The Return of Dyphrities

The small intersection in the forest - Barren Highlands

Erelei has returned as his own avatar, ostensibly to gather information about the fate of his other (deleted) avatar. The Darkness, a feminine figure cloaked in shadow, walks among them.

I. Prelude - Ambient Echoes

A quiet settles over Aabahran. Not peace. The other kind.

Nercuros holds where it holds. Something about looking at it feels like being looked back at.

The air carries a weight it did not carry an hour ago. Breathing works. It just takes a little more attention.

For a moment, every shadow in Aabahran falls the wrong direction. Then corrects.

Erelei slowly fades back into existence, no longer cloaked.

Somewhere, something speaks. Not here. Not in any tongue that lives. The sound arrives as a pressure behind the eyes and a taste like old iron, and then it is gone.

Birds over the continent wheel once and set course north. All of them. At the same time.

II. The Summoning

The wind across Aabahran shifts. Every current, every breeze, every stirred curtain, all of it bending north toward the Barren Wastelands.

Aquitous rides in. The bellows on the side of Aquitous's helmet hiss softly. Aquitous kneels and stays as silent as he can.

Valnan rides in. Valnan's mana shield flares brightly then dissipates.

Erelei seems to ignore all present, looking northward.

Xalax rides in. Xalax scans all around.

A slab of stone strikes the ground and begins to deform, morphing into shape.

Valnan looks at Erelei.

III. The Questioning

Erelei peers intently at Valnan.

Erelei says 'You were here last, yes? Where is my other Avatar?'

Valnan gasps in astonishment.

Valnan says 'Me?'

Valnan says 'I have not seen him myself.'

A small, white portal opens in front of Erelei briefly, and he looks through it. You can't see anything.

Erelei frowns visibly. A crease across his forehead is apparent.

Valnan says 'Has something happened to him?'

'He is gone.' Erelei says curtly. Direct. Annoyed almost.

Erelei says 'And you, Aquitous. You are not yet strong.'

Aquitous says 'No, my lord.'

Aquitous shifts just slightly under the gaze. Beads of sweat break out across Aquitous' brow.

Erelei is quiet for longer than is comfortable.

Erelei says, barely above a whisper, 'A corpse puppeting stolen flesh, and a dead thing that refuses to stay dead. And between them they have gotten their hands on powers that destroyed better creatures than either of them will ever be.'

Aquitous says 'And more besides.'

'BAERIC!', a strong, unhindered voice calls out. 'To me, now.'

Frustration and anger fills the air.

Xalax's facial tenticles undulate hastily as the voice echoes across the lands.

IV. Baeric Arrives

Baeric rides in.

Erelei glares icily at him.

Erelei says 'I called.'

Aquitous says 'Baeric. Thank you.'

Baeric shudders, but remains still.

Erelei says 'My last avatar arrived, but you did not. Why?'

Aquitous stands and moves shoulder to shoulder with Baeric.

Baeric says in Dwarvish 'My deepest apologies m'lord. The armor take my focus to be done right.'

Baeric says in Dwarvish 'I am singular in my focus, any punishment for such I accept without resentment.'

Erelei turns away from Baeric, dismissively. 'And what have you all learned?'

Aquitous says 'It is my duty to come when called, my Lord.'

Baeric says 'There is darkness stirring, in all fronts.'

Erelei says 'Valnan, Herald. What have you learned? What have they dug up?'

A small tremor ripples across the ground, almost imperceptible. You're sure you felt something. Maybe not.

Baeric says in Dwarvish 'Something of Breakers.'

Erelei stares through Valnan.

Valnan says 'I am sorry, I don't know.'

Erelei turns again toward Baeric. 'Breakers. Yes.'

V. The Lesson on the Breakers

Erelei says 'Do you understand what the Breakers actually were. Not the stories. Not the legends. What they were.'

Aquitous shakes his head.

Baeric says in Dwarvish 'They where a sect.'

Baeric says in Dwarvish 'They believed the soul was.... The true form? That our bodies vessels restricting a souls power.'

Erelei says 'They were pieces.'

Baeric says in Dwarvish 'Of course m'lord. Apologies for my lack of true understanding.'

Erelei pauses briefly, before continuing. 'Every Shepherd carried a fragment of his will to protect. Every Soulreaver carried a fragment of his will to consume.'

Erelei says 'They were not people with power.'

Erelei says 'They were extensions. Of. A. GOD.'

Baeric flinches under the booming declaration. The bellows on the side of Aquitous's helmet hiss softly.

A melodic voice can be heard coming from behind you, though you can't make out what it's saying.

Erelei turns slightly. You know he heard it.

Erelei says 'And this lich thinks she can hand that out like coin at a tavern?'

Erelei says 'Through a vampire, no less. A walking dust cloud?'

Baeric gasps at the realization as he utters 'The soul reavers?'

Aquitous' lip curls in a snarl at the mention.

VI. The Arrival of the Enemy

A vampire bat flies in. Siphi flies in. (Siphi, under compulsion, attacks several in the room before collapsing.)

A mist appears on the ground, rolling across the grass. As it grows thicker, the color shifts to gray, then to black.

Morcado reverts back to his natural form.

Erelei turns away from the group. Lifts his face to the sky. To Nercuros.

Siphi groans in agony.

(Erelei petrifies Morcado.)

A hooded figure yells 'Die! Erelei, you sorcerous dog!'

Siphi says 'Morcado!'

Erelei turns. 'And you, familiar.'

(Erelei petrifies Siphi.)

Siphi yells 'Die! Erelei, you sorcerous dog!'

Erelei says 'Sit. Listen.'

Xalax's facial tentacles undulate quickly at the sight of the stoning.

Aquitous nods resolutely. 'More than they deserve.'

Valnan says 'What..'

Erelei returns his gaze back toward the moon.

Valnan says 'Siphi, why??'

Aquitous looks up as well, trying to understand.

Aquitous says 'It is the ones closest that cannot see the signs.'

Erelei says 'The moon feels it. Look at it. Nercuros has held the balance alone since the other two fell.'

(Siphi's flesh loses the stoney look. Baeric looks up into the sky. Aquitous looks up into the sky.)

Erelei says 'And now someone is pulling on the threads that were woven into the fabric of life and death itself.'

Erelei barely glances at Morcado. You can see the anger seething behind his eyes.

Siphi says 'We were taken be force, we had no choice Valnan, you were not there to protect us...'

The mist begins to bulge, drawing the rest of the mist into itself, taking on shape.

Siphi sighs at the sight of Valnan.

An ethereal voice sings softly, 'Did someone call?'

Aquitous says 'Valnan, be on guard.'

A hooded figure takes a step back.

Aquitous says 'She seeks to trick and manipulate.'

Siphi says 'Valan, you know that is not true...'

Siphi says 'I have always kept you safe..'

Siphi says 'I just wanted strong enough to save myself...'

Siphi bursts into tears.

Baeric begins uttering the psalm of righteousness.

Valnan screams loudly!

Valnan says 'Look at yourself!'

A hooded figure says 'Siphi. There are larger issues at play here. I command you to focus. Protect me.'

Erelei's shadow glows bright behind him as he turns toward the coalesced figure.

Xalax raises an eyebrow at A hooded figure's weird actions.

Siphi stands between Morcado and the crowd.

Valnan sobs in misery.

Siphi strikes a sweet melody on A Massive Dragon Skull with a Glowing Eye, singing of meditations, trances, reveries; clarity of thought; the breaking of sanity.

Erelei continues, 'The moon is reacting because what they are doing is shaking the foundations of evrything.'

Erelei does not move for a long time. He's staring at something.

Siphi's face turns into a pale lifeless scowl.

Baeric says in Dwarvish 'What is your Command.'

A hooded figure grins, showing his fangs. 'The mistress and I have done much to draw power. She is without equal.'

VII. The Darkness Made Flesh

An ethereal voice sings softly, somehow behind you all individually, 'This explains much.'

Aquitous says 'I am yours to put forth as you will, my Lord.'

Baeric says in Dwarvish 'You would utter no false testimony. Tell me what it is you demand, and grant me opportunity to see it done.'

A hooded figure pulls his hood lower, the smell of burning flesh fills the air.

Aquitous bows his head and is filled with a virtuous light. Aquitous has been divinely empowered!

Siphi shields the sunlight from Morcado's figure.

A woman draped in darkness forms from the mist and walks around Erelei, arm dragging across his shoulders, 'Good to see you again.'

Siphi says 'Can it be....'

The sun's rays DISMEMBER A hooded figure!

Bloodlust fills Baeric's eyes as he switches grip on a holy carpenter's hammer.

Xalax grins evilly.

Siphi kneels respectfully before {Ghregen} a shadow.

The sun's rays MASSACRE A hooded figure!

Siphi's song repeats, her voice drifting on the melody, a second verse weaving in: 'Let it be known throughout the land / For I am the greatest, the most grand. / Let it be known and all take heed / Young and old know my heroic deeds...'

Baeric says in Dwarvish 'Aquitous, Be ready.'

Aquitous says in Dwarvish 'Always, brother.'

Erelei does not turn when the arm drags across his shoulders. Does not flinch. Does not breathe for a count that runs too long.

Erelei says, without looking, 'I wondered which one of you would show up first.'

She stops still for a moment and closes her eyes. Oppressive darkness fills the area.

The frost that had been creeping from Erelei's feet stops. Retreats a pace. As if unsure whether it is allowed to be here with her here.

(Siphi's song blesses Morcado: 'You stand ready on your feet...')

(Erelei petrifies Siphi - again.)

Siphi yells 'Die! Erelei, you sorcerous dog!'

Erelei says 'Your songs are like knives in my ears, familiar.'

An ethereal voice sings softly, 'Who where you hoping it would be?'

Erelei finally turns his head. Looks at her. The blue pupils at the center of his red eyes contract to points.

Valnan gets down on one knee and bows his head before Erelei, 'Can you save her?'

Erelei says, flat, 'You should not be here.'

The feminine figure cloaked in darkness says 'Touchy touchy. She's slowly becoming mine.'

Baeric says in Dwarvish 'Do not invoke hope in such a manner. There is nothing of you that stirs hope beyond your banishment.'

Erelei's colorless lips press together once. A muscle in his jaw moves. Settles.

Erelei says, quieter, 'You should not be anywhere. And yet.'

A feminine figure sings softly, 'And yet I have awakened.'

Baeric says to Valnan 'Now ain't tha time fer such. Siphi be twisted by that vampiya now.'

A feminine figure sings softly, 'The question is, why?'

Erelei goes very still. The kind of still that is not calm.

Erelei says 'Awakened.'

Aquitous says very quietly, 'Because I was too late. Too slow.' He waits a moment. 'Again.'

The thick cloak about Morcado falls away.

Erelei turns fully toward her now. Slow. Bare feet silent on stone that frosts where he steps.

Erelei says 'That is a careful word. You always did pick careful words.'

A feminine figure sings softly, 'Too slow to stop the avalanche, soul-fragment.'

Ghregen drops to his knees in despair.

A feminine figure sings softly, 'I have the time to be careful.'

Erelei says, quieter, 'Who pulled you up. Tiashrila. Morcado. Someone I have not named yet.'

Morcado frowns at the name.

Erelei says quieter, 'Or did you come up on your own. Did you find a thread and climb it.'

A feminine figure stops and tries to form the words, 'It was...'

The feminine figure shakes her head as if clearing cobwebs.

A thin line of cold traces the air between them and dissipates before it reaches her.

Baeric stares intently at the his first glimpse of true darkness.

Erelei says, flat, 'Sing me another line, then. Tell me what you've awakened into.'

A feminine figure sings softly, lovingly, 'Tiashrila. Yes, that name sounds familiar?'

Erelei's jaw tightens once. Releases.

The feminine figure turns to face Morcado, 'This one has her smell about him.'

The frost at Erelei's feet creeps forward a pace. Stops. Waits.

Morcado says 'Tiashrila is my mistress. My queen. I follow her without question.'

Aquitous says 'They all smell like death. Rot.'

Durim rides in. The Blood Guard walks in.

Erelei says, quieter, 'She planned well, then. To reach you. To pull you up through whatever she pulled you through. That is not small work.'

Siphi falls to the ground at Durim's feet.

(Erelei freezes the Blood Guard with a glance and shatters the frozen corpse into tiny shards.)

The feminine figure sings softly, 'A busy little bee.'

Durim takes a knee and puts a hand on Siphi's shoulder.

The feminine figure gasps, 'Oh my, busy indeed.'

(Siphi's song again - 'Let it be known throughout the land...')

Erelei's red eyes narrow. The blue pupils at the center hold steady on her.

Unsure of the outcome Morcado keeps darting his eyes back and forth.

'She thinks you will unsettle me. She is not wrong. But she is also not as right as she thinks.' Erelei says quietly, his voice annoyed.

The feminine figure looks to the sky, 'No. With that we agree.'

Erelei says 'So. Tell me what she promised you. To come here. To stand in front of me. To sing.'

(Siphi's song blesses Morcado again. Siphi winces in agony.)

(Erelei petrifies Siphi a third time.)

Siphi yells 'Die! Erelei, you sorcerous dog!'

Erelei says 'AGAIN, familiar! Enough!'

The feminine figure sings softly, ignoring the question, 'You've grown quite the temper. What bothers you?'

Erelei's eyes flick to the petrified bard. Back to her. The blue pupils do not widen.

Erelei says 'She was singing. You are singing. One of you I cannot reach.'

The feminine figure pouts mockingly, 'So you take it out on her? You are more rattled than you lead everyone to belive.'

Erelei's head tilts a fraction. Not curious. The tilt of something deciding whether a question deserves an answer.

Erelei says 'You are standing in my forest. Draped in something that is not cloth. Asking me what bothers me. As if we are old friends catching up.'

Siphi crawls on her hands and knees over to Morcado's side.

Erelei's colorless lips part slightly. Close. Part again.

A shadow ripples across the sky.

Baeric says in Dwarvish 'Lord Erelei, if she has been toying with the powers of Soulreavers, is the answer to balance such atrocity the Shepherds?'

The feminine figure sings softly, 'You wound me! Since when are we not old friends?'

Erelei says 'And you will not answer a simple question. Which tells me you already know I will not like the answer.'

Ghregen peers at Siphi, narrows his eyes and drives his attention back toward the feminine figure.

The feminine figure sings softly, shocked, 'Soulreavers? Oh, Erelei! You've been holding out on me!'

Erelei takes one step. Bare foot on stone. The stone darkens where he steps and stays dark.

Erelei's head turns sharply toward Ghregen. The red of his eyes flares for an instant before settling.

Erelei turns back to her. His colorless lips thin.

The feminine figure sings softly, 'What she promised? Yes, you know the answer and no, you will not like it.'

At the mention, Morcado seems alarmed. His eyes wide, taking yet another step backwards.

The feminine figure steps back a little, to give space.

Erelei's attention flicks to Morcado. Catches the step back. Holds there a breath.

Erelei says 'Morcado.'

Erelei's colorless lips curve. Not a smile.

Erelei says 'Interesting. She names no name and you flinch anyway. That tells me something.'

The frost at Erelei's feet spreads another hand's width.

Erelei turns back to the feminine figure.

Xalax's facial tentacles narrow and stretch longer, seemingly in anticipation of something.

Erelei says, flat, 'So. She promised you what she could not give anyone else. Which means it is mine. Or it was mine. Or it was something I stood between her and, once.'

Morcado shows his fangs. 'No. I will not. I.. I know nothing.'

Erelei's red eyes narrow. The blue pupils at the center do not move.

Erelei says, quieter, 'The sun is up. You are still here. That also tells me something.'

Siphi nods. Morcado frowns, facing down a God. Panic fills his eyes. Erelei's jaw tightens once.

(Siphi sings once more - 'Let it be known throughout the land...')

Siphi whispers 'Day walker.'

Erelei says 'Whatever she promised, she cannot deliver until the third moon rises. You would not be walking in daylight otherwise. She is not that generous.'

Erelei says 'Which means I have time. Not much. But some.'

Erelei's attention slides back to Morcado. Cold. Measuring.

Erelei says 'And him. He knows what she promised you. Look at him. He is the one afraid of the answer.'

The feminine figure sings softly and smirks, 'It hasn't? So there's still time. Thank you for the information.'

The feminine figure sings softly, 'And a race, it seems.'

Siphi reaches out to Valnan.

Siphi says 'I, feel better.....'

Erelei goes very still. The kind of still that follows a mistake.

Valnan turns away, 'I can no longer trust you.'

Erelei says, flat, 'Ah.'

Morcado shifts his movements to shield himself behind the feminine figure. 'We will complete our goal. Even if you turn me to dust now. It is too late.'

The frost at Erelei's feet stops moving. Entirely.

Erelei says, quieter, 'You did not know. You suspected. I confirmed it.'

VIII. The Moonrise

Erelei says 'Well played, woman. I will remember that.'

Erelei says 'But understand. A race assumes both runners start at the line. You came here to measure us. You have measured. Now you leave knowing what stands against you.'

The feminine figure sings softly, 'You did always play into my hands like that.'

Baeric looks to Aquitous, then Valnan. Baeric nods. Aquitous nods back.

The feminine figure stands straight and drinks in the darkness.

Erelei's red eyes close for a breath. Open.

Erelei says 'Yes. I did.'

The frost at Erelei's feet darkens. Not spreading now. Deepening.

The world grows dim, and grows dimmer with every passing moment.

Erelei's colorless lips curve faintly. Not a smile. The memory of one.

The black cloth at Erelei's throat lifts in a breeze no one else feels. Settles slowly.

Ghregen bows his head as if in utter defeat to his emotions.

Valnan says 'I been fooled once before.'

Siphi reaches out to Ghregen, he does not acknowledge her pleas.

The feminine figure stretches her arms out wide and looks toward the sky. 'Once is enough.'

Aquitous says 'There is no shame in that. We are all fools at some point.'

Erelei's head snaps up.

Erelei says, sharp, 'No.'

The frost at Erelei's feet surges outward in a hard ring. Stops at her.

Siphi says 'Do not let them poison your minds, It is me! I am Siphi!!!'

Siphi bursts into tears.

A shadow tears open above the eastern horizon. The stars behind it die one at a time.

Erelei says 'You cannot. Not here. Not now. You are not strong enough to hold what comes through.'

The shadow resolves into a sphere of dark crimson, rimmed with sickly light. Where nothing has hung for an age, a moon hangs now.

The feminine figure sings softly, 'Very much yes!'

Dyphrities, the Dark Moon, has returned.

A wave of cold rolls across the continent. Every grave breathes out at once. Every necromancer who was sitting stands up without knowing why.

Erelei's red eyes lift to the sky. The blue pupils at the center go wide for the first time tonight.

Two moons hang in the sky of Aabahran. Living memory does not include this.

Morcado grins seeing the moon arrive.

Ghregen says 'She will have this one too, with her cold grasp clinched, nothing can escape.'

Siphi looks as if in a trance towards the rising Moon.

Siphi says 'There are two now...'

Erelei says, barely above breath, 'You brought the Dark Moon back. You. Not Tiashrila. You.'

Aquitous growls low in his throat. Xalax blinks slowly.

Erelei's colorless lips part. Stay parted.

The feminine figure sings softly, 'If that's the story you wish to tell yourself, then yes. But it would not have happened if I hadn't been wakened.'

Erelei says, quieter, 'That was not her promise. That was yours. You wanted this. She only gave you the door.'

Erelei says 'A moon of your own. After standing in the shadow of the three for however long you did. She offered you a sky.'

Erelei says, quieter, 'And you took it. Knowing what it would cost the world. Knowing what it would cost me.'

Baeric says in Dwarvish 'Yet when the sky is darkest, the dawn comes.'

Erelei does not move for a long count.

The feminine figure sings softly, 'I wanted this yes. Search inside and you know you did, too.'

Erelei says 'Go, then. Stand under your moon. Sing to it. Enjoy what you have bought.'

Erelei says, colder, 'But understand this. A moon can be pulled down. Dyphrities was pulled down once. It can be pulled down again. And anything standing under it when it falls does not walk away.'

The sun's rays DISMEMBER A hooded figure!

A hooded figure performs an ancient ritual to the Covenant of Blood.

The feminine figure sings softly, 'The closer the moon, the stronger the pull. That which was dead will rise again.'

A wave of cold rolls across the continent. Not weather. Recognition.

The feminine figure sings softly, 'I will go for now. And you will remember that I have woken.'

Erelei does not answer. Does not move. Watches her go.

Aquitous says 'The dead may rise, but they will fall again.'

Aquitous says 'We shall see to it.'

Erelei says, quiet, to the space where she stood, 'I will remember. That was never going to be the problem.'

The feminine figure smiles victoriously. A wind picks up and disperses the dark misty figure.

IX. Aftermath

Baeric looks up into the sky. Aquitous looks up into the sky.

A brilliant shower of shooting stars streaks across the sky!

Siphi clamors to her feet, allured by the Moons.

Ghregen drops to his knees, plants his face within his palms and begins to sob.

Siphi says to Ghregen 'A bit too much to drink Mister Father?'

Siphi raises an eyebrow at Ghregen's weird actions.

Ghregen says, muffled through his hands, 'We are all forsaken.'

Erelei says 'Be strong, Baeric. Aquitous.'

Aquitous says 'I am not forsaken.'

Siphi says 'We is a strong assumption.'

Erelei says 'Rally the good, decent, men and women.'

Baeric clasps the pendant about his neck as he nods his head.

Aquitous shoots a look at Siphi.

Erelei says 'Do not waver. She will not win.'

Aquitous nods emphatically.

Aquitous claps his hand on Baeric's shoulder.

Ghregen says 'I will not be folly in another holy war.'

Aquitous says 'This is no holy war.'

Ghregen says 'The corpses, in piles high as mountains.'

{Siphi} a shadow says 'The shadows are not to be feared, but embraced.'

Baeric shakes his head.

Aquitous says 'This is a war against vermin. Dead flesh that moves.'

Valnan hangs his head low.

Erelei tells Ghregen 'This is a war of life, against death, Healer.'

Aquitous says 'It needs to be burned to ash and stamped out.'

Baeric says in Dwarvish 'This is a war against Oblivion brethren.'

Valnan points to Morcado, 'You will pay for this.'

Erelei turns, and disappears.

Baeric says 'Save yer werds me boy. They is better served elsewhere.'

Darnit, I missed this! Awesome stuff everyone!