A Book Radiating Magic

From Atlantic Roleplay Wiki

Title: a book radiating magic

Author: Ninveah Saum

Absentia

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As you open the book and begin to read, the words on the page shimmer and disappear - becoming an animated illustration.

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Sunlight streamed through a crack in the wall of the crypt. Zahndra moaned, eyes fluttering, and shaded her face with a bare arm. Something wasn't right....

She sat up. Cold stone was beneath her hand. Squinting she looked around. This was the Szvoyza crypt. Zh'Azhak’s crypt.

How....

Memories hit all at once, like a swift kick from a horse. They knocked the wind from her.

Zahndra lay on the bed, body twisting and writhing in beautiful agony.

Zh'Azhak stood over her.

But this was not their usual game... something was...wrong... Poison! Poison coursed through her veins like cold fire.

In the memory Zahndra cried out in anguish, and the same feral scream escaped her throat now.

She remembered. It had been a silver arrow.... but from where?

The memory took hold again...

Empty potion bottles, tomes, grimoires and scrolls lay haphazard throughout the room. Nothing could quench the potency of the blood poison. And the Curse prevented her from being Turned. Despite all Zh'Azhak’s skill, all his power, there was nothing that could be done. They both knew it. Entropy would claim her soon. Her love leaned down, kissing her tenderly on the forehead. "Sleep...."

What had happened after that?

Zahndra slid down off the stone tier. A thick layer of dust and cobwebs covered everything.

"How long have I been here?" she wondered. Everything inside the crypt was ruined. Decrepit tapestries hung precariously on the walls. Hours passed as she searched for clues, anything, that might answer that question.

Nothing. Finally finding what appeared to be an exit, Zahndra leaned with all her strength against the rusted iron door. It open just enough to let sunlight stream in... and to let her slip out.

Outside things were no better. The air smelled... wrong. Zahndra didn’t recognize any of the forest surroundings, though she had been to the Szvoyza crypt many times. Barefoot and clad in nothing but a flimsy gown she nimbly jogged between twisted trees.

Creatures that she came across gave her a wide berth. Even an ogre gazed at her warily and did not attack.

When night fell, the moon rose full. Now she was able to travel faster. Forgoing sleep, Zahndra made it to Umbra in a matter of hours. Moving through shadows she surveyed the city. This was not the Umbra she knew or remembered. Shop fronts were different, faces were unfamiliar. What was that tall creature with wings and horns? Some sort of deamon? In the morning she would find answers...

At dawn she headed to the tavern.

The information she gathered talking to patrons and the tavern keeper had led to a terrible conclusion. Hundreds of years had passed since she walked the lands of Sosaria. Charnel Hill lay abandoned. Her companions... gone.

Her lover... what had become of Zh'Azhak? The time that she had been asleep... it was not so long to an immortal vampire. She vowed to find him, no matter how long it might take. But there were few paths to achieve this end.

She knew what she had to do.

Pulling on fur boots and a winter cloak, Zahndra whispered the words of recall from a scroll and moved through the ether, stepping out on the wind blasted snow of Dagger Isle.

--The images on the page swirl and coalesce into words once again.--