Worlds and Wars

[GameMaster]

Chaos.
The Heavenly Guards had gathered all of the higher priests into the Atrium of the Palace, where they were reinforced by the Royal Guard. Or at least, what was left of the Royal Guard. Many had fallen during the night when the Vampire Lord had shown himself, breaking-no, shattering the line that those loyal soldiers had held for two whole days now. It was high noon, but the usually bright sun was over-cast by a thick layer of clouds. Clouds that had not been there minutes before.
The air was tinged with the sharp smell of fear, and the muttering of prayers to Pellor melded together in Uther's ears to become a mindless babble, praying for the Sun-God to return to them, to drive away this darkness that the vampires had wrought. Uther closed his eyes.
The vampires had never shown themselves in sunlight, and years of experience told him that the bright rays of Pellor would burn the demons where they stood, but Uther was no longer so sure. During the fight last night, when dawn had arrived, the vampires had retreated. As the light broke onto them, they fled into the burnt-out houses of the city, fleeing from the light of the sun. They had run, but even has the Royal Guard put out a great cheer that had lifted Uther's heart, his eyes, sharp despite his age, picked out a figure, standing by the gate to the city. Darkness seemed to swirl out from him, sucking the very colour out of the city around him. As the light moved across the ground, it hit him, illuminating dark robes and a long, gnarled staff.
No fire, no holy death burst from the heavens. And Uther was worried. If a vampire could survive the direct rays of dawn, how strong would it be in this heavily under-cast sky?
His thoughts were interrupted by a young man whose pale features designated him as from the north of the kingdom. Barely more than a boy, he bowed, and told Uther that he was summoned by the king.
King Fallab III was not far, a make-shift throne-room having been constructed in one of the side rooms of the atrium. Surrounded by Royal Guard and the wizard Elsar at his left, his unbowed figure in itself made a statement; he was not afraid.
"Uther! It is good to see that you are well. Many friends have died this day."
Uther genuflected, and kissed his brother's hand. "How may I serve the Crown, Your Majesty?"
The king's face became serious. "You are right, there is little time. Very little time."
He turned from Uther, and looked out one of arrow-slits onto the abandoned city below. When he spoke, his voice was bleak, and weary.
"This war... is too much for us. We are a great nation, but this is beyond us. The Vampire Lord may not be a match for your faith, but he doesn't need to be; he can wreck everything around us, and then starve us to death. Even with our advantage during the day, we cannot hold him off at night. I fear that... soon, this city will be laid to waste, and that then he will turn his eyes north. Loruel will be able to hold them for a while, but even then... my people will be dead, or slaves to this demon." He sighed, and continued.
"There is only one way to defeat him. We cannot do it alone. We need help, but none of our neighbours are far-sighted enough to see that he will turn on them the moment he is done with us. This why I have summoned you here." The king turned, and his steady gaze met Uther's pale eyes.
"You must use the ninth passage, and get help from another world."
Uther started. "Your Majesty... why would a nation from another world seek to aid us?"
The king gave him a hard stare. "I do not seek armies. I need heroes. Men of great strength, of magic, of faith. An army could not defeat the Vampire Lord, as we saw at Nalvega, when the 6th Army was ...murdered by his power. We need heroes, men of great power. There is a world where magic is far stronger than here, where men are tested harder. You know it. It is my royal command that you go there, and bring heroes back here to combat this demon. I can only hope that you get back here in-"
The king was interrupted by a chorus of blood-curdling screams. Blood sprayed and the air was full of shouting. Smashing was heard, as if something enormous was beating the very walls of the palace down.
"Go!" The king ordered.
Uther began praying.
"And good luck, little brother." With those last words, the king and his royal guard walked into the atrium, into that cauldron of screams.

A single thought was remaining before Pellor would move him from this world, into the other, creating a portal of his faith. That thought, that prayer, on hold, Uther peeked into the Atrium to see what had happened.

Only six figures remained, and even has he watched, the crown-prince fell under the flaming blade of an enormous demon. The horned creature, hissing, bit into the chest of the prince, hot blood spilling out onto its face.
It whirled its blade again, but suddenly stopped as if held back by some superior force.
On the far side of the demon was another creature, equally horrible. With six metallic legs, it was enormous, and entirely indiscernible. It was as if some horrible alchemy experiment had gone wrong, leaving this wreckage behind. It was almost perfectly still, and if its bug-like head wasn't following the flaming demon's movements, Uther would have assumed it was destroyed.
In between them was the one who had stopped the demon. When his eye's fell onto the small figure between the two demonic giants, his heart almost stopped. Robed in black, its face hooded, it was the same figure Uther had seen before. The black staff was held directly in front of him, pointed slightly forwards and up, a seemingly innocuous gesture, but one that radiated danger and power.
"Give me the pendant." His voice was low and threatening.
The king and Elsar stood behind a magical shield whose force Uther could feel from his stand-point.
"Give me the pendant!"
"There is no pendant." The king's voice was still strong, with no sign of strain.
"Don't play stupid with me, Fallab. I can find it's location from your bones when I'm done with you."
"You will never control its power, and neither will your lord!"
"You mean Anghel." The dark figures voice seemed almost amused.
"Well... if you do not have the pendant, I'll at least have your soul." His voice drawled out the last word, and as he finished he gestured with his free hand, with launched a dark spiral of energy at the shield, shattering it in a single blow and plunging into the chest of Elsar, before tearing out, leaving a hole in his chest.
In the last moment, the king cried out "No!” his unbreakable calm broken for the first and last time.
The Spiral of darkness retreated into the dark mage's hand, and Uther finished his spell, tears streaming down his cheek.
__________________________________________________________________________________
It was as if there was a shimmering pool of light in front of him. He stepped into it and was suddenly falling, falling through time, through swirling mixes of colour and stars; worlds. When he finally landed, he fell to the ground, barely able to breathe. He was just outside of a city, one dominated by an enormous palace that rivalled anything he had seen.
He did not know it, but that was Titan Palace, and he was just outside the gates.

[Carzal]

-It had become his custom to visit his southern holdings during the spring. The temperature difference was just enough that it felt a little more like summer, and arriving in spring gave him an opportunity to overview the farms, and see what was going on. He never made any changes to the over-seers' decisions; one thing that Carzal knew little about was how to farm. What to farm, perhaps, but the year looked like one surprisingly free of harvest blight or other such disaster that would raise prices in one area or another. As the season turned towards summer he made the long way back to Titan, often on foot. Having to go on foot gave him time to think, something that seemed to be in short supply these days.
He sighed. He was getting older; he could feel it. Seven-hundred and two was very different from seven-hundred, when he had first arrived at Titan.-
-Just as he was about to entire the city gates, a sudden influx of mana began to coalesce in front of him. He moved his hands to his hilts, resting on the hilts, and then paused, his expression thoughtful. It felt... strange, not the usual type of mana that was bent and manipulated in this world. In front of him, a tiny spec of liquid light, not so dissimilar to spilled honey, appeared and rapidly grew into a large two dimensional circle, roughly 8 feet in diameter. An old man, half falling and half walking, stumbled through and fell to the ground. Carzal knelt immediately, examining the white-robed figure for signs of hurt.-
"Are you alright? Can you speak?"
-He might have looked like an ordinary wizard or priest, but Carzal saw he was more. He was like him. He had traveled from another world.-

[James]

Ahh. Fresh meat.

The very prospect of it was delighting and wonderful, and Crom had found himself much more than a mouthful. A strange animal it was, most certainly, but the mutated bear had granted him a great deal of meat to smoke and sell. Considering this was his first time at Titan and that he was flat out broke, the draconian traveled forward towards the town with the rack of jerky on his back, his mind almost merry for once. More often than not it seemed the draconian couldn't help but be set upon by the weight of his past as of late- it never was easy to exist being the last of one's tribe.

Holding out his hand in front of him, Crom looked closely at his claws as he moved, making sure one last time that all the blood had been washed off. Naturally they were a little musty, considering that a stream alone cannot wash the blood of a kill in one day. Lowering his hand, the barbarian's eyes were shot wide by the sight in front of him. A powerful magic ripped open the fabric of space and time itself, sending an old man through stumbling through and flat onto his face. His happy moment ruined, Crom stopped for a moment to watch the man who moved to help the older one, his instincts warning him of plausible danger. Any old man could be very weak and yet an incredibly potent mage, as Crom had learned.

He decided to stay put to wait for the old man to reveal himself either as a threat or as a civilian of some kind, but until then Crom's tail began sweeping the floor in great strokes with the anticipation of attack. He wasn't scared- it took more than the threat of death to frighten Crom. He was simply wary, smart enough to look before he walks next to someone who might blow him to pieces with a spell.

[Carzal]

Uther choked, then drew a ragged breath. It had worked. His god had pulled him through once again, giving him the strength and power to save his nation. His brother had been right, too. This land was seemed rich with power. A man wearing travel-worn clothes had bent over him, and had a concerned look on his face. THe language he spoke was at once entirely foreign, and entirely understandable. Another gift from Pellor.
He looked into the stranger's eyes and tried to focus, but the ordeal of the travel proved too much.
"Are you a hero? Will you help?" Uther muttered under his breath, unsure of whether he was actually asking this stranger, or whether he was speaking to himself. It became a moot point when he lost consciousness.

------

The old man muttered to himself, then collapsed. The travel had taken a heavy-toll on his mind, Carzal could tell. The man had to be a powerful wizard to have arrived here, but why had he done so?
It was a simple decision from there. He had to bring the man to the Dome. He could contact the others there; Ominous, insane fire-mage that he was, would certainly be interested in this. And Carzal himself was doing this for more than purely altruistic reasons; who was this world-traveler? And did he know how to get back to Carzal's home world?
He picked the man up, the slight shock at his unnatural strength still there after two years, and began to make his way throught he crowd. He hoped he didn't attract too much of a crowd.
He was making his way to the Dome.

[James]

The entire situation was an oddity. Crom had noticed that this was exposed out in the open, a scene where a man magically enters from nowhere half-dead, and yet some stranger takes it upon himself to help the other. Such honorable actions were infrequent these days, and as an honor-bound warrior the Draconian decided it was time yet again that he step into the guise of an adventurer. It seemed he knew no other way to find a home.

Naturally with this reaction came the slight carving sensation that nicked away a piece from the draconian's mistrust of magic. Not counting elemental magics, sorcery was one of the few things he feared in life. Tightening the straps upon his arms holding the jerky against his back like a cloak, Crom moved onward to follow the seemingly heroic Carzal.

The barbarian began to question his first appearance at Titan. He was usually not met well by the masses considering his large size- the beast towered above many others, especially here. It would be likely be doubly strange to see a man with another upon his shoulders being followed by Crom.

Then again, Crom did not know of the tolerances that people here held. He had been finding it easier and easier to stay in one place, as others seemed to be disregarding his noticeable presence as much. At the same time, however, his restlessness urged him onward, the standard lifestyle he held beckoning him to work to a greater destiny.

[Ominous]

Ominous stood in his room, alone, trying to master yet another difficult art. He could never get the hang of long distance teleportation, and it had taken him on countless dangerous journeys. This time, though, he was perfectly confident he would get it right. He concentrated on his center, channeling mana from the deepest reaches of his own soul. He poured his own life force into the spell, a dangerous spell-enhancing process he had only recently mastered. If he was right, this would give him both more power and clearer direction. He could already see his destination, a small lake about ten miles out of town.

The image intensified in his mind, and he began to open a physical link to the lake's bank. His room around him began to disappear. The scrolls of parchment in front of him were no longer visible, but replaced by a murky image of water, distorted itself by the process of pre-teleportation. Ominous took it as slowly as he could, putting direction at the forefront of his mind.

The image was completely clear, and Ominous lifted his foot as if to step forward. He felt sand under the sole of his shoe, and lifted his other foot, thrusting it forward. He pushed his body through what felt like two feet of space, but what he knew was a distance thousands of times greater.

Ominous fully reached the shore, and felt as if he was completely there. "Yes!" He cheered to himself and jumped up in the air. "I did it! I finally-" Ominous looked up to see he was still half in his room. He saw a grey blur between his ceiling inside and they sky outside on the shore. It seemed as if they were the same distance from each other.

Ominous looked down to realize he was standing on thin air what looked about a mile up.

"Oh, what the hell?!"

He fell what seemed an infinite distance. His scream was inaudible to him; he at least assumed he was screaming. At the last moment he remembered he knew a spell for just this occasion. He cast feather fall just before blacking out.

Ominous woke up just as he hit the ground. "OW! FOR GOD'S SAKE, WHERE THE HELL-" He noticed Carzal right in front of him holding an old man. "Hey, Carz. Mind telling me where I am?"

[Carzal]

-Carzal-
Ominous' fall was surprisingly free of fire, at least for the end of it. He looked singed, but then again, Ominous always looked singed to Carzal.
"What the hell were you do-no, you know what? I don't want to know, I really don't. And good timing, by the way, I need you to check this out, if you havn't leaked too much brain matter on the ground yet." Carzal extended a hand down to his vertically-challenged friend.
"And by the way, we are the gates of the Dome." On the right of the duo a statue of a Roc glared at the stone dragon rearing on their left. Their eyes' glowed green, recognizing two of the allowed people. Here was Carzal's base in Titan, and with the magical artifacts stored about the premises he could even fake magic, and did to keep the non-members from entering. By carrying the old man he was by-passing many of those safe-guards.

--------------

GM
Uther was bouncing in and out of conciousness, but even as he half-slept, he was aware.
Around him there were individuals of great power. Maybe not as powerful as the awful strength of the dark wizard, but strong. The man who had lifted him was clearly enchanted. A half-beast of great strength was watching them, and a man who could control the elements had just appeared to them. Pellor gave him knowledge; it was now his choice to do something about it. He needed the magic of the falling man, the strength of the watcher, the power of the first man. That would give them a slight edge. And they had arrived so quickly! He needed only a bit more time to accrue a whole army of the heroes his brother had asked him for.
Had asked him for with his dying wish.
Uther's resolve hardened, and he struggled out of the first man's arm, gaining his footing, and drawing deep breaths. Muttering a quick prayer to Pellor under his breath, he looked at the two men, and then stared beyond them at the half-man. Then he smiled, warm and genial as only the highnpriest of Pellor could be, and beckoned.

[James]

After having followed the enigmatic man throughout the city and getting lost in a crowd, somehow Crom had managed to find him again and continued walking towards him until he saw another man appear from nowhere. All Crom could think was that Carzal must've been some kind of magnet for portals. He furrowed his brow as he checked to make sure he still wanted to help.

It was still better than laying around all day trying to sell bear jerky.

Having gathered his resolve now, Crom put forth his hand before the two would leave too far past the two statues and called to Carzal, "Mage! I would have a word with you." Lowering his arm the draconian moved forward towards to between the statues and then stopped. He might not have been between the statues yet, but something he felt deep within his gut stopped his feet and plastered him to the ground. After trying unsuccessfully to keep going forward, he very slowly managed to step backward. It was irritating.

Crom began to have second thoughts yet again, but now it was too late.

[Ominous]

Ominous righted himself with Carzal's help. "Thanks. So, what, you just found this guy? He's in terrible shape and it looks like some idiot cast a poorly-woven spell on him. I mean, he's basically-"

A figure called from a distance. Ominous heard the word "mage," and looked over to the voice's source. He responded. "You called?"

[Carzal]

Carzal

The old man somehow twisted out of Carzal's normally firm grip, and unsteadily got to his feet, smiling and looking like a bumbling old fool who didn't quite know where he was. Which, Carzal contemplated, probably described him perfectly. The man gestured out beyond the two Titans to someone as Ominous spoke.
Even as this happened, they were interrupted.
Looking all the world like the result of a night of wild lizard-human sex, a draconian called out to them, approaching them and being repelled slightly by the Dome's wards.
Carzal frowned, and moved his hand in a half-circle. The statues responded to his gesture, one programmed into them, and their eyes turned a pale blue. They were waiting for further instructions, and would stop the first ward of the Dome. Of course, the main difficulty in getting into the Dome was more of an intellectual barrier, a puzzle to get through. Carzal had always thought of himself as very intelligent for thinking that up.
As the draconian called out to Ominous, no doubt startled by his sudden appearance. Carzal glanced over at the old man, who was still smiling, but with slightly more intent now.
What was going on here?
"Ominous, he's not normal. I think he traveled through worlds. It felt like it was for me."

----------------

GM

Uther smiled; everything was working out. Three men of strength had appeared unto him, and they would bond together into the strongest force possible, and destroy the evil vampire lord, Anghel, and his minions. Like the dark wizard. Uther shuddered in the memory.
"Heroes!" His voice felt odd, and had been changed. He was speaking a strange tongue, hearing a strange language, but it felt entirely normal and instinctive.
"I have come for you."
Creepy as that sounded, it was true.

[James]

Crom was a little puzzled- he had called out to the one he had been following as the mage, and yet the other responded. Were all of these men wizards? One was enough, but to have to deal with three...

Carzal's hand gestures caught Crom's eye, distracting him from noticing the change in eye color of the statues. His eyes began to darken as he prepared for a spell to him, but once Carzal finished and began to speak yet again to the other he determined it was obvious he was simply trying to keep him away. The words he spoke next made true a few suspicions- firstly, he was now sure that the old man had been sent here either by himself or another for some grand purpose. Secondly, the one he had been following knew the other, and though their meeting was accidental it was obvious Carzal welcomed Ominous... but not himself.

"I saw the portal," said Crom bluntly, attempting to quickly win over Carzal. "I wish to help." The feeling that forced him to stand still left him but the draconian did not move forward unless he was invited. It seemed as though the old man welcomed him, but Crom would readily leave upon Carzal's dismissal. For some reason, the accent that the man spoke in reminded him of simpler times, before the eradication of his tribe. The draconian's tail twitched lightly at the memory, swishing left or right a few inches once in a while.

[Carzal]

Carzal studied the half-drake man for a moment, then nodded. "I believe you. There is something that draws me to this that is more than simple curiosity of a desire to help." He turned, and looked down the tree-shaded path to the front entrance of the Dome. Spying a familiar figure walking along, he grinned. If he decided to help this man, he knew one person who would help him for the sheer joy of mayham, someone who liked chaos even more than Ominous managed to create it.
"BW! Long time no see!"
-------------------------------
As his original saviour turned down the path to the large, white building inside of the park, Uther felt a dark presence close by. A knowledge brought on by constant fear of vampires alerted him; there was one near. He grasped the amulet around his neck fiercely. The heroes around him would keep him safe, but had Anghel followed him here? Or that dark robed vampire, Bahok?

[Ominous]

Ominous cocked an eyebrow when the old man spoke. "You've 'come for us?' Why, are we some sort of chosen ones? Or, do you just need some meatshields to protect you from a demon? Because I quit the meatshield business a long time ago, buddy. When you've been a meatshield as long as I have, jumping from quest to quest, saving the world hundreds of times, you realize that it's a far less rewarding business than you'd think. And-"

He realized he was being rude. He'd save the rant for later. He extended a hand and smiled. "By the way, I'm Ominous. Nice to meet you."

[boywonder]

*BW dropped the pregnant woman's body to the floor and licked his lips, thinking back on his kill. Having nearly scared her to death got her adrenaline pumping, and her unborn's blood was just so sweet... BW tied the naked, bloody, lifeless corpse of the farmer's wife to the wooden center-pole that acted as the main support for the tiny one-room home. BW felt disgusted as he looked over the hovel, a fireplace and a bed occupied half the home while the family's horse occupied the other. BW smiled, the horse would have a better life now, considering he'd released it whilst terrifying his dinner earlier in the night. Seeing his work done, BW let himself out and returned to his human form, climbing to a nearby rooftop in order to wait out of anyone's notice...*

_____________________________________________________________

*BW smiled as the screams reached his ears. The farmer had found his young wife, tied upside down in a gruesome fashion, and had lost it. The smell of smoke and the sound of crackling wood reached him before the flames licked the night sky up high enough for BW to see. BW enjoyed this place, their fear of the unknown had them doing his work for him. No need to burn the bodies himself when a terrified populace would do so for him, of course he waited to see that the deed was done, no need for an accidental vampire scourge to spring up due to carelessness. However, seeing the sunrise and hearing of no awakening of his dinner, BW knew the girl and child had burnt to a crisp and had disappeared to whatever god they wished. He now turned his eyes ahead of him, curious to the actions taking part in the large street below, and interesting feeling it was, to have a being notice him. Especially as secretive as he was. BW tuned his senses and began to listen in...*

*Deciding instead to cause mayhem and possibly frighten those around him for no reason, BW stopped his prying and dropped to the ground. Slowly, deliberately, he walked towards the dome, smiling a bit of a malicious grin, making sure he was only in his human form for now; though making no effort to hide his mixed demondium aura. Approaching within range of the small group, BW heard his name and the welcome and gave an honest grin. He now focused on his aura, making himself seem a normal human*

*BW ignored Om's rant as he came within easy speaking distance of the group, taking note of the distance between each, especially the hulking dragon-born ambling away from him* "Hello Carzal... *nodding to the others one by one* ... Did I hear something about rewards? I do love the 'work' needed to earning rewards."

*Noticing his innate void powers causing a light stress on the back of his mind, BW eye's trained on the amulet of the stranger, seeing its magics may not be mana-based and therefor having an odd effect on his powers*

CuruEdit: Underscores extended beyond viewport in 1024x768.

[James]

The draconian's back stiffened as Carzal's eyes scanned him over. Crom's own eyes then hardened in reaction to the potential judgments that might be passed upon him.

"I believe you," spoke the wizard. His words relieved Crom to no end, and in reaction his back relaxed. The mood was quickly matched by a slight swish of the tail.

Then, like the change of the wind, Carzal's attention was drawn to a new figure entering the game. A vampire. Crom's eyes shot wide and his hands were poised to do whatever was necessary to defend himself. "BW! Long time no see!" Crom shot the wizard a furtive look; in his mind vampires were monsters who killed to quench an unending thirst. Where some thought of him as a monster, Crom knew them to truly be.

And yet Carzal welcomed him with a greeting of familiarity.

Crom moved away from where the vampire was coming from. He might be an ally, but the draconian had no desire whatsoever to entangle himself in a vampire's affairs, with the exception of the new task of guarding the old man that Crom had decided upon. Looking at the old man now, Crom noted his stressed behavior much like his own. It did not do well to help his mood.

All the while, Ominous's rant was lost on Crom. The draconian's base instincts wiped out his already limited capacity for social interaction and he felt no need to pay attention.