Dealthagar/redemption
From Atlantic Roleplay Wiki
Dealthagar watched in morbid fascination as his duplicate turned silently, suspended by an unseen force. A tenth and final generation marvel of technomantic cloning, it was crafted in absolute flawlessness. It had been designed to act as a vessel should his true body become corrupted or compromised. It was a perfect copy, down to the most minute of details.
Too perfect. As he slept in stasis, The Source has mistaken it for the real thing and placed a spark within it. A spark was enough to be a being, but it was not a complete soul. The world, the reality of Sosaria had crafted the other half that would make up the being that was Dealthagar. The Source provided the ba, the world, the ka. But Dealthagar's ka was already in place, mere yards away from the simulacrum. Unfortunately, the clone and The Source had no way to know.
Incomplete, the duplicate had gone out into the world to fill the other half with the world, to make itself complete. From what Dealthagar had been able to piece together, lacking complete memories, the simulacrum was drawn to familiar surroundings, faces, names words that held half shadowed meanings and familiar comfort.
It had been there when the master of the Scholomance completed the ritual that created the entropic field generator; the defense mechanism that hung the pallor of the dead over all of southern Malas. It was enough for entropy to take seed and reawaken the long severed connection to the Abyss, the blessing of Oblivion Bal Anon-Dak and Azalin placed upon Dealthagar when he became the head of the Necromancers; The Vision of the Damned.
Oblivion is a jealous master and a spiteful spurned lover. It does not give up its secrets and it does not give up its chosen.
Dealthagar tapped the technomantic gauntlet that replaced his left hand and several of the arcane gems orbiting the suspended clone gave a brief pulse of purple light. Another tap and arcs of purple lightning sparked from the gems to the clone leaving trails of scorched ash as bits of the corruption were burned away.
He shook his head and Ceinwyn shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she leaned against the table. "Is it too severe for you to cure? Are you not the one who says technomancy can do anything?" Perhaps he imagined the sarcasm and bitterness in her voice, perhaps not.
"The damage is dire. I can sever the link and cleanse the taint, but I don't know how much will be left when I am through." Retrieving an amethyst carved into a perfect dodecahedron, he charged it with a small spark of technomantic energy and tossed it into orbit around the rapidly discorporating Herald. "The corruption is part and parcel of the very fiber of his flesh."
"What if you cure the vampirism first?"
Dealthagar shook his head. "He is beyond a simple vampire anymore. His very blood was infused with the essence of the link in his eyes. Completely brilliant, but entirely mad. Rather than his power be focuses within his eyes, every drop of his blood, every mote of his flesh were all under the same curse as his eyes. He was a conduit to the very essence of Oblivion."
"And you can do nothing for him?"
"I didn't say that."
Ceinwyn frowned. "As endearing as it can be at times, your need for theatrics are unappreciated right now."
"My apologies." He turned back to the readings. "The infestation can be cleansed, but it will destroy most of his body. Even more than my own freedom from undeath."
"A golem."
"Not far from it. But that's the least of the problems. Once I sever his link, his spirit will once again become incomplete, and it will naturally seek to fill the void again." Dealthagar nodded slowly, the scenario playing over and over in his head. "What's worse is because of the nature of the corruptive process of entropy, the ba has cracks, flaws, pieces missing. It is more incomplete than when it started."
"What options are there?"
Dealthagar let out a slow breath between his teeth, giving a slight hiss. "Two. Once cleansed, I can return the ba to The Source. In time the memories will become whole with the Source."
"And it would be dead?" The temperature around her noticeably dropped. "It's yours, do with it as you please."
Dealthagar mentally flinched at her calling the shade “it". Her anger was palpable. How much of it would be directed at him? "In essence. Yes."
"The other option?"
Dealthagar paused, still a bit fearful of the other option that presented itself. It represented redemption, but at a cost of self. "I integrate it into myself. Merge the flawed ba with my own."
Ceinwyn's eyes narrowed. "What will that do to you?"
"I would gain his memories, his experiences. It would be as if I watched his actions on a stage set before me, but it could be as if I was the one on stage as well." He paused, calming his apprehension. "His emotions, his feelings, his regrets, his love...it would all become mine. I would remain myself, but there would be outbursts, emotions, I would not always immediately understand. But I would not be as lost as to people's reactions to me. I would also know all of how you had fallen for each other, and perhaps heal those wounds."
"It sounds dangerous. It could unhinge your mind." She met his gaze with a steely look. "I have some experience with the fractured mind. I could use my abilities to help if needed."
He nodded. "If it comes to that, I would be thankful for your help." He bit his lower lip, unable to hide his worry. I worry what taking his essence to mine will mean to us."
"It is not you." She kissed his cheek.
Dealthagar turned to the floating avatar of himself. Redemption. It was what he preached. Perfection of spirit, opening of the third eye and Awakening to the Divinity in one's own soul. If he could not redeem himself, even a corrupted shade of himself, how could he dare to offer it to the world. Touching the large crystal on the back of his hand, the orbiting gems began to spark and flare, burning away the corruption, the entropy and the links to Oblivion with no care to the state of the flesh.
"The flesh is passing. The soul is forever."
--- --- ---
Dealthagar sat in a huddled ball in the center of the codex on his roof. Ceinwyn knelt beside him, rocking him gently as he wept, he head on her shoulder. She made calm shushing noises and smoothed his hair as the enormity of his crimes and depravity crashed against him, flooding him with the images of his shade's misdeeds.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I never..."
She wiped the tears from his cheeks and kissed his temple. "It wasn't you. It wasn't the part of you I fell in love with."
"I love you, chev. For all time." Taking a deep breath, he calmed, and found the solace he needed in her arms. "I will never betray your heart again."
As he felt the warmth rise in her frame, she reached over and picked up the mechanical eyes that the joining had discharged. Lifting his chin, she looked into his deep violet eyes. "I don't understand. How did they repair themselves?"
He smiled. "A gift. A wound finally healed. A scar that needed cleansing. By redeeming him, I finally found it for myself."
Original Post Date: Mon Sep 13, 2010