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Arieus De'Chevia · Lore Master Joined: 20 Apr 2004 Posts: 1132

The White Gate – Departing for who knows how long:

Arieus had spent the last several months, if not the last year or so traveling the realm and attempting to better the position of his comrades. He now traveled for himself, and alone to the Shrine of Spirituality. There, he was quietly watching the sparkles of magical energy flicker about this shrine, and marveled at the supposed meaning. Spirituality was to unite the virtues, supposedly, link them in some one, and thus one’s own spirit refreshed by said virtues. Perhaps it was his half dazed thoughts or maybe some sort of apathy, but he instead found cause to be depressed.

Muttering a Sacred Journey spell, he traveled to The Citadel to don a very impressive battle axe, obtain rations for a week, or so, and stowed his undead and demon slayers for quick access. He also adorned his heavy fire resist armor.

He pondered the notion, and undertaking for a moment, thinking of all the old and seemingly more respected inhabitants of the lands, recently returned. He shook his head, but tried to smile, happy that these illustrious people had guilds and places to return.

Arieus then check his guild mailbox, which again was exceedingly empty. He chuckled inwardly and rolled his eyes at the marvel of how little mail and communication a “General” received. One would think he be kept informed of the many glorious plans and undertakings now taking shape, but alas, he was not. Despite numerous request last night for continuance of a quest to rid himself of old “ghosts”, no reply came, and Arieus felt somewhat annoyed at his current liege.

So, hence, did Austin arrive with his burden of spell components and an ancient De’Chevia family book. Austin was a mage of elder talent, though seemingly young, his intelligence was vast. He asked Arieus if he was absolutely sure, as the place he had named was extremely dangerous. Arieus replied:

“I must escape these feelings, please, open it….”

After what seemed to be an eternity of chanting and ‘mumbo jumbo’, fancy lights, and strange smells, etc., Austin awoke the bored traveler and said:

“The gate to the outer planes is open.” The mage motioned to a brilliant white gate surrounded by an outer layer of blue, and an inner aura of crimson.

Arieus grabbed his gear, and strode through the gate, hopefully to find some peace until those whose attention needed satisfied, were so done. After he passed, the gate snapped shut and Austin was left in quiet puzzlement, though adorned in the colors of KoS.

Austin De’Chevia looked down to his hand, and was surprised to find a letter in it, as apparently Arieus had somehow slipped it into his hand when passing. He glanced down upon the parchment; it was sealed and simply read CONFIDETIAL. Austin did not know what do with the letter, so he left it somewhere ‘safe’, for now.
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Arcana · Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2004 11:50 pm Post subject: Destiny astray

(My sincere apologies to Eselpeth’s friend – I can’t remember your name. *blushes*)

Scarcely a week prior, Arcana had received a message from Molly asking to speak with her. All the message had said was that there was some degree of urgency and it concerned Arieus. Puzzled, but intensely curious, Arcana traveled to House Gauntlet as soon as she could.

She arrived in time to attend a rather unusual ball in Nujelm in the company of H*G. Following the festivities, Arlin had tried to engage her in conversation, but she’d distractedly brushed him off and followed Molly, Arieus, Eselpeth and her friend through the waiting moongate. Arlin’s jealousy-tinted vision selectively saw only Arieus and Arcana and lead him to make the kind of assumptions as could be expected from the mind of the man who’d just auctioned himself via some orcs in the thin hopes that some attractive lady would be the high bidder. He stomped off cursing.

Back at House Gauntlet, Molly was explaining the cause for her message. Arieus had been beset with a recurring vision of a book with white light spilling from its pages. In the vision, he saw someone’s hand reach forth and open the tome, and then the book called upon him to act. He couldn’t tell what it called him to act upon, simply that it did. The fact that it called now occupied his waking mind as well as his dreams. In desperation, Arieus had turned to Molly for her wisdom.

Arieus had once been a Knight of Sosaria, and Molly knew that the Knights had some sort of book of power in their possession, but was unsure of its nature. She inquired of Arcana now.

Arcana looked at the four people in the room with her and made long eye contact with each in turn, contemplating her next words. Even what little she could say on the matter was not to be discussed lightly.

“What I am about to tell you must not go beyond this room. Though Molly, you may relate it to Martin, if you wish.”

All nodded solemnly. Arieus looked uncharacteristically nervous.

“It is called the Book of Destiny. All of the remaining Knights, and several former Knights, have seen a similar vision. However, in their vision the Book inspired them to reach out to me and revitalize the Knights. And their visions have not repeated.”

“What exactly is the Book?” Molly asked, her delicate elven features showing her to be listening intently.

“No one knows for certain. It is a great mystery. Long ago, my order’s founder brought it under his protection. It is an artifact of great power and some sort of awareness. No one has ever been able to fathom its motives, though we have always believed them to be for good, or at least balance.”

“Is it some sort of god?”

“No, I don’t believe that it is. I believe that it is something more broad, more universal.”

“What exactly does it do? How does it manifest its power?”

“It gives glimpses of the future or the past, perhaps in warning. Sometimes the warnings are to a single person, other times to many. Its pages are filled with seeming gibberish, and though many generations of scholars have given it study, the Book is only read when it wishes to be read. Sometimes passages become legible. At other times the Book speaks, either aloud or in someone’s mind. Or, it communicates with a vision,” Arcana finished, nodding at the wide-eyed Arieus. She regretted not speaking to him of the Book sooner; he’d never heard any of this before now. She continued, “The Book has some knowledge of the future. What exactly it knows, is more a question of philosophy.”

“How so?” Eselpeth asked.

“Do you believe in destiny?”

“Like fate?”

Arcana nodded affirmatively.

“Destiny as in predetermined and inevitable events? Or as decided by one’s choices?”

“Either,” Arcana answered with a wry smile.

“Oh.” The room was very quiet as they contemplated the possibilities.

“So the Book reveals the future,” Molly asked.

“Aye.”

“One’s own, or that of another?”

“I have seen it reveal both, with no discernable pattern.”

Molly lapsed into thought.

“There is something else I should add,” Arcana said after a long pause. “When I last looked at the Book, its pages were blank.”

If possible, the room grew even more profoundly silent. Arieus looked horrified. Arcana chuckled nervously. “So either my future is mine to decide or… I have none.”

Eselpeth’s friend, who had until now been silent instantly spoke up, “You do have a future, Your Grace. It just hasn’t been written or is outside of the Book’s knowledge. None of its messages can be preordained futures, else what possible use could its warnings be if there was no hope of altering the future course of events?”

Everyone quickly saw the logic in this and smiled, the tension in the room dissolving.

“Arcana, would it be possible for me to see the Book for myself?” Molly inquired.

“Aye, I think that would be best, and I shall take you there now. You may study it as long as you like, but the Book will reveal as it chooses. It cannot be forced.”

Molly nodded and spoke the arcane words which took them all to Elysium Castle. The five of them stepped out of the moongate in front of the deserted castle, and Arcana lead them to the out-of-the-way storeroom where the Book of Destiny was kept.

Arcana casually flipped the Book open. “Still blank,” she announced, unsurprised. Molly stepped forward and peered at the pages.

“I see writing and images,” she said tilting her delicate chin. “I almost feel that if I studied them for long enough, their meaning would become clear to me.”

“The Book can be very engrossing that way. You must be cautious of the time. It wasn’t uncommon for the scholars I knew as a young woman to go days without sleep in studying the Book.”

“Some of these words seem familiar to me, fragments of words.”

Arcana nodded. It was a common description by the more learned and perceptive of those who beheld the Book. “My personal belief is that the Book is written in all and any languages simultaneously. The Book reveals only the small portion that it wishes us to see. When it doesn’t reduce the vast span of all its knowledge, we cannot even begin to make sense of it all. It is the difference between a child’s toy pail of water and all the great depth of the ocean.”

Molly nodded and lapsed into intense study, for apparently the Book had chosen to display some of its knowledge for her.

Arieus De'Chevia · Lore Master Joined: 20 Apr 2004 Posts: 1132

Arieus stepped trough the gate to be greeted by a horde of imps and one slightly annoyed wyvern. Wielding his swords, and quickly dispensing with the pests, he continued to the mouth of a cave, slowly un-strapping that battle axe, same contained the dried blood of a balron he had vanquished a while ago, apparently to this place.

Entering the cave, he found it surprisingly void of anything save a few skeletons that were being harvested by sewer rats. He proceeded downward, to the next levels, and the same results were found. He was beginning to think this was the wrong place, until he spied a gruesome standard at the far end of the cavern, which stood as a sentinel to a huge dark opening.

He had no light, nor torch, so Arieus chased a pissed off sewer rat from a femur bone of one of the ever growing aged corpses on the dirt floor/ the sewer rat made a strange, eerie squeak, and thus it was punted across the cave toward the cave opening. He was too busy wrapping the bone with cloth to notice a huge claw escape the darkness, grasp the rat, and vanish almost instantly.

When Arieus turned to approach the cave, two huge glowing embers were peering forth at him. He heard the all too familiar sound of a sword escaping a sheath, this sword the demon wielded bursting into mystic flames, which revealed the innards balron’s hideous pit. The balron quirking a brow and shaking dust and cob webs from its battered, ancient wings:

“You…human, moral were lucky once, but not today.”

Arieus pulled out an old, but well enhanced shield, and clearly spoke to the evil monster:

“I particularly came here not to fight, but to speak of this…”

He then pulled forth that battle axe, now aglow with it ambient slayer magi’s. Arieus pointed to the dried blood upon the notched weapon:

“Are you so sure….Dread Lord?”

The beast made a long, low growl and then simply tossed several key items at Arieus’s feet. Having cautiously snatching these items, he quickly backed out of the cave unscathed.

“That was the first step to ridding me of those haunting ghosts”

Back to where he had passed, and out of that black pit…Arieus swayed a bit of the thought of that ancient blue book, but that was quickly replaced by the thoughts of a very special person. He still wondered, deep down, which that book contained no words for her. We studied the items in his hand, which the evil lord had supplied. He could make no sense of them, but perhaps it was a clue for both their destinies?

He fully intended to continue on his quest, but began to think it best if he returned to Sosaria, and seek the assistance of friends for the remaining quests, as he was simply lucky the balron was in no mood to quarrel, and he having had an ‘ace up his sleeve’.
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Arcana · Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2004 12:36 pm Post subject:

After standing silently over the Book for a time, Molly looked up and opened her eyes. She looked at Arieus. “Lay your hand on the Book,” she instructed.

Arieus, a man who had cheerfully fought (and defeated) multiple balrons single-handedly, looked positively terrified. His eyes darted to Arcana. “Will you stand with me?” he managed to ask her. Molly’s expression was unreadable as the two stepped forward.

Arcana did her best to smile reassuringly at Arieus and she laid her hand over his on the cover of the Book. Arcana gave Arieus’s other hand a quick, hidden squeeze. As Molly laid her hand over both of theirs, everyone in the room began to hear a soft, soothing melody in their minds. They looked at her in surprise, and Molly smiled. “Do not be afraid,” she said quietly.

After long minutes, gradually the melody faded and Molly gave Arieus a knowing look. He nodded and said, “Yes, I know what I need to do now.” His path lead to the White Gate.

Arieus De'Chevia · Lore Master Joined: 20 Apr 2004 Posts: 1132

Arieus now rested for quite sometime at Citadel Dragonbane, the House De'Chevia home and now base of opperations for Luna's soon to be allience of guilds (in theory at this point). There seemed to be so much going on, so Arieus simply reminded himself of recent events, and even made some enteries in his diary.

Molly had said that the way to best the spirits that haunt him was to perform a number of quests. Being such, for each dungeon, cleanse and gather the items called for, and then vist the coresponding shires. His first step he had reluctantly taken alone.

However after the first quest he realized, these quests would take some time, and he wished to include his friends in the matter. particularly Arcana, who was obviously upset about the Book of Destiny being blank for her. He frowned a bit at this, and had made mention recently of his feeling both for her and the Book.

Later, it was mutually decided to place these matters "on hold" because of some other goings on that were seemingly more imortant.

Thus Arieus waited, as he always had and always is likely to.

[continuance of this thread will be posted under a new subject later]
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