soon Riku, Merrick and the woman found a traveling monk. he seemed ill and they approached him to ask if he knew anything that would help them. what they found was that the monk was already to far gone to the plague to be saved but as he lay dying he grasped at Riku’s ankle and said “the Deboacher. The Ancient One” before he breathed his last. as the three stood there trying to understand what the man had meant Godfrey could contain his anger no longer and lashed out at the gods. calling whatever god it was that was doing this to show himself and fight. not a minute later 2 Ancient lich attacked the party and almost did them in. but through a tough fight and a lot of luck the party won out. though not before the lich could enchant a few citizens into attacking Riku and then Godfrey. after the battle Godfrey brought Riku to his privet estate to wait out the people madness and to try and decode what the monk had said in his final words. with no luck they begin to head back to Narrowhaven. as they walked out of Merricks office there stood The Beautiful Kairi Vel. the woman who from first sight had stolen Riku’s heart. not that he wanted it back mind you. they all talked and kairi told Riku of a man looking to do business with him. he thanked her and smiled as Godfrey walked up to her and began talking. as they explained the troubles and current state of narrowhaven to kairi Riku began to notice something between Merrick and Kairi. he said nothing and help his words though In his heart he knew. moments later the two said they had to leave to take care of something and Riku in turn went back to Narrowhaven on his own in search of more answers. upon arriving he was beset upon by the fallen of the plague and quickly laid them to rest though before he could search for anything more he was summoned back the Merrick’s estate. he quickly responded and with the wave of his hand and a flash he was standing in the courtyard of Merrick’s estate again and they began going over their business. a few minutes into the conversation Riku could no longer hide the feelings he had seeing how close the two seemed and Merrick noticed. he asked Riku what was wrong and Riku responded asking what the relationship between them was. as they spoke and he saw how kairi smile at Merrick Riku could feel his heart tearing. it was clear that the woman he loved, was a woman in love with another. he steeled his face as to not show one ounce of the pain in his heart. moments later Kairi had to leave, Merrick offering to walk her home. Riku takes his leave. he turned his back and uttered the incantation of Runic Travel. but right as he was to vanish from their sight he looked back at Kairi. a look a true loss in his eyes and the pain of his broken heart showed clear. he knew not if she saw it and honestly he hoped she hadn’t. he thought to himself “as long as she’s happy” and pushed it all back down. not a second later he was gone. back in narrowhaven, at his small shop of a home he retired. pulling the books from his shelves to study anything and everything he could that might help him save his city. drowning out the pain of his bleeding heart with a purpose he sealed his feeling inside of himself and focused on the task at hand.
To Be Continued
He drew another deep breath in through his mouth, letting the scent play across his tongue one more time even after she had gone.. the subtle taste that lingered, even moreso in the closed space of the library then it had been in the hall the day they…
Crisper. He couldn’t precisely place his finger on what had changed, though several small things seemed different since he’d awoken. The superficial changes were there, sure and hard to ignore he suspected for any who had known him before today.. But …
It has come to the attention of several lately that some changes have begun to take effect, and these changes should in no way cause anyone distress or worry as I assure in the end, they will only have a positive effect upon this shard and our player …
Rare ore veins now have a better chance to be found and mined. Required mining skill to mine rare ores has been lowered to 100. This means you will be able to gather the ore at lower skills but you still must have higher skill in order to smelt the …
I want to see the artists we have out and about generate some kind of image of their (or another with permission) character! As this requires some work and exposure of your tallent (or lack there of) all post of your rendering(s), include (Artistic Fu…