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Tirlanolir/D'nemy's Tales of Turgos: The Heroes of Goldfire Glen (UPDATE 7/26)
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<blockquote data-quote="Canaan" data-source="post: 2820233" data-attributes="member: 40239"><p><strong>Interlude: Balian's Letter to Helena</strong></p><p></p><p>Interlude: Balian's First Letter To Helena</p><p></p><p>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p></p><p>My Dearest Helena,</p><p></p><p>I hope this correspondence finds you deep in discussion with a bound Pit Fiend. Their enraged harangues always prove amusing afternoon fare. So much time has passed since last we spoke, that I feared as I began to scribe this letter, I would not recall your name, your likeness, your sublime beauty of wisdom as well as countenance. You will be delighted to know that my ridiculous fears were completely unwarranted. At the first dab of my quill into the awaiting vial of ink, every luscious detail of your brilliance flooded back to me with the veracity of a menstruating harpy. </p><p></p><p>Over the last century you alone have remained true to the cause I laid before the assembled wizards. In addition, you have become a trusted friend. Since the imprisonment of Kharas’Vhoories (to this day I am loath to utter his name, let alone commit it to writing)* and the passing of the Grand Injunction** things have been, for us, sedate. The last one hundred years have been, where not quite a halcyon period for Arcanists, for the most part, a peaceful one. The Cannanite Fundamentalists have let us be, save for that impulsive, uncouth and clumsy Madrigal, and we have stayed our hand in their petty squabbles as lay forth in the treaty. Though, at times, I shudder to think at what cost we have secured peace. Have we merely assured the ascendancy of the current regime over another? Throwing our lot in with the Canaanites against one of our own was dastardly business. But I sense fear on the wind and it is coming from the golden spires of Soliel.*** Something is amiss there.</p><p></p><p>I write to you to admit, with detestable humility, that I feel stretched. To live with one eye in this world and the other beyond the capacity of mortal ken has taken me to the precarious precipices of sanity. Something stirs on the edge of reality. It lays waiting in the deepest of shadows, just beyond the periphery of my dreams, and when I awake I have but a vague ethereal memory of encountering anything untoward at all. When in its presence, the oppression is ancient, esoteric, seemingly liberated of all trappings of time or place. Is it here? Was it here? Will it come? What is will? What is was? What is now? What is then? </p><p></p><p>You see, my dear, I am becoming unhinged. </p><p></p><p>Despite my waking mind’s devotion to unearthing the meaning of these omens, I feel compelled to wander beyond the Threshold into That Which Should Not Be.***** I long to fly in the Amoebic Sea. To breathe light and touch music. This ancient presence is pulling me to itself. I must pursue it. I will be putting my affairs in order, and I call upon your assistance to tend to my mortal frame while my spirit journeys to the edges of reality. Should you be willing to humor the whims of an old man, I shall be eternally grateful. </p><p></p><p>You will be delighted to know that I have procured an apprentice who has just recently graduated to the First Valence. He is a promising pupil, albeit an arrogant and obstinate one. He refuses to perform even the simplest of duties, such as licking clean the soars that spew and cake upon my back, without first attempting to engage in an aggravating and utterly futile debate over his flawed perception that such a duty is somehow demeaning or pointless. Of course it is both! But that does not excuse him of executing it! His name, as he demands to be addressed, is the Acolyte Hu Li, but I, in keeping with the strictest of tradition, address him only as “apprentice.” I have great hopes for this one, though a tire of his insolence and lack of focus. Perhaps he needs more time in the Tentacle Room. In my absence you may address him in any fashion you deem warranted. The harsher the better. </p><p></p><p>Orolde sends his regards. I do believe that his mood is brightening. I dare say he stopped frowning for about a second once last month.</p><p></p><p>I await your reply.</p><p></p><p>Ever your servant, </p><p></p><p>Balian </p><p></p><p></p><p>* Kharas’Vhoorhies was the most powerful Arch Mage in Turgos. He worshipped a chthonic being, named Orcus, who in turn granted him immortality as a lich. He sucked the life out of an entire city to fuel his gambit for godhood.</p><p></p><p>** The Grand Injunction is a pact among all of the wizards of Turgos not to interfere in matters of religion within the bounds of Turgos. It was passed after the most powerful wizards in Turgos, led by Balian, agreed to assist the Church of Canaan in destroying Kharas’Vhoories, who was intent on challenging Canaan directly once he obtained enough followers. It is not clear whether the wizards could not bring themselves to destroy Kharas’Vhoories (as one of their own) or they lacked the power to do any more than imprison him.</p><p></p><p>***Soliel is the capital of Turgos and the home of The Great Temple, the seat of Canaanism in Turgos.</p><p></p><p>**** The Threshold is the doorway between this reality and the next.</p><p></p><p>***** Balian is a fully transcended Alienist and Arch Mage. This is Balian’s understanding of The Far Realm. It’s in line with Lovecraftian concepts.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Canaan, post: 2820233, member: 40239"] [b]Interlude: Balian's Letter to Helena[/b] Interlude: Balian's First Letter To Helena -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My Dearest Helena, I hope this correspondence finds you deep in discussion with a bound Pit Fiend. Their enraged harangues always prove amusing afternoon fare. So much time has passed since last we spoke, that I feared as I began to scribe this letter, I would not recall your name, your likeness, your sublime beauty of wisdom as well as countenance. You will be delighted to know that my ridiculous fears were completely unwarranted. At the first dab of my quill into the awaiting vial of ink, every luscious detail of your brilliance flooded back to me with the veracity of a menstruating harpy. Over the last century you alone have remained true to the cause I laid before the assembled wizards. In addition, you have become a trusted friend. Since the imprisonment of Kharas’Vhoories (to this day I am loath to utter his name, let alone commit it to writing)* and the passing of the Grand Injunction** things have been, for us, sedate. The last one hundred years have been, where not quite a halcyon period for Arcanists, for the most part, a peaceful one. The Cannanite Fundamentalists have let us be, save for that impulsive, uncouth and clumsy Madrigal, and we have stayed our hand in their petty squabbles as lay forth in the treaty. Though, at times, I shudder to think at what cost we have secured peace. Have we merely assured the ascendancy of the current regime over another? Throwing our lot in with the Canaanites against one of our own was dastardly business. But I sense fear on the wind and it is coming from the golden spires of Soliel.*** Something is amiss there. I write to you to admit, with detestable humility, that I feel stretched. To live with one eye in this world and the other beyond the capacity of mortal ken has taken me to the precarious precipices of sanity. Something stirs on the edge of reality. It lays waiting in the deepest of shadows, just beyond the periphery of my dreams, and when I awake I have but a vague ethereal memory of encountering anything untoward at all. When in its presence, the oppression is ancient, esoteric, seemingly liberated of all trappings of time or place. Is it here? Was it here? Will it come? What is will? What is was? What is now? What is then? You see, my dear, I am becoming unhinged. Despite my waking mind’s devotion to unearthing the meaning of these omens, I feel compelled to wander beyond the Threshold into That Which Should Not Be.***** I long to fly in the Amoebic Sea. To breathe light and touch music. This ancient presence is pulling me to itself. I must pursue it. I will be putting my affairs in order, and I call upon your assistance to tend to my mortal frame while my spirit journeys to the edges of reality. Should you be willing to humor the whims of an old man, I shall be eternally grateful. You will be delighted to know that I have procured an apprentice who has just recently graduated to the First Valence. He is a promising pupil, albeit an arrogant and obstinate one. He refuses to perform even the simplest of duties, such as licking clean the soars that spew and cake upon my back, without first attempting to engage in an aggravating and utterly futile debate over his flawed perception that such a duty is somehow demeaning or pointless. Of course it is both! But that does not excuse him of executing it! His name, as he demands to be addressed, is the Acolyte Hu Li, but I, in keeping with the strictest of tradition, address him only as “apprentice.” I have great hopes for this one, though a tire of his insolence and lack of focus. Perhaps he needs more time in the Tentacle Room. In my absence you may address him in any fashion you deem warranted. The harsher the better. Orolde sends his regards. I do believe that his mood is brightening. I dare say he stopped frowning for about a second once last month. I await your reply. Ever your servant, Balian * Kharas’Vhoorhies was the most powerful Arch Mage in Turgos. He worshipped a chthonic being, named Orcus, who in turn granted him immortality as a lich. He sucked the life out of an entire city to fuel his gambit for godhood. ** The Grand Injunction is a pact among all of the wizards of Turgos not to interfere in matters of religion within the bounds of Turgos. It was passed after the most powerful wizards in Turgos, led by Balian, agreed to assist the Church of Canaan in destroying Kharas’Vhoories, who was intent on challenging Canaan directly once he obtained enough followers. It is not clear whether the wizards could not bring themselves to destroy Kharas’Vhoories (as one of their own) or they lacked the power to do any more than imprison him. ***Soliel is the capital of Turgos and the home of The Great Temple, the seat of Canaanism in Turgos. **** The Threshold is the doorway between this reality and the next. ***** Balian is a fully transcended Alienist and Arch Mage. This is Balian’s understanding of The Far Realm. It’s in line with Lovecraftian concepts. [/QUOTE]
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