Her Children

[ry0un0suke]

♐︎ - Hiero - 3rd Month
2135
☼ ☾ ☼

In the year 2111 at four locations around the capital city, a patch of marignolias appeared. Their new homes not so random, appearance no work of magic but planted delicately, each one that made up its new small field. Known as autumn's flower, no matter the season, these planted few remain in bloom, its bright, bell shaped petals only closing like all others for the night. Winter, spring, summer, these peculiar marignolias remain. At a point, but a cycle after their first plant, a simple seed nestled center of this field, roots digging and intermingling with the rest to grow into an unassuming oak sapling. Different from its long lived runeoak siblings or the great cleansing oak Euphaedra, this budding oak was simply that: a budding oak one may find out in any forest.

For now, for only so long. The saplings grew, all four, bearing green leaves that turned into a golden-yellowish hue as if stuck in a perpetual state of autumn, forever transitioning and never quite reaching where it may be. Its curious hue a result of holy magic. Day by day, week by week, its planter visited all four locations, imbuing the sapling in prayer, in poem, in magic. No miracles happened, nothing changed drastically causing these conspicuous oaks to do more than be a oak, but it sure was thoroughly holy, for its planter was no other than Sunsets over Moonlight, this magic holy's absolute pinnacle.

At roughly four cardinal points across Dal'Thala, each sapling and marignolia patch grew atop a buzzing hub of mana. Strong leylines studied and charted in decades past and taken advantage of now. Accounting for shifts and the introduction of a powerful tablet awash in the Mother Goddess' very own aether, these points can be found: within Amaryllis, north of the sparring grounds, near the cave that accesses Her Wondrous Woods, and near the gap between Dal'Thala and Nereides. Like an added vein to the connection of runeoaks already in place, its system complex and truly known to few, these a mage's vein and commitment to their people.

The year is 2135, twenty four turns of autumns since first planting. Crystals have erected around each oak, humming gently with dormant magic harnessed from the land itself. All is in place for... something. Any who near these oaks may note how similar they feel to Sunsets over Moonlight in regards to magical signature. Sorrowful, kind, intense, distant cries of holy's pinnacle clear even to a novice. The runeoak's complex system is the land's gift to man, and this string man's gift to land.

Soon, Atrellya's forces will run rampant on Meranthe. Thousands will die as they have in Aen before the demonic forces pulled out in favor of dealing karma to the heroes who bested the perfect demon Indras, stealing what was of its hoard. While some troops have been sent to the vassals and allies of Delphina, a vulnerability remains, even if marginal. Standing tall since its inception, despite its happenings in decades pass with the Greathive, its unification and defense is unmatched and will continue to be so long as the Lumin King and his heir draw breath.

---

"My devotion to Delphina, to the Mother Goddess, to the Lumin King goes beyond my body, my spirit and my breath. My breath and body and spirit in exchange for the longevity of all I will ever hold dear. I am not a hero and I regret not dying in exchange of slaying the Demon King Indras. Had I, had others, then we may have spared Meranthe the thousands that will die in our stead. I try to ask for little, but I ask for this only once:

 

I ask for your help and support, for your grief and hope. I ask for your spirit, your dreams, your nightmares, your love and your hate. Let me shoulder it, let it empower what will protect you, my people, for generations to come. I cannot protect nor inspire you as King Camino de Caewynn, but I can do this."

 

What might 'this' be?

---

The Heir Luminary Sunsets over Moonlight calls for the assistance of Delphinan citizens and those interested in aiding in the fortification of Delphina's defenses, ushering the ancient realm into an era of impenetrability through the magics of its barrier mage. Be prepared to heed their request for aid. This will be no mere ritual or blessing.

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Location: Dal'Thala (550, 785)

Time: Sun 6p EST