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Consequences of the Quill (Restored 5/13/06)
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<blockquote data-quote="LordVyreth" data-source="post: 2823045" data-attributes="member: 9626"><p><strong>The Return of the Quill: Awareness</strong></p><p></p><p>“But there’s no way we can do this!” Tiana groaned. “We can’t fight off the Strife Masters in this condition! We just fought and destroyed Bas herself!”</p><p></p><p>Tal shook his head. “It appears we have no choice. If we let the Strife Masters get to the Quill, all our efforts are meaningless! They could bring back Bas with a word! Besides, we don’t have to defeat them. We just have to get control of the Quill long enough to keep them from changing destiny. Even if it costs us our lives, it’ll be worth the cost of preserving the world.”</p><p></p><p>With no time for discussion, Danae quickly gathered the party and teleported to the ruins of Rally. There wasn’t even time for more than a few moments of silence at the devastation they witnessed. Due to the war, much of the city was deserted as its populace either joined the army or fled to shelters, but even without the cost in lives, the loss was almost unbearable. Rally was a city blessed by the twin goddesses of Merida and Tepedin, their civilization’s heralds of art, culture, and beauty. That such a symbol of achievement could be destroyed so simply was incomprehensible.</p><p></p><p>Nonetheless, that was not the party’s primary concern. Carefully but quickly, they made their way through the ruins. They had no idea where they had to go, exactly, but something was driving them somehow. It was as if they instinctively knew where to go. They descended to the center of the city, where a massive rift in the natural floor of the city’s cavern had opened up. Rally was always a city known for its many lakes and waterways, and now that water, mixed with the vile fluid that emerged from the cracked Eye, was pouring down the hole into unknown depths. The party reached this rift, and after a moment of gathering their courage, they entered the tunnel…</p><p></p><p>And found themselves at the top of a mountain in the middle of a bright, sunny day. They were, understandably, confused. “Is this where the Quill can be found?” Robin asked, confused.</p><p></p><p>Danae looked around, but she soon replied, “No, I don’t think so. This mountain range looks familiar.” She pointed to a nearby mountain. “That looks like the mountain the Nightmare Prince’s manor was located at. But that means that this mountain shouldn’t be here. This is where Bas’ Valley is, or was. Or, perhaps, will be. I can’t explain it, but maybe we’re at a different point in time entirely?”</p><p></p><p>Their answer soon came to them, however, and literally. For in a matter of moments, Bha-Ael herself descended from the stars to meet them! “This isn’t exactly the past,” she explained. “This is, more precisely, a memory of our time. You have been to the Semi-Planar Rift and seen how past societies are memorialized there. This area represents the beginning of our own memory, if the civilization we fought for becomes nothing but. We sent you here for one final night of rest and discussion before your journey.”</p><p></p><p>“We?” Tonaca asked.</p><p></p><p>“Yes,” Bha-Ael replied, “Me and my Sisters.” As she spoke, the others arrived. Unlike Bha-Ael, who was once a mortal and who always retained her mortal body, the others arrived in their avatars. </p><p></p><p>Some of the avatars were people the party met before, and they were no surprise. Olivia Neddle, the librarian of Delaspie and Ordhari’s avatar, quietly arrived and sat down without a word. Mazziden, the child who was judged by Tsykie to need her the most, shyly reached the peak. She was able to mumble a few words of greeting, which seemed to make her very proud, before she joined the ranks of the others. And the arriving sounds of music introduced Alkurvas, the bard who served Merida and once helped the party fight the Nightmare Prince.</p><p></p><p>Others were people the party knew, but not as avatars. An old and extremely cranky gnome plopped himself down on a nearby rock and idly began to scribble something in a sketchbook. The others still didn’t know him until an awestruck Tiana introduced him as Penndrig, the ancient inventor and artist who created, among other things, the mural located at Delaspie’s Great Library. Damien, the party’s old friend and ally, shyly re-introduced himself as the new avatar of the magic goddess Lore. The mysterious woman who ran the Shrine of Life, the destination of one of Tal’s first adventures back when the party was much different, gave no name but called herself Nelkiss’s avatar. And, to Tal’s incredible embarrassment, a lovely woman introduced herself to the party as White, the avatar of the goddess Krista. When they insisted on an explanation, Tal quietly admitted he used to date her.</p><p></p><p>A few were people the party didn’t know at all. A half-orc named Shurdack introduced herself as the current avatar of Tregfillia. A physically weak but extremely eager-looking halfling soldier named Raddin Middleleaf said he was None’s unlikely champion. An extremely old elven noblewoman called herself Trimera and haughtily insisted that she was the avatar of Jolia.</p><p></p><p>Finally, one last avatar arrived. She was a girl wearing a familiar dark blue dress. She was barely older than Mazziden was or Tsykie was supposed to be, but the look of hatred she gave the party was far greater than any child could give. </p><p></p><p>“Oh, hello…Bas,” Bath sniffed as she recognized their adversary. “I guess we didn’t kill you completely, after all. What are you doing here? I can’t imagine you’d want to help us fight your own servants.”</p><p></p><p>Bas shrugged. “This isn’t my idea. I’m trapped in this memory now, thanks to you. The others are just projecting for now, but they’ll soon be trapped here with me. And we didn’t bring you here to help you; at least, that’s not the only reason.”</p><p></p><p>“Then what is this?” Tonaca asked, with some anger. “We don’t have time to talk. Unless we stop the Strife Masters, your world is doomed!”</p><p></p><p>Bha-Ael drew closer at this and explained, “You have no need to worry. Time doesn’t pass here naturally; it is just a frozen memory after all. You can rest here in peace and security, so you’ll be prepared for your final battle tomorrow. But we also wanted you to be aware of the consequences of this fight.”</p><p></p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p></p><p>“Even if you stop the Strife Masters, we will inevitably leave this plane. We owe our power and even our existence to the whims of desperate beings and the energy of evil. That energy is dissipating, and without it we can no longer be there for you. It’s possible, even likely, that the old gods will return to lead you, but there’s no way to say.”</p><p></p><p>“Why are you telling us this? Are you asking us to fight for your existence, to use the Quill to save you?” Tiana asked, with more dubiousness in her voice than Bath or other more loyal followers of the Sisters seemed to possess.</p><p></p><p>“No. That is up to you at this point. We just wanted you to realize that the plane is in a state of flux now. Even if you stop the Strife Masters from using the Quill, things won’t remain the same. Something must be lost. But that is enough discussion for now. You must rest and prepare for your battle, and we can’t keep you here forever.”</p><p></p><p>The party began to make camp, but as they did, the Sisters subtly got the attention of Bath, Tiana, and Tonaca. Krista managed to whisper to each of them, “Before you made camp, we would like to talk to you for a while, and without your companions.”</p><p></p><p>Confused, the three managed to slip away from the camp unnoticed. “What’s this about?” Bath asked, though the sheer enthusiasm she showed while speaking to her goddesses almost ruined the stealthy nature of the conversation.</p><p></p><p>“We know we told you that we understand if you decide not to save us if you get the chance to use the Quill,” Bha-Ael explained. “We have faith in you that you would do what you think is best for our world. But while your allies have been our worshippers for most of their lives, they serve another authority above even us.”</p><p></p><p>“The Lady of Memory?” Tiana asks. “I know they spoke of her, but I never understood exactly what it meant.”</p><p></p><p>“Nobody is entirely sure who she is. All we know is that the three of them and the other ‘children’ of Lady Memory owe their very existences and more to her. The world itself adjusted for their existence, including the memories of others. If Lady Memory so desired, she could probably not only obliterate them from existence, she could make all of you, and possibly us, forget they ever did exist. Further, I believe that these children are really the souls of people that lived once before and worshipped Lady Memory from the old times. I suspect that Lady Memory existed in an older iteration of the universe that was erased by the Quill, and she wanted to regain power using the Quill through her servants. That possibility is a reality now, and since we don’t know who Lady Memory was, we don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”</p><p></p><p>“What do you want, then? You want us to fight our own allies for the Quill?”</p><p></p><p>“No, but we want you to use your own discretion. Despite their relationship, there’s no guarantee that your friends will choose Lady Memory when they have the Quill. They’ll likely use all they learned and know about her to make that choice, just as you must do with both your friends and with her.”</p><p></p><p>With the discussion finished, the party spent one last, restless night together. After this, the world would almost certainly be different. Many of them might not survive the battle, and they might even be enemies the next day. For now, though, they would rest as the heroes they so rightly earned. </p><p></p><p>The next morning, they gathered before the goddesses, and Bha-Ael sent them off. “I don’t know what will happen to us after tomorrow, but I wanted to let you know that all of us…”</p><p></p><p>“Ahem,” Bas coughed.</p><p></p><p>“Almost all of us are more proud of you than you could ever imagine. You fought harder and struggled through more difficulties than most beings could even conceive. You led wars, slew monsters older than all of you combined, and even made peace with your enemies. Regret nothing about your lives as you go into this last battle, and I know that if you live on after today, you’ll do whatever you can to bring peace and happiness to the world.”</p><p></p><p>And just as suddenly as they arrived, the party was home. The tunnel beckoned them, and slowly they descended into it to find the greatest artifact their dimension had ever seen: the Quill of Destiny.</p><p></p><p>OOC Notes: Okay, I previously said that the next post will be the last one, but I suspect I’ll end up breaking the finale into two: the fight, and the epilogue of the fight. I’m already getting some response from the players for the final battle, but I’ll need more to finish. Expect the next update in 10 days or so, so basically two weekends.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="LordVyreth, post: 2823045, member: 9626"] [b]The Return of the Quill: Awareness[/b] “But there’s no way we can do this!” Tiana groaned. “We can’t fight off the Strife Masters in this condition! We just fought and destroyed Bas herself!” Tal shook his head. “It appears we have no choice. If we let the Strife Masters get to the Quill, all our efforts are meaningless! They could bring back Bas with a word! Besides, we don’t have to defeat them. We just have to get control of the Quill long enough to keep them from changing destiny. Even if it costs us our lives, it’ll be worth the cost of preserving the world.” With no time for discussion, Danae quickly gathered the party and teleported to the ruins of Rally. There wasn’t even time for more than a few moments of silence at the devastation they witnessed. Due to the war, much of the city was deserted as its populace either joined the army or fled to shelters, but even without the cost in lives, the loss was almost unbearable. Rally was a city blessed by the twin goddesses of Merida and Tepedin, their civilization’s heralds of art, culture, and beauty. That such a symbol of achievement could be destroyed so simply was incomprehensible. Nonetheless, that was not the party’s primary concern. Carefully but quickly, they made their way through the ruins. They had no idea where they had to go, exactly, but something was driving them somehow. It was as if they instinctively knew where to go. They descended to the center of the city, where a massive rift in the natural floor of the city’s cavern had opened up. Rally was always a city known for its many lakes and waterways, and now that water, mixed with the vile fluid that emerged from the cracked Eye, was pouring down the hole into unknown depths. The party reached this rift, and after a moment of gathering their courage, they entered the tunnel… And found themselves at the top of a mountain in the middle of a bright, sunny day. They were, understandably, confused. “Is this where the Quill can be found?” Robin asked, confused. Danae looked around, but she soon replied, “No, I don’t think so. This mountain range looks familiar.” She pointed to a nearby mountain. “That looks like the mountain the Nightmare Prince’s manor was located at. But that means that this mountain shouldn’t be here. This is where Bas’ Valley is, or was. Or, perhaps, will be. I can’t explain it, but maybe we’re at a different point in time entirely?” Their answer soon came to them, however, and literally. For in a matter of moments, Bha-Ael herself descended from the stars to meet them! “This isn’t exactly the past,” she explained. “This is, more precisely, a memory of our time. You have been to the Semi-Planar Rift and seen how past societies are memorialized there. This area represents the beginning of our own memory, if the civilization we fought for becomes nothing but. We sent you here for one final night of rest and discussion before your journey.” “We?” Tonaca asked. “Yes,” Bha-Ael replied, “Me and my Sisters.” As she spoke, the others arrived. Unlike Bha-Ael, who was once a mortal and who always retained her mortal body, the others arrived in their avatars. Some of the avatars were people the party met before, and they were no surprise. Olivia Neddle, the librarian of Delaspie and Ordhari’s avatar, quietly arrived and sat down without a word. Mazziden, the child who was judged by Tsykie to need her the most, shyly reached the peak. She was able to mumble a few words of greeting, which seemed to make her very proud, before she joined the ranks of the others. And the arriving sounds of music introduced Alkurvas, the bard who served Merida and once helped the party fight the Nightmare Prince. Others were people the party knew, but not as avatars. An old and extremely cranky gnome plopped himself down on a nearby rock and idly began to scribble something in a sketchbook. The others still didn’t know him until an awestruck Tiana introduced him as Penndrig, the ancient inventor and artist who created, among other things, the mural located at Delaspie’s Great Library. Damien, the party’s old friend and ally, shyly re-introduced himself as the new avatar of the magic goddess Lore. The mysterious woman who ran the Shrine of Life, the destination of one of Tal’s first adventures back when the party was much different, gave no name but called herself Nelkiss’s avatar. And, to Tal’s incredible embarrassment, a lovely woman introduced herself to the party as White, the avatar of the goddess Krista. When they insisted on an explanation, Tal quietly admitted he used to date her. A few were people the party didn’t know at all. A half-orc named Shurdack introduced herself as the current avatar of Tregfillia. A physically weak but extremely eager-looking halfling soldier named Raddin Middleleaf said he was None’s unlikely champion. An extremely old elven noblewoman called herself Trimera and haughtily insisted that she was the avatar of Jolia. Finally, one last avatar arrived. She was a girl wearing a familiar dark blue dress. She was barely older than Mazziden was or Tsykie was supposed to be, but the look of hatred she gave the party was far greater than any child could give. “Oh, hello…Bas,” Bath sniffed as she recognized their adversary. “I guess we didn’t kill you completely, after all. What are you doing here? I can’t imagine you’d want to help us fight your own servants.” Bas shrugged. “This isn’t my idea. I’m trapped in this memory now, thanks to you. The others are just projecting for now, but they’ll soon be trapped here with me. And we didn’t bring you here to help you; at least, that’s not the only reason.” “Then what is this?” Tonaca asked, with some anger. “We don’t have time to talk. Unless we stop the Strife Masters, your world is doomed!” Bha-Ael drew closer at this and explained, “You have no need to worry. Time doesn’t pass here naturally; it is just a frozen memory after all. You can rest here in peace and security, so you’ll be prepared for your final battle tomorrow. But we also wanted you to be aware of the consequences of this fight.” “What do you mean?” “Even if you stop the Strife Masters, we will inevitably leave this plane. We owe our power and even our existence to the whims of desperate beings and the energy of evil. That energy is dissipating, and without it we can no longer be there for you. It’s possible, even likely, that the old gods will return to lead you, but there’s no way to say.” “Why are you telling us this? Are you asking us to fight for your existence, to use the Quill to save you?” Tiana asked, with more dubiousness in her voice than Bath or other more loyal followers of the Sisters seemed to possess. “No. That is up to you at this point. We just wanted you to realize that the plane is in a state of flux now. Even if you stop the Strife Masters from using the Quill, things won’t remain the same. Something must be lost. But that is enough discussion for now. You must rest and prepare for your battle, and we can’t keep you here forever.” The party began to make camp, but as they did, the Sisters subtly got the attention of Bath, Tiana, and Tonaca. Krista managed to whisper to each of them, “Before you made camp, we would like to talk to you for a while, and without your companions.” Confused, the three managed to slip away from the camp unnoticed. “What’s this about?” Bath asked, though the sheer enthusiasm she showed while speaking to her goddesses almost ruined the stealthy nature of the conversation. “We know we told you that we understand if you decide not to save us if you get the chance to use the Quill,” Bha-Ael explained. “We have faith in you that you would do what you think is best for our world. But while your allies have been our worshippers for most of their lives, they serve another authority above even us.” “The Lady of Memory?” Tiana asks. “I know they spoke of her, but I never understood exactly what it meant.” “Nobody is entirely sure who she is. All we know is that the three of them and the other ‘children’ of Lady Memory owe their very existences and more to her. The world itself adjusted for their existence, including the memories of others. If Lady Memory so desired, she could probably not only obliterate them from existence, she could make all of you, and possibly us, forget they ever did exist. Further, I believe that these children are really the souls of people that lived once before and worshipped Lady Memory from the old times. I suspect that Lady Memory existed in an older iteration of the universe that was erased by the Quill, and she wanted to regain power using the Quill through her servants. That possibility is a reality now, and since we don’t know who Lady Memory was, we don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.” “What do you want, then? You want us to fight our own allies for the Quill?” “No, but we want you to use your own discretion. Despite their relationship, there’s no guarantee that your friends will choose Lady Memory when they have the Quill. They’ll likely use all they learned and know about her to make that choice, just as you must do with both your friends and with her.” With the discussion finished, the party spent one last, restless night together. After this, the world would almost certainly be different. Many of them might not survive the battle, and they might even be enemies the next day. For now, though, they would rest as the heroes they so rightly earned. The next morning, they gathered before the goddesses, and Bha-Ael sent them off. “I don’t know what will happen to us after tomorrow, but I wanted to let you know that all of us…” “Ahem,” Bas coughed. “Almost all of us are more proud of you than you could ever imagine. You fought harder and struggled through more difficulties than most beings could even conceive. You led wars, slew monsters older than all of you combined, and even made peace with your enemies. Regret nothing about your lives as you go into this last battle, and I know that if you live on after today, you’ll do whatever you can to bring peace and happiness to the world.” And just as suddenly as they arrived, the party was home. The tunnel beckoned them, and slowly they descended into it to find the greatest artifact their dimension had ever seen: the Quill of Destiny. OOC Notes: Okay, I previously said that the next post will be the last one, but I suspect I’ll end up breaking the finale into two: the fight, and the epilogue of the fight. I’m already getting some response from the players for the final battle, but I’ll need more to finish. Expect the next update in 10 days or so, so basically two weekends. [/QUOTE]
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