The vast halls filled with Skeletons standing in orderly fashion, not even a rattle of bones could be heard as everything seemed so still, so peaceful. And yet those who dare try to steal a fragment of a dream seemed to find... What would they find? The end of a great road. The pathway toward a destiny unfulfilled? Nay, they sought Mysterium. The home of the Lich who had been dormant for so many years, merely tethered to the world by a few strings that slowly snapped away... but humanity had been warned, they couldn't leave well enough alone.

"Those who dare tread upon these grounds will find only Death. It is time we awaken, my precious creations. Aphros, Vdalion, they never seem to learn. Divines have felled, Countless Champions splayed across the foundations of the Ascent. They wish to come taking things they do not deserve. So it is Time, the end of it all."

They would be waiting.

(art credit: Star of Wonder - Brian Jekel)
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(music for ambiance)
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A world of secrets. An abyssal keep for a Lord of Time, a legion of the unfair and mortally damned. Whispers that emanate from the forbidden necropolis, a land divorced of time, of rife corruption, death and undeath, of fel influence and nightmares aplenty.
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Yet, it would be a mistake to name it as a completely forsaken place. A land that some, not none, have emerged from and understood in full. A land that was breached in silence by a once-ally, one whose rallied cries moved the potent war machine of Skarnfel's greatest.
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Meranthe had certainly changed.
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Between what looked like a greased and readied political split between the West and East of Meranthe, and the invasion apparent of an entirely different creed of demons than the purified and broken few that remained, it almost seemed as if logic and reason had failed Meranthe, no less with another fel war rapidly approaching.
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But other things had certainly changed, too.
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An unexpected missive emerges from the eventide, writ upon the continent's many doorsteps. Those considered once-enemies, those that are now allies, and those that are indifferent; one and all, the same letters are found for each of them, in their higher states.
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Yet the message is not meant for them. Nor is it meant for Xarxes, either.
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What hadn't changed, then?
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Quote:

This letter is written in regard to certain circumstances.
If it is not meant for your eyes, ears, or mind, then do not worry.
This is intentional.
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In my now-many years of being given this second life, I have, for the most part, found solace in a peaceful, fully mortal experience and life.
There are only three things that would motivate me to pick up my blade and act as I am now, and as such, I have let the fervor of the living fully enrapture me.
Oh, how I have been waiting for this very moment.
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People of Meranthe, I urge upon those undecided and unknowing of their allegiances, yet still wish to fight for a greater cause.
To those of the Grand Design, to those willing to stand alongside me in my personal fight...
I would be for-ever graced by your decision.
Yet, it is a decision of your own; fight your own battles if you must.
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I will fight my own.
And though it would only be fitting that Xarxes would indeed be the target of mine ire...
... no, that is not what I am here to do.
There is a time and place for all things, but that will come later, should Camino fail here, as hard as it is to imagine.
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Instead, I would like for Meranthe to cast their gazes to Sak'noth.
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My Progenitor, the Father I never had.
When we were in such a transient dream as our irregular deaths, t'was the first time I ever heard your voice.
In the Imperfect self, I rallied and called for your very name, for your Aspect, yet I never felt moved by you.
When you were but a weapon, a Kaorblade disembodied, I remember you first as a sword, but now what lays is a scythe.
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Yet you did not truly change, did you?
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All that was left for you to change was that the body you now inhabit is ultimately a mechanical marvel.
All that imprinted for you was the change to your soul's form, mimicking another in spite of what it is you heralded and represented.
It is... almost painfully, woefully ironic, that I know this much, and have changed so drastically in consequence.
... it is almost spiteful of me to announce my intentions for the world to gorge upon.
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Hear me, each corner of the continent;
upon this eve, no matter what happens,
a ghost of the past, one borne of darkness,
shall no longer hang over the shoulders of Meranthe.

Quote:"Once I had a spawn that resembled me and my brother, in power, in deeds, and ideals. Once, I was briefly proud that my spawns were useful for something, different from other demons that never managed to do much. However, just like the Empire I forged in the midst of death, destruction and change.
 

This one ceased to exist.

  
In its place, a pathetic thing appeared. A worm. A vermin. A mascot of the mortals of Meranthe. A despicable being who is not even pure any longer, not like other demons. Something that degrades our name and makes me feel ashamed for having brought it into existence.
 

Na'ria.

You don't deserve my attention, the time I would spend dealing with you.

You don’t deserve anything.

Why would such a thing as yourself be trying to guide mortals, when they were the ones you once hunted. And eliminated so many.. As if they were dust that you needed to remove from your path.

  
Perhaps. You have changed, just as expected. But not towards perfection, but towards your own perdition. You exchanged what makes us demons superior, for a semblance of humanity, to resemble these disgusting things.. While trying to avoid the proper retribution to your actions.
 

Annoying. 

 

Disgusting..

  
Pitiful.

 
You disrespect me greatly, only because you still exist. Yet it also serves to demonstrates to me how far these mortals are willing to stride, to save their own lives, turning what once hunted them, consumed so many of them... Into a weapon for their own goals. Forgetting about all that they claim they fight for.
 
Indeed.. you became..

A toy.

A thing to be used.

Before discarded.

 

It's simply regrettable that you fell so low.

 
For this reason. Don't make me waste my time with you. This one is more precious focused on my studies, to achieve the true form of our people. If you really want my attention, destroy your own blade and regain some of the dignity you once had when you were a real demon.
 
Perhaps then, I will come to watch as you soul return to helheim.
  
Or, just await your undeniable end at the hand of those from Atrellaya, or any other of my kin around who desire to eat something such as yourself. Perhaps then, you shall be useful once more. Become something other than a glorified trophy for the remnants of Aphros."