NationStates Jolt Archive

"It's been a while.....too long a while...."

The words filled the crumbling hall, the once proud throne room. It was completely shattered and a more humble form of what once was a magnificant hall for the once mortal ruler of Velmora. Now, instead of the polished marble floor, lay cracked and dusty rock which bore no relationship to that old marble. The once stained glass windows which made the entire hall brim of colour like an overflowing goblet of light, now were simple gaping holes which sighed in rememberance.

But the cloven talons clicked upon the dust and the stone, and the hall knew that this person was it's ruler....not the previous mockery of one, Jarrid. The dust barely moved under his gently placed feet, as he walked with purpose and something of a cermonious slow march. He looked with his honed eyes to the items which made him remember his nation's former glory....and arragonace. The walls where now clean of the spears and swords, only the half ruined holders of such weapons remained, the weapons used in a too close a battlefield as Kain burst through the doors in his last visit to his nation, and cut down the deluded fools.

He walked on, looking ahead.....looking as the shadows cast themselves over the rubble and dust, shadows hiding things which should be forgotten. The moon glowed down softly, in sad rememberance....and a strange playfulness in this new person's presance...

But Kain would never forget what had happened.

Never.

He looked forward at the simple stone throne, now decorated with the grandeur of the cobwebs and dust, a confetti of a nation which had long been lost by all but a few survivors.

Kain was near the throne....and he brushed the cobwebs aside, with the same slow rememberance and care. His cloven three talons caressed the elderly vapporwood, a wood which had deep rooted magical properties. But such potenancy was almost gone....the runes faded and scratched from the surface...the wood's arcane abilities now dissappearing to the flood of time.

But not totally gone as Kain knew as he felt the ancient wood. It was still warm to the touch, to his cold green leathery flesh as he sat down. Closing his eyes he smiled slightly, enjoying the entire serene event. His talons tapped softly upon the hard wood, as his memories of sitting where he was now flooded back.....he was far different then. Humanic flesh....fingers, toes....lack of fangs and the hunger....but not human. Psi, his people's race.

The Psi, the people of Velmora, Kain's nation in the past. A nation which crumbled when Kain had to leave.....and change into what he had become now....a vampire, but hardly your normal type....a fledgling of one of the most powerful vampire cross breeds....Ravelyn Shentavo....

Kain Shentavo was puzzled when he heard the scraping of the double stone doors which he had opened magically, slowly close.......Kain opened his eyes and saw that the room was becoming darker....the shattered windows now became shadow.....a thick wall of shade.....

Kain slowly stood up, his cloak slowly draping over his arm....with the legendary symbol of the Shentavos emblazened upon it, in full glorification...the blood red heart...bleeding, pierced by a sword all the way through in the middle.

Flexing his talons, looking for the cause of this entrapment within this tomb...Kain looked around this hall of memories. The shadows seemed to move....have animation of it's own, a will, a hunger.

"Kain...."

A chilling whisper hissed at Kain, full of rage at this being who had not shown himself for a decade....

"Look what you have done...."

Figures came forth from the shadows....no....the shadows themselves came forward, in the shape of people....mages....Kain knew who they where. The Seer....the ancient people who had manipulated his nation, and destroyed it. Now, these ghouls where cynical reminants of them, pathetic in comparison to thier spirit form.....weak and lacking in power.....but full of hate now.

Kain got up slowly, the silence of the hall was disturbing...the air was cold and forboding. And slowly, with a slowness that defied time....he reached for his sword which was strapped upon his back.....the blade which had sustained him and entrapped him....now, simply a sword....no longer the demonic blade, thanks to Kain's sire....

The blade drew from it's arcane sheave....the curving blade was impossible to draw from a normal sheave. As it drew, the sound was a slow impossibly high pitched whine, not irritating, nor entirely pleasant. Kain drew it and held it within his right hand....the skull hilt no longer having the firey demonic eyes that it did when the demon inhabited it.....it was simply a silver sword now....with a considerable history, as did Kain.

"Come to claim that which you have destroyed Kain?"

The spirits hissed in unision.....thier voice would have chilled the bravest of men...

But Kain was no man, and his blood was always chilled.

Kain walked forward, his stride long as always, and his cloak making no noise. He had his blade by his side.

The spirits came into focus more....thier shadowy forms hard to distingush from the shadows....thier eyes where holes which absorbed the light in, the claws rakes of darkness.

Kain carried on walking towards them unpreterbed.

And finally, he stopped, a few feet away from them.....as he stared at the shadows of these once greater beings....and lifted his hand....and made his palm face them.

His brown eyes narrowed and his thin lips moved to form the whisper, "Begone....forever shades!"

Light exploded from his hands, and shallow screams eminated from the shade mages as they tried to counter his spell....but to no avail. In this form...thier power was next to nothing compared to Kain in this place.

The light dissipated......leaving Kain alone with the moonlight and his thoughts....

And his nation.


He put his sword away.....and proceeded back to the throne with the same slowness and calmness. He went back to the throne.....and placed himself down again, slowly and with the same cermonious method.

Sitting down.....where he should be.....Kain smiled and said to his nation in a whisper....


"I am home.....let's restore what was once lost."





And then.....a nation was reborn...



(OOC People may join soon, and don't worry if you don't understand what I am on about. Kain Shentavo is a very old character with a TON of history which few people know about. Expect Fantasy politics and character devolpment if you are interested)

The Chapel was quiet, a strong light flooding this room. Reaching high to the clouds, in a spire of circle, it was built of white marble from the solid floors to the blocked columns and all to the vaulted cieling. The white linen drapes strung from column to column danced delicately in the breeze, playing with the light and wind. In the center of this circular room, was at the moment one person, kneeling.

Frocked in dead black, she contrasted highly with the stark blankness of this place. Her gown of cold lace and viel spread over the floor in intricate patterns matching only that of a spiders web. She was of a thin frame, hunched over on the floor in a deep meditation. Her hair was undone, masking her face and reaching down to the floor. Completely still she was.

A tyrade of wind blew about, blasting the drapes ruffled. She began to heave, gasps rapidly elevating in intensity escaping. She flung herself up with a scream, hair flying to lay tame and straight at her back. She ceased, as did the wind, and she opened her eyes. Now of a normal demeaner she stood.

Her face was set of a mulatto tone, round and young. Eyes of a fiery citrus were set still, staring ahead stonily. Her tomentum of black began to rise as the wind flooded through the room again, light growing dim.

"The balance is askew.. Degragario, alert the Juscti for me.."

The outline of another dissapeared from the other side of the drapes with a rustle.

After a breif moment, she tilted her head up and closed her eyes again. With a deep breath, arms were raised skyward as she began a hym. A single note was ushered forth. A note held high steady. A spark quickly combusted above her. It lingered for a moment, and flashed. It was joined by another, and the two shot towards the ceiling. They passed through it, and vanished. The note was cut off, and a verse was started in a honey smooth tune.

"..Travel the mutliverse and find me my prey, Find the disturbance altering the way. The balance is tipping, the scales are askew. Hopefully this news is not something new. Find me the source and tell me what's done, this is your mission, see to that it's done."

((Yes! Kain is back! Hmmm...now to find some way to enter this instead of just observing. Any preferences, Velmora? I could always use Kirith, from the Arms of An Angel thread, if you remember that.))

((Yes! Kain is back! Hmmm...now to find some way to enter this instead of just observing. Any preferences, Velmora? I could always use Kirith, from the Arms of An Angel thread, if you remember that.))

( Now I feel silly and as if I should have stayed out.. I'd gladly but out if need be. o.o )

((Nah, don't butt out, Fodmodmadtol, I'm sorry. It's just that I've always wanted to take part in one of Kain's stories, and I only got a chance once and then the thread died. So now I want to continue that. Make any sense?))

(OOC It is absolutely fantastic to be back, and I have plans. Plans for a new character.....one which will be far far more impressive in character than Kain, because I made a fair few mistakes with Kain's devolepment. But Kain is not an uber warrior anymore, he can be killed.....with some effort :)

But anyways, you can send someone in that knows Kain, to enter this ruined and destroyed land. You could have a curiousity to see what the hell is happening, because some strange activity is happening in this assumed dead land. Or, you could simply be curious to what Kain is up to. But if you are going to put a character which Kain has known in the past, can you remind me what thier relationship was? I have had waayyy too many ecounters to remember.

On with the show!)


Kain was within the throne for long minutes.....thinking....planning what he would do. He had all the time in the world....this night was one for preparation and thought of what was about to be......

After some time, within the hall, Kain came up with the beginings of a plan. His complex mind working in the normal fashion, that of complex arrangements and like that of a master chess player, 4 steps ahead.



Kain exited the huge stone hall in the middle of the region.....the darkness still over the land, only dispelled in sections by the moonlight, leaving areas of pure blackness...some in the silvery veil of light. The light shone down on the new ruler without a people, down on the vampire who was not a vampire, and the man that had become a legend. His name was known to the demon kind as a killer of them, and to the angels as a creature which had endured huge sacrifice. To the vampire hunters and his own people, the Psi, he was a vampire to be destroyed and burnt.

Many considered him villian, many considered him saint.


To himself, always the pawn.



He walked along the streets which where now completely destroyed by the civil war which had erupted within Velmora...between Jarrid, the man which Kain had left his nation to, and B'jorn, a loyalist to Kain and the people. The war was savage, and with no winners. B'jorn died under Jarrid's forces as they burnt down the rebel organisation's base within the hills....and Jarrid and his forces fell to the Kain and his silver dragons and many powerful allies. The Seer, the manipulative spirit council was also destroyed by Kain.....but there was a high price for the people. They all fled or where killed.....

There where no winners in reality, no happily ever after. This was not a fairy tale where the forces of good won without casualities, love trumphed over all, and what you fought to gain never is robbed in the end. Kain's existance had almost always been tested and moved about by the main players in the game, the Seer, the vampire hunters, the demon within the sword.

But no longer. Kain was his own man.....in a manner of speaking. He was hardly a man, a vampire without comparison.

He walked through the broken streets in the night with the same slowness....he had all the time in the world. Daylight did not destroy Kain...he was unlike others which had preceeded him....but daylight did bring irritation and pain to his form. His flesh crawled if sunlight hit him, his eyes became painful and his mind worked far less efficantly.

Kain knew where he was going, he had lived here for almost 26 years.....a young ruler as a mortal....and his existance had dragged on for much longer for Kain. Time warped strangely when he was within the demonic realms, and the reliance to the demonic blade's life essance to sustain him when he was cursed and exiled from the Shentavo's for his crime. He was hardly a fledgling....Kain did not know what age he was, truelly, but he was around 29 he thought. But time, as he knew, travelled differently when he had carried the demon around with him....and due to his unique experiances, his powers had surpassed those who would be his equivilant in vampiric age.

He had reached it now....the great tomb of knowledge which he had sought. A fair more humble symbol of knowledge than what it once was before. It was one of the few buildings which had not been toppled....but it still bore the marks of battle and war. The marks of spells was upon it.....fireballs and dragonflame had consumed the outer walls, great rocks thrown from the magical catapults had made the structure perilous....but still it stood, meek but almost entirely intact. Kain was not suprised, he knew what enchantments still took hold upon the tower.

He entered, the double doors had already been blown off, and where a few feet in, lying on the floor. Kain walked in silently, looking and remembering all of what he had learned within these ancient halls. The arcane spellbooks Kain already knew all of the spells, and had created his own variations of them. Most of these spellbooks Kain and no human could possibly use, due to the techniques used of the Psi. Kain could no longer channel due to his vampiric form....a technique which borrowed the strength of the land temporalily and channel more raw arcane energy for spells.

Kain could not channel........yet.


He walked upwards, and he heard the beginings of rain upon the windows, which where intact. The hall had been magically warded against everything, it was far more protected than the throne room. The knowledge within this place was an accumilation of the Psi's dedication to the power of manipulating reality, that of magic.

Kain walked up the stone stairs and walked by the dusty magical tombs which he had memories completely. The Brightblade, the demonic blade which he had within his talons now, had given him the complete knowledge of these halls, every word and sentance was now commited to his memory. He could recite them all flawlessly and effortlessly, so engraved was it into Kain's soul. But....Kain was not looking for a book here, but he was looking for knowledge.

He walked up into the highest section of the tower.....and there before him was what he had remembered almost perfectly. It had not changed at all....not one bit. The crimson drapes where still there, the huge windows which surveyed over the land. True, due to the vibrations outside, and the onslaught of various forces, the room had certain miscilanous damage. But to Kain, this room was glorious still.

He walked over to one of the walls.....where there was a silver box made inside the wall. It had no door, no hinge. To someone not knowing what it really was, it was simply a silver panel in the wall.

Kain knew what it really was.

Placing his right palm upon the cool silver surface, he chanted a sentance of arcane script. The silver matieral became warm....and slowly came out....in a long column of silver outwards. The surface now was showing that it was encrusted in the runes of the Psi....strange runes which Kain knew the meaning and potenancy of. The column of silver came out fully and stopped, around the size of a staff.

It seemed odd, a silver stand to nothing. But Kain knew what it's purpose was.

Kain drew the Brightblade, and placed it upon the silver stand. He somehow expected the skull hilt to draw life again, and spit curses at him. But it did not.....however, something else happened. The silver column drew the curved blade into itself.....making the column and the sword one.....

Kain knew that he had never done this, but he knew that the Psi masters had done this for thier apprentisis. He would assume both roles today, the forger and the reciever of this item. Placing his cloven hands over it, carressing, he proceeded with the complex and gruelling forging process.

He chanted, his deep voice resonating within the libary, the words not been utterly for so long, now spoken with such perfection. His mind dealt with the complex visualisations with ease...his mind multi-tasking between the two visualisations. It was impossible for most, but he had inherited abilities from his sire and his demonic sword.

Many hours passed.....Kain completely engrossed with the sword's change.


And then.....it was finished. The sword came up from the silver column.....seemingly the same......

Kain reached out slowly, preparing himself after all of this work for this. He had experianced it once....but he could not entirely prepare himself for it. His talons closed over the hilt.....

***


Many hours passed......and Kain was victorious. He had no idea if it would work....but it seemingly did. The blade now in his hand was the equivilant of his old silver staff when he was mortal, a device which allowed the user to Channel far more effectively...and in Kain's case....at all. The feeling of elation flooded over Kain as he knew what he could do now....

The ritual which Kain had just done was performed by a master and his or her apprentis, it was a coming of age ceremony. The Psi would recieve thier chosen weapon in which they could channel far better with. Most chose a staff due to the lifestyle and dominat profession, that of the mage.

Tierd but trumphant, Kain looked out of the window......at the pouring rain and the ruined nation. To him, the land looked like a open canvas....ready to be painted upon....


An idea of what the scene looks like (http://www.eidosinteractive.co.uk/gss/lokdefiance/concept/con_02.jpg)

What Kain looks like. (http://lair.echidnoyle.org/lok/images/Kainopening.jpg)

(OOC If you really want to know what Kain looks and sounds like, click this (http://www.eidosinteractive.com/downloads/search.html?gmid=85#) and watch the one with "SOUL REAVER 2 INTRO CINEMATIC (2)
Here is your first look at the opening cinematic movie from Soul Reaver 2. Raziel's adventure begins as he confronts Kain in the time streaming chamber, and chases him back into Nosgoth's past."

Bear in mind, Kain has not performed those actions etc, I simply based his appearance and speaking patterns on it. Call me a plagarists if you want, but the stories which I have made Kain go through are completely original, and when I speak about his history, I have roleplayed it all. Kain became a vampire in nationstates, and I roleplayed all of what I speak of. Just wanted to say that.)

TAG. I may switch over to Arithon and bring Izual into this.

Just as a little remind, Izual is a fallen demon, turned demonic angel, who is currently undergoing a quest to further his demonic strength as he has discarded his duty as a warrior angel.

Izual and Kain have been in a few RP's together, especially that little saga we had involving myself, you and Roania. Izual has saved the life of Kain once I believe, and helped him out on a few occassions.

Welcome back. :D

(OOC Yeah, I remember Izual pretty well....it is very good to be back Assington, even if I did prefer the previous scenery, but at least this forum works lol. But is there a way to make pictures appear here, because the bb code seems not to work for pictures :( )

(( [img] tags still work for me.))

A few days had passed, and progress had been made.

Kain had now set the wheels of progress rolling within this dead land....the rain continued to pour down. There had only been one disturbance, and that was a group of six vampire hunters. Kain tried to give them a chance to recline and go home, but.....as with all vampire hunters Kain thought, thier minds where set in the prejudices against his kin. Well, he seemed more like a demon than a vampire now....but he still had the bloodthirst. He had drained them all, after a very short one-sided battle.

Kain did not particulary enjoy the battle, there was no thrill in it, no challenge. Still, it gave him experimentation with his new ability to channel, not that he needed it with such simple spells. But the knowledge that he could successfully channel comforted him.....and made his plan ever the more sturdy.

He had found the specific matierals he required to perform the act he needed to do in order to get more progress. No matter how powerful Kain was, he realised that man-power was important. It gave Kain a problem when he was thinking how best to accomplish what he wanted....he could hardly get the old populance back to help him, they where dead, migrated....and even if he did manage to get them back, he would doubt they would serve under thier old ruler, not in the form Kain took right now. Kain did not have enough time to explain and convince all humans to change thier ways, let alone his own people.

No....he had a better solution.

One which would be highly intreging to see the result of.....as none of his people had successfully done what he was about to try, although plenty of other mages had made others of thier "kind", none had made the kind Kain was about to make.

The matierals where laid out within the throne room....it was night time, and the moon was in the sky, pale and brilliant. The throne room had been tidied a little bit, the dust was no longer so thick, and it looked very slightly more respectable.

There were various arcane and rare items which Kain had taken from the surronding area of Velmora....the unique wood which grew in Velmora, silver, jewels which were common everywhere in Velmora....and blood. Kain planned to use some of the blood which he had in storage....some of the potent demonic blood which he had obtained from some demon which he had killed in his various encounters with the bastards.

He was setting the items out.....preparing himself and the area for what he was about to do....when he sensed someone coming.....

(OOC There is your oppertunity to come in, come in however you want. Through the main doors, teleporting in, whatever. If more than one person comes, act kind of surprised that someone else chose that precise moment to come in. We will call it extreme chance ;) )

Izual had never actually been to Velmora. It had become a wasteland back when he was a mere demonic fledgling, still serving under Arithon in the depths of the underworld. Now he stood within the ancient homeland of his friend, Kain Shentavo. It had been many years since he had encountered Kain's presence as well, many long years.

Izual had heard many rumours about Velmora being a place of magic, where the demonic brightblade had been. On the off chance the nation did have any remains of demonic lore or magiks, Izual had set off on a journey in search of such things.

The demonic angel's eyes had widened as he detected a slightly familiar presence within the main keep of the nation. The wind pelted against Izual's large coat as he moved back into the rain, slightly closer to where he thought this presence to be.

In human form, Izual was a large, dark haired man with pale green eyes that gave off a hint of something not quite mortal. His skin was fair yet wasn't plagued by human issues such as pimples or whiskers. The rest of him was hidden under a large grey coat that almost appeared to be a robe if it wasn't for the buttons upon the front.

A slight grin crossed his face as the angel discovered the location of who he thought it to be. Without hesitation, Izual jumped into the air and rushed forth, fighting against the wind and rain in an attempt to reach the life within the keep. No noise signified his landing as Izual glided across the stone of the keep, finally arriving at the front doors.

The old wood scraped open as Izual moved toward them, finally giving a physical signal of his presence. The angel smiled as he took note of the figure within the building. It was indeed his friend, returned...

Kain was crouched, looking over the items he had gathered together....his long white-silver hair draping down behind him....he looked up slowly, his brown eyes taking in the sight of the figure in the doorway....and was deeply suprised. He expected a vampire hunter or someone to impeed his progress, but this was a pleasant suprise.

"Well well, this is a pleasant suprise I must say....of all the beings I expected to arrive, you where the least of the expected....what brings you here, to my sleeping nation, Izual?"

Kain usual calm and elaborate way of speaking was still apparent, and Kain seemed pleased. Far from his usual tormented self....those days where long gone.

The items around him where in a carefully laid out circle, an odd assortment of arcane items. It was noticable that Kain was about to do something...and it was also noticable that Kain no longer had the demon within the sword....and that Kain himself had the very very slightest tinge of demonic energy within him. A result of relying upon the demonic blade for so long for his lifeblood, due to Qui's old curse....fortunately, the demon and the curse had been banished by Kain's sire, Ravelyn Shentavo....but it had cost Kain a considerable deal.....and it was the last time he had ever seen, or would see Ravelyn again....

Izual produced a smile of his own as he moved further into the fall, shaking the rain off his coat. The angel could sense the difference in Kain, the lack of an overwhelming demonic presence and his manner was somewhat different, less pained.

"My journeys have taken into your ancient land my friend. Out of all things, I did not expect you to be here after so long. Much has changed since we last encountered eachother, hopefully I will get a chance to tell you."

Draping the wet coat over an old chair, Izual revealed thick black robes with his custome ensignia upon the breast. A finely crafted blade, tip pointing towards his stomach. One half of the blade was a bright white whilst the other, an eternal black. The hilt was a dull grey, representing the mixture of both side. Stretching out from the hilt were two wings, a white feathered wing on the side of the dark blade, and a black, leathery wing on the white bladed side. Izual had designed this symbol to represent his kind, a demonic angel.

Kain absorbed the sight, and said softly, "You remind me of Ravelyn strangely. You have changed, but then....haven't we all changed in the passage of time. I know I certainly have changed....less physically....but never mind that. There will be plenty of time for reminiscing later....but I am in the middle of something, if you would like to observe, possibly help?"

It was obvious the items around him had something to do with it, thier magical energies where rather potent....most striking of all the demonic blood within the glass vial....it continued to storm and bubble with a life of it's own....one of the few vials of demonic blood Kain had....

Kain remained crouched, and he checked his items once more, the mental preparations and sheilding was in place....he was ready to begin.

Izual took in the items around Kain and began to gather an idea of what he could be doing, but he knew better than presume.

"Indeed we have all changed. I would be honoured to help you in your task, just tell me what to do and I'll help in whatever way I can."

The angel flexed his sore muscles as he stood at the ready.

Kain nodded in responce and looked over the items a final time. Everything was perfect. He stood up to full height, and his hair draped behind him in a silvery curtain.

"What I am about to do, is create a construct....but not any normal construct. One which was never attempted before by my people, and to all records, anyone at all due to scarce nature of the matierals I am using and the complicated nature of it. I am not entirely sure it would work, all I have is ancient text and my own theories and experiances of such things....one thing which I could need help with if anything goes wrong....or attacks, deal with them would you?"

Night had settled for its stay over the sky.

A dainty ripple of light floated across the ceiling above, briefly clawing vision before dissipating entirely. A few moments passed, and then a spark fell through. It went soaring down the entire height of the chapel quickly, snatching at the columns with a flirtatious light that played in their flutes. It stopped abruptly, and dimmed. It hovered perfectly still illuminating, only faintly, the outline of two hands. They closed onto the light.

"Take me"

It evaporated.

A definite sound made itself known, a small annoyance quickly growing into something of a roar. A low rumble of sheer power massed in a great form. Combined with a rhythmic, soft hiss of it meeting another of such size. A cyclic tone that could be mimiced on every coast, the sound of the sea. A great churning then made itself evident, producing a bellow that drowned out the preceeding. All sound ceased not a moment after.

She opened her eyes in this void she now traveled through. The serene atmosphere of her mind was ended quickly by the touch of an angel. Chaotic. Through this, another presence made its way through. It forced a gasp from her. Wild.

She blinked.

There stood the throne-room.

"Who the frell are you and why do you come so abbrubtly to my land?" Kain remarked simply and darkly, as he looked at this new comer, his hands not reaching for his sword, as one might expect. He still retained the same calm, but aware, posture.

The was easily evident that these two individuals was indeed, highly able in thier abilities, and Kain looked over the individual to size her up in arcane skill, in the usual fashion of mages.

(OOC Meaning, if your character is powerful at magic, and by the way, our characters are "high level characters" to put it that way and we want to see if your abilities are the same kind of skill)

Nodded as Kain suggested how Izual could help with the creation of the construct. He was about to speak when the ripple of light flowed into the room, drawing his attention immediately. Within a blink Izual's blade was within his grasp, the very blade depicted upon his robes. Although it had not been on his person when he entered, years as an angel had tought him a few things about storing important items.

Izual remained silent as he casually held his blade, keeping his eyes trained directly on the new arrival.

She hadn't meant to enter directly in front of them.. But they were more drawing than expected.. She blinked again, gaining her bearings, and found herself staring to the Angel. The Angel wasn't it though. She let her eyes wander over her surroundings, taking in the ancient room in which she stood. Foriegn by all means, but then again, look at who was here. She grazed the random items strewn about, a brow arched, when her sight came across the one who had spoken. It was that one.

She tilted her head to the side and stared intently to this one.

"I am Aliliah.. I've come to pass judgement.."

"Come to pass judgement?" Kain said scarcasticly, smiling slightly.

The throne room was bathed in the soft cold touch of the moon, as the strs themselves watched this small act in the play of the world. The creatures which where gathered here this night could have been considered rare indeed by any human's standards. There was a cold wind which blew through the shattered windows, not that Kain could feel the cold of winter....nor the warmth of another person...

The vampire laughed darkly and slowly for long srawn out seconds, taking grim amusment in this entirely situation which played out before him, the immense feeling of deja vu swept over him, this act been rehashed and then replayed constantly. He wondered if it was because of him being his kind, or of his actions...or a combination of both. It had made him laugh when he discovered that he had become legendary for his actions, a mini....hero or villian, depending on who you spoke to. Kain, the lionised matryr for what he belived in, or the demonised monster, who laid ruin to many lives.

He shook his head slowly and looked at the floorr and mumered to himself, in a slightly sad and tierd fashion, "Why to people incessently try to judge me when I point no finger at them....". It was indeed a poinent question, but this was hardly the place or the time for such musings. There was the prosecution to consider first.

With a break from his own thoughts, he dealt with the situation as he had always done when this event occoured. The demons, the seer, his own people, vampire hunters, and even his sire....Ravelyn. Although Ravelyn was the only one who had given him enlighting responces....and ones which Kain still found awe inspiring.

"Who are you to judge me and my actions, and what authority do you have to judge me? Or are you going to judge my clan? If you do, you have the wrong vampire....And in either case I would imagine that your judgement has already been made before the trial....but I will grant you a few moments to explain yourself, before I am too quick to damn you entirely through prejudices against those who burst into my home, my nation, without any warning or announcement, and demand that thier thirst to judge others be satisfied." Kain said with a cynical and harsh tone, his eyes locked onto her, and his hands by his side. He made no reach for his weapon, it was a sign of his power....or arragonce.

There was a slight deviation between how he would treat a vampire hunter and this person before him, a vampire hunter, he knew where they stood for thier reasons for judgement. But this individual, he knew not the reason or rational for judgement....not that they should judge him in the first place.

Kain's patience was formidable, but not endless with these people.

(OOC I certainly hope that you are a good arguer, because I hate to boast, but I certainly am in this kind of situation.)

A grin split across, and she giggled childishly, the pitch echoing incessantly through the air as if ushered from more than one person. It stopped after a minute, and she took a step towards him. She spoke, but not from her own self, her voice issuing from all around in a warped audio.

"Judge you? I am not here to judge you as one.. I am here to judge the shift of power that has occurred.."

She flit across the floor towards him with a light step, almost playfully in bound.

"But then again.. You are responsible for that shift.. What is your name?"

She stopped and giggled again. Then looking him over, glancing him up and down briefly before looking back up to meet his gaze. Those orange hues held a child inside, sparkling as if they contained stars themselves, an innocence dappling into those pair depths. She spoke again, her voice catering as normal though.

"Foolish is the one who jumps onto accusations of someone they have just met. You find me as hostile, yet I have yet to speak more than my name.. You may now say that I may contradict myself in that I have judged you without more than a glance, but again, was not I who said I have judged.. I am but impartial." She laughed a small bit. "I do apolgize for the aburpt entrance though."

With a heavy breath her grin disappeared, an apparent change of emotion surfacing. Hands were folded in front of her, at which point she fell to her knees in a bow, dropping her head low. "The scale of Balance has tilted profoundly, I come only to know what the Fates have done.. I am a slave to the Balance and of the Fates.."

She stood back up slowly, standing straight, and stepping back. She locked her stare on him once more. "I am here to judge what must be done for Fate, whether it be to aid you.. Or deny you life.."

At the mention of denying Kain life, Izual moved forward and scraped his blade along the stone floor, filling the room with a metallic chime. He didn't know about this force of balance, but either way he wasn't concerned. She was intervening and it wasn't appreciated be either.

The angel stopped next to the pair and directed his gaze at the woman.

"You choose to deny my friend life, and I shall deny you a living moment that isn't filled with pain."

Izual didn't appear very menacing in his human form, but the sense of power surrounding him made it obvious he was more than met the eye, not to mention the lethal sword in his hand wasn't the most inviting sight to any but his friends.

Kain sighed and turned, his hair streaming behind him, the moonlight reflecting off the silvery fabric of his vampiric hair. Even as a Psi in his mortal life, his hair was something which was glorious. The Psi had characteristic similar to humans, although with some distinct and rather appealing variations. Purple eyes, golden hair, silver skin. Kain simply had white hair.

"Frankly, I am tired of this bullshit. Judge me for what you will, and make your decisions accordingly. It makes no frelling difference to me." Kain said in a fatigued voice, one which had ceased to care about the opinions of most people. It was a natural quality within vampires, they where judged and persecuted constantly, and as a result, they ceased to care what the majority of society thought them as, not that this individual could constitute as "society".

Kain started to walk off as if nothing had happened at all, back to the items which he had laid out in preparations for the construct which he was about to create. It was currently around midnight, with the moon still high in the sky.

The laugh suddenly sounded in the room in which the others occupied. From the shadows came another figure, silent in its movements as it made its way toward the other beings. His yellow hair flowed behind his head, falling softly around his shoulders. His face, although pale slightly, were fair and bore a look of importance, of wisdom. It seemed as if this one was part of a higher order, one to not be disregarded so simply...

Mae govannen, Kain... came the silent telepathic speech, as the figure stepped closer. It nodded in greeting to the angel and smiled at the same time. Izual...it has been a while my friend...

"Kain Shentavo...before you cast your judgement upon me, I ask you to remember who I am. My name is Sigrun. Once...long ago, I went by another name, a name I shall not utter as of now. However, for your sake, I shall give you a clue. You were my teacher of the arcane... let me recite what you taught me long ago, wise words never forgotten:

"Magic is a thunder heard in each of the sundered realms. Its power reverberates through the foundations of all Existence. It echoes the lightning of creation itself. In its voice is heard the promise of life and death. It is a power to be coveted and feared."

And by this magic, I have returned, however, some circumstances have led to my changes in physical appearance... look into my eyes, and you will see the truth..."

With that, Sigrun lifted his face slightly, allowing Kain a clearer view of his eyes, eyes that had never changed, despite the misty clouds of secrecy that bore around them.

Izual nodded in return, but still kept a tight grip upon his blade. He had heard about this one when he was still working for the light. The spirit that was not content with the eternal peace of the afterlife, but insisted on returning to the world of the living. Izual hadn't thought it possible, but it seems this Sigrun had found a way, and had indeed returned.

Whatever this Sigrun character wanted, Izual would remain on guard, there was still the woman to worry about.

The buzzing in his head had turned to a scream in the last few hours. Zan decided to lower the intensity of the detection spell he'd cast that morning. Looking at the small falcon perched on a tree nearby he said "either I have a wicked hangover, or some seriously powerful people are up to something" the bird glared at him, seemingly unamused.
"OK, I'll go see what's up."

With that, Zan shrugged back his cloak, so it rested in the center of his back. He barked some arcane word, and large wings grew from his back, similar to those of the falcon save their color black with emerald green tips. he checked his sword, and leapt into the air.

Arriving at what appeared to be the ruins of a large hall, Zan curiously peeked inside. "FOUR?" he thought to himself. He had expected perhaps a dozen or so archmages or some other ridiculous gathering. four was not a number he was prepared to deal with. However, since the one with the big sword looked particularly interested in getting physical, he decided that turning tail and making like a target was not his best option. Fixing a look at the bird which could only be described as "I blame you for this", Zan strolled in, and introduced himself.

Kain was getting very irritated, very quickly. He was tierd of everyone coming into his home when all he wanted to do was get on with what he wanted to do here in the first place. He ignored the newcomer completely, and for that matter, seemingly everyone else. He concentrated upon the person's eyes would had uttered the teachings of the Psi, that of how to cast spells. It was the bible of Psi in essance.

Kain knew who it was, how could he forget? Kain seemed very unfettered about it.

"Maximus, seemingly you return to me. My white flesh has left me, and I am as I was...this green vampire which you see....but tell me of what has happened to you? Ignore these people which keep irritating me, Izuel will focus them for a while."

Stranger, I suggest you leave. Now is not a good time to stroll into my nation.

(OOC No more people to come into this thread please, although fastfacts, you are allowed. It is getting a tad crowded.)

Sigrun glanced sideways at the other unknown figures in the room. Something about them irritated him, and he remained on guard. For now, he wouldn't do anything...

He looked back at Kain, nodding understanding as to his physical changes.

"I am not sure why you have returned to that...form, but I'm sure you'll fill me in when the time comes. Myself...is a truly different story, one very few would expect. The Elders, upon seeing the future, have decided to return me with a new mission unto this accursed world, a mission that is large, yet grand and exquisitely designed. They knew I died in my vampiric form long ago, but they also knew of the boundless possibilities of the arcane, the same truth of what you spoke long ago. Thus, they drew out the true and pure essence of the remains of my blood that lay in my old body, as little as it was, and formed a new shape for me to take. This...is what I am, untainted by human design, nor vampiric. Powerful I have become, for my blood is pure now, thus my magic once strong is now stronger. I have returned simply to tell you of my presence once again, and to once again offer my alliance as your friend and former student."

Sigrun threw aside his Elven cloak and revealed his piece to Kain. He drew his sword, a beautiful new weapon never seen in full detail by any but his Elven relations back home, sleek yet declaring deadly threat to any who dared to challenge Sigrun. Upon the blade, cryptic words were engraved:

Ama poldora en’ Russe tuulo' moriloomir, hyandae en' rauko!
Strength of Lightning, curse of demon spirits! (Translation)

"To you, Kain, I offer my alliance of my blade, Lanta, and my skills of the arcane..."

Another glance to the side was cast as Sigrun kept his eye upon the strangers. Izual was standing defensively only meters away, still having remained watchful of them as much as he himself was.

"I gladly accept your offer, and welcome you." Kain said, smiling a little. Things where going more smoothly now. He was about to say something more when Kain sensed something.

"Your blade might be put to use in a moment freind..." Kain said quietly, unfettered by the alarming amount of energies coming towards them. They where spirits, Kain presumed the Seer's spirits coming to have another go....

Kain turned quickly to the other members of this awkuad gathering, "Prepare for a fight. Come near me and form a defence." he stated simply and with authority. He seemed perfectly calm with the upcoming combat.

The spirits where comign from all sides of the throne room, slowly making thier way towards the group. Kain did not draw his blade, or raise his hands in preparation for the fight. He simply looked to the windows and other possibly means of entry to await thier coming...

Sigrun smiled in response to the proposal. He hadn't expected anything else from his old friend. He was about to say something when at the same time as Kain felt the oncoming danger, he did as well, but not through the same channels of energy as Kain might have.

Spirits...they still plague him, not if I can help it... he thought darkly to himself, before sheathing the sword, but leaving it within reach. Within his mind he began to think of the various spells that might be needed...

"Bring 'em on..." he muttered as he glanced over at the others, as Kain spoke to them.

On hearing that a fight was imminent, Zan realized he had two choices. With the one in the middle of the room, Kain he thought someone had called him, or against him. Quickly he cast another detection spell, to see what this new group was up against. Strong, he thought, but not stong enough even if I sit this one out. Noticing that one of the two other warriors had sheathed his sword and looked to be prepping a spell, Zan decided that he could leave his own blade on his hip for now. Standing with he feet apart, Zan muttered to himself, and slowly a wispy ball of green energy began to form in each of his hands. He was kind of glad to be taking a fortified postiton, since this spell was one of his favorites but took so long to cast that he usually couldn't use it in combat. Finsishing up, Zan walked over and took up a position where he could see the door, and most of the wall to his right.
"Looks like this may have been worth the trip after all" he said, mostly to the falcon which had settled on his shoulder.

She was supprised by how many were begining to show up, and had just stood there for the past few minutes staring to the Angel with no ability to move or speak. She furrowed her brow and pursed her lips, taking a step back with a glance along his blade. Kain had mentioned attackers. She couldn't very well allow that to happen before Judgement. She smiled to the Angel with a nod of the head.

"I do believe your freind has announced an attacker." She laughed again. Aliliah was such a child.. A hand flew up to brush stray hair behind her ear, and her eyes swept across the room again before taking a few more steps back to the wall.

"Protection is desired.. I am at your command for the time.." However much help she could contribute, she would. No matter how it was compared to the others.

Izual stepped into action, power flaring around the angel as he began to shift form. He rarely changed in front of others, but if he was to battle spirits he would need to be at a reasonable level of strength to combat such creatures.

An orb of shadow and light formed around the figure, sheilding him from the eyes of onlookers as the change began. Izual growled in slight discomfort as his two wings ripped through the flesh of his back, one a large, white feathered feature, the other an equally large but black and sinewy thing. His long hair remained dark black whilst the cold human eyes took on the golden glow of the angelic, allowing him to see far beyond the world of mortal creatures. Muscles bulged as the robes were replaced by a swirl of black and white armour, the demonic angel ensignia still remained upon his chest.

Finally the orb subsided, to reveal Izual in his pure form. Standing slightly taller and obviously more bulky, the mixture of dark and light did create a menacing figure, shadow still swirling around him as the angel finally looked up and moved towards Kain, folding his wings back.

"None shall get passed my blade..."

The angel stood at the ready, his angelic blade ready to cut through spirit and flesh alike. Izual also kept an eye on the others within the room, ever ready for a surprise attack.

The spirits which where fast approaching where felt by all....thier presence was close. The air grew colder, for those with warm breath, thier brath became clouds of condensation. The floor seemed to get impossibly lower, and the ceilings much higher than the clouds themselves. The windows seemed to become gaping mouths, allowing the malicous spirits come forth from the beast which had such a maw.

The rumbling and coldness increased in it's intensity as the spirits where about to break the breach between the throne room. Kain was calmly and slowly walking over to the throne itself, the old and indecorous wood seemed to want to swallow Kain up with itself, to trap Kain forever within the arcane wood.

The spirits could not be seen.....but felt the wraiths leaping through the windows, passing through the walls and blast open the huge front doors. The combat was about to begin with these wraiths of death....

Kain sat down on the throne and closed his eyes, his talons gripping the arm rests of the device. Everyone sensitive to the magics of the world felt an immense gravitational pull as such, as though there was something immensely powerful hidden within the throne. A change had occoured within Kain, and the throne room itself....a transformation of perception.

The throne exploded into blue light, and Kain's hair streamed out behind him due to the power of this magic. Runes appeared within the throne room, all along the walls, the floors, the ceilings, the strange arcane patterns of the Psi glowing a fantastic blue. The floor thundered in the magical power present, and Kain's cloak was flying in all directions, the crimson cloth like a flag of who he was.

The spirits where now visable....they where all shreaking in pain. They where humanoide in form, dark shadowy creatures....men, women and children. They held staffs and blades, thier robes tattered and in ruins. Many had arcane tatoos upon thier heads and bodies...

Kain opened his mouth and spoke, "Please.....don't....". His voice was of immense sorrow and racked regret for doing this. Kain seemed in complete emotional pain. And then some of the group realised....


These spirits where Kain's people....the Psi...

Many of the spirits faded from the intensity of the blue light, but the more detemined spirits pressed on into the throne room, thier flying forms screaming revenge, hissing accusations at Kain for leaving Velmora, thier faces contorted with the pure rage of the event which had happened years ago.

This land was a graveyard, and the spirits had now found a target for thier rage and frustration...and Kain was in many ways the cause of it.

The wraith army had subsided from the defences of the throneroom.....but a huge amount of more weakened wraiths where attacking.....they where flying towards Kain, but engaged the others as they tried to defend themselves and Kain.

The wraith's touch was that of icy death, if one touched a mortal they would flal unconcious and in a long time, become comotosed, and eventually death would occour. They had powerful spells, the spells of the Psi. The Psi where highly adept in the magical arts, and thier spells where flying against everyone....but espically Kain.


(OOC These enemies are strong due to thier numbers. They are like a swarm at the moment, all homing in on Kain. They will respond if they are attacked in their own spells, and they have powerful dispels. They can be killed with some effort, but it it thier numbers which make these wraith's deadly. They are going for Kain, so you should not get attacked by more than 2-4 at a time. They cannot be hurt with normal weapons, only powerful magical ones.

Click HERE (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/FR_ART/People/Hadrhune.jpg) and HERE (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/FR_ART/People/Leevoth.jpg) for an idea of what these wraiths look like, just in case you cannot imagine them or something.)

Sigrun snarled as he saw the spirits take visual form. He had battled these same spirits, the Psi, once before, and back then, they had proven to be quite a challenge. Back then, he had been learning under Kain's guidance, the magic of his clans. He had been weak in his powers then...such was not the case now.

Feeling the gravitational pull of the Psi oriented room, he braced himself to be a powerful wall to break the onslaught of the surge of arcane beings. Without speaking a word, he pulled his hands about in an intricate pattern, creating a weaving of an immense repelling net, to act as a defensive spell. It would allow Sigrun the luxury of having to only deal with a few spirits at a time. The rest would have to funnel through, by his own choice... The net also would repel most of the spells directed toward him.

Once completed, Sigrun twirled about in position, taking a quick count of immediate threats. His movements seems to flow like water, smooth and true to their course. A hand spawned multiple green spheres of flame and cast them toward the nearest wraith. His other hand drew Lanta, unleashing its magical components of anti-demonic properties. Sigrun knew that the sword wasn't the best to use against the Psi, but it would suffice to hold them at bay at the least. He swung Lanta horizontially at another wraith, one armed with its own sword. As it flew, the blade grew brighter silver in intensity, thirsting for the spill of spiritual essence...

Sigrun glanced momentarily at his friend upon the throne and confirmed what he knew he would have seen. Kain was not liking this threat. They bore heavily on his mind...

Another swipe pushed back yet another wraith, at the same time as when Sigrun cast another spell, this time toward Kain. A yellowish glow around Kain began to show, a shield of archprotection. Hopefully it would be enough to assist his friend, and maybe allow him to send his own attacks against the wraith...

Zan looked around the room in awe. This Kain fellow had some serious power. Of course it would also appear he'd used it to make someone very angry. Deciding that he was going to have to fight his way out of here regardless, Zan picked two of the wraiths moving from the middle of the room, and hopped in front of them. The two wraiths hissed at him angrily, as he raised his hands which still held the glowing green globes he'd created just moments before. He snapped his arms out, releasing both orbs quickly and missed both of his targets wide. The two wraiths looked at each other smiles crossing their ethereal faces and brought their weapons to bear on Zan. Zan backpedaled, looked frightened for a split second, then stopped and smiled. the wraiths bellowed and began to attack, only to flare green and flash out of existence as the green globes made their return trip. "Handy spell that" Zan said, and began to think of another spell that might be useful.

Zan's momentary repose was interrupted by a scream from his left, during his attempt to formulate a new plan, he'd forgotten to make sure he'd killed everything in range. He started to go for his sword, but the wraith's staff was already nearing the end of its backswing. It looked like Zan might not have time to block. . .

(OOC: I'm assuming the weapons are of the same nature as the wraiths themselves, and carry the same consequences when hit)

(Yeah, the weapons will make you extremely cold and make you numb...with around two or three hits you will become unconcious. Weaker weapons will make the user feel numb in their arms, making thier attacks less potent and harder to pull off. I will allow everyone to react before I continue on)

Still glowing slightly from his transformation, Izual raised his blade and smiled. It had been some time since he had battled wraiths, but he was experienced enough to be confident in his defense.

Izual didn't move as two wraiths moved towards him, one armed with a sword, the other a staff. He merely tapped his blade, warning the two figures they would soon taste angelic steel unless they departed the room. The wraiths displayed a humourless smile as they advanced upon the angel, unweary of their upcoming fate. One graceful arc sliced the warrior Psi in half, a look of complete surprise stricken across his face.

The second Psi had been ready and blocked the blow with his staff, allowing it to be sliced instead of him. Izual merely extended his left hand and unleashed a stream of shadows directly at the figure. It tried to counter with its own flash of erie green light, but the shadow absorbed the counter, snuffing the power within. The baffled Psi could do nothing as it too was engulfed by the shadows... finally dissipating.

(Bump for everyone else who had not responded)

Thinking quickly, Zan threw his left arm out to cut the wraith's staff attack short. As the weapon hit his chainmail clad arm, he felt a chill go straight through to the bone. As soon as his sword left its sheath, it flared green, and Zan brought it straight down as if to cut the wraith in two. His ethereal foe raised his staff over his head and blocked. Taking advantage of his opponent's distraction, Zan stepped in, put his hand high and thrust his sword straight into the wraith's head.

As this one fell, two more jumped in to take its place. Zan spun, releasing a backhand attack which caught one of the two completely off guard. This blow neatly severed its head. The second charged in, unleashing some form of magical energy at him. Zan raised his weakened left hand and just barely launched a counterspell, deflecting the energy at what seemed the last moment. He then brought his blade to bear on the creature engaging in a short exchange of parries and ripostes before finally landing a blow on the Wraith which put an end to their duel. Zan now looked quickly for the next group to engage.

As Sigrun placed the archprotection spell around Kain, he was suddenly distracted by the onslaught of a single wraith, which had managed to attack and succeed in Sigrun. However his Elven body armor deflected the shot from inflicting less damage than preferred.

Sigrun collapsed to the ground, having been hit by that single wraith. It had been carefully thrown to Sigrun, and had connected with Sigrun's side. Luckly, the armor deflected most of it.

"Kain!" Sigrun called out as he lay paralyzed upon the ground. Several more wraiths came toward Sigrun, having seen his collapse. They were all grinning, believing that they were about to overcome a fallen opponent.

Zan heard one of the strangers hit the ground and cry out. Looking quickly, he realized that he was probably the closest to him. Without thinking, he rushed to the aid of his newfound comrade, slipping in between the wraiths and their intended prey. Four on one were not odds he really liked, but hopefully he could hold them off long enough for someone else to intervene. His left arm still hung at his side, nearly useless which would probably prevent him from launching even the most basic of ofensive spells. Hopefully these monsters wouldn't realize that until he had time to gain the upper hand.

The closest of the Wraiths came at Zan hard. He blocked, but could not recover quickly enough to counter-attack. The wraith came at him again, this time Zan slipped back out of reach, and lunged in after the wraiths sword had passed, scoring a hit to what would have been its stomach. His foe stumbled back, and then attacked again, apparently Zan's hit hadn't been enough to fell it. It had certainly slowed it down though as Zan now parried easily and slew it.

As if on cue, the other three jumped in to finish the job. It was all Zan could to to avoid getting hit, but as long as he focused on defense, he'd hold them off. He could feel his left arm start to warm, another few minutes of swordplay, and he might be able to launch some kind of sorcerous assault on them. Hopefully he could do it quickly enough to dispatch one of the enemies swinging wildly at him, but until then, he had to block, both his life, and the life of the one that fell depended on it.

Sigrun watched in paralyzed position as one of the strangers jumped quickly to his aid. He attempted to move, to get up and continue fighting, but it was as if he were having an out of body experience.

I can't move!...but, that doesn't mean I can't cast spells... came the quick thoughts to Sigrun's mind.

With a concentrated effort, Sigrun focused upon one of the wraiths attacking his defender. His eyes grew slightly larger in intensity as he struggled to fight the paralysis. His voice was low as it uttered the words of an ancient language:

"Pelekta yassen runya!"

Sigrun watched with satisfaction as the wraith began to scream in agony as blue flames licked upwards from its feet and quickly engulf the entire being, swirling, trapping and burning the wraith's very soul and body...

The odds evened out some more as the wraith disappeared from view. Sigrun hoped it would be enough for his protector, as he felt the paralysis take control of his tongue once more. How he hated to lie there defenseless, and at the mercy of the wraiths who only were being held off with some effort by the one known as Zan...

Kain! Snap out of it! Help us here! went the telepathic command from Sigrun...

(OOC I am sorry, I cannot reply at the moment. This thread will carry on soon, just not right now. Sorry again, give me a day. I am not creative right now, I would not do what I have in mind justice and it would suck. Please, bear with me here. Thanks for your understanding)

(OOC: IT's cool, I'll just keep killing wraiths until you're ready to go :) )

IC: Zan's charge managed to speak, and used the words he could utter to bark some arcane command. Then one of the three wraiths he was fighting burst in to flame. Foolishly, the other two glanced over out of confusion. This was exactly the opening Zan needed. He stabbed the first wraith directly through where his heart would have been, and pulled straight up. He then twisted his body and brought his sword to bear on the other wraith, who looked up just in time to see the blade slice through its torso.
Zan sheathed his sword, and as quickly as he could, pulled the fallen warrior away from the melee. Looking around and realizing he was still a target, Zan drew his sword again. Quickly he decided on a plan to buy some time. "Shazzirack!" Zan shouted, then drew his sword along the ground creating a stream of sparks. Wherever the sparks touched the ground, a waist-high green flame burst into existence.
Now somewhat protected, or at least hopefully an unattractive traget, Zan turned to administer to his fallen ally. kneeling, he whispered some sort of prayer to a diety whose name few had ever heard outside of the woods. at the end of the prayer, Zan reached out his hand. Healing was something he was never good at, but hopefully it would be enough to speed his ally's return to the fight. As the glow from his hand subsided, he looked down and said "It should be a few minutes until you are up and running, but I have to go back to the fight. I'll leave the fire up, just don't get too close to it.
With that, Zan simply walked through the flame, drew his sword, and went looking to pick another fight.

Izual snarled at the two wraiths heading toward Kain as he sliced through both their unguarded necks. Most of the wraiths had given Izual a wide berth, recognising him as one of the spirit world himself and easily able to dispell their ethereal forms. Unfortunately for them, Izual didn't give them a wide berth...

The angel weaved through the masses of wraiths with an unnatural grace, easily dodging the potentially fatal contact that most beings couldn't avoid. Being an angelic warrior, Izual was accustomed to battling creatures physical and ethereal alike, hence his enchanted blade.

Within a few seconds, Izual had reached the flaming barrier surrounding Sigrun. He wasn't quite sure what it would do to him if he attempted to pass, so the angel decided it best to merely defend against any further attacks.

One wraith bearing a long staff stepped forward, a spiteful snarl upon his face as he glared at the angel. The spirit made no noise as he pointed the head of the staff Izual and unleashed an arc of purple lightning. Izual responded by unleashing his own arc of angelic power toward the incoming lightning, in an attempt to nullify the threat.

Everything seemed to slow around the pair as Izual realised what was happening. The two attacks were going to nullify eachother, but not before combining, then expanding. The angel and wraith had no time to react before the explosion ripped through the air, unleashing the combined force upon both of them. The wraith was quickly engulfed by the surge of power and didn't return whilst Izual managed to bring up his sword in an attempt to shield himself. The force blasted him off his feet, back through the barrier before hitting the ground next to Sigrun.

The wraiths where increasing in thier intense numbers. They where flooding through the walls now, and the runes which had initially blasted the room with blue purifying light where faded rapidly. It was obvious that Kain was struggling to maintain them.

His face was screwed up in concentration, viens straining. His mind was deeply in concentration. He had to keep the rune structures working, to work the words accross thier surface. It was indeed a highly complicated proceedor considnering the increasing numbers of wraiths.

And then....the runes faded completely, exaugasted. The room was drowned in the darkness....

A darkness which Kain could see in....but he could not see his enemies, only thier outlines!

Leaping from the throne, his hands outstreached ready to cast his arcane spells, and his faces in a demonic mask of war, he roared. It was chilling to hear the beastal nature of it.

Five wraiths rocketed towards him, thier forms running behind them as the robes hid the army of wraiths ready to support them. Kain chanted for two seconds, and smaller lights appeared around Kain, hovering in mid-air. The wraiths where inches away from his face....thier hisses removing Kain's concentration. It seemed to pierce his concentration like a icey needle. But Kain activated the enchantment around him....the glowing blue lights exploded in bathing purifying light....forcing the wraith away...

But it was not enough. Surronded by the wraiths as Kain blasted at them.....he was englufed. The wraiths swarmed onto him, all of the wraiths had no conferged upon him. No more noise now....

The wraiths piled onto Kain...and went into him. Kain felt immensely cld and was in a spasm of pain on the floor......an eternity passed and all the wraiths had gone into him. Kain....was lying on the floor....twitching, his eyes dilated.

"No....you cannot do this...urgh..." Kain whispered.....then....his body strained and stiffened.....as the wraiths flooded out of his body...away out of the windows, thier task complete.

Kain was left there...on the cold stone, as his eyes rolled back. He formed into mist and faded away into the floor.....


Was Kain dead? What had just happened?

(OOC Sorry about the poor quality of that post but my time is short and I don't want you to remain in limbo. I have to go for around 3 days on a camping trip. Feel free to carry on, just talking and implimenting vampire hunters attacking if you really wish. Socialise and get to know one another better, and wonder where the hell Kain has gone. This thread will continue when I get back, and I promise you things will get interesting.)

"NOOOOO!!" roared Sigrun as he finally regained control over his body. "Damn you, ghosts of the past! DAMN YOU!"

Sigrun ran to the nearest window and could help but watch as the last of the wraiths passed into the distance. Kain was gone from their midst, now enslaved by the Psi wraiths. He turned around and eyed each of the others in the room.

"We've got to get him back! I've got a feeling that he's not dead. Vampires don't die that way! He may be held now against his will somehow."

Sigrun looked down at where Kain had last been seen upon the floor, writhing and twitching in agony before fading into nothing. But there was one problem with that. Even with magical beings, 'matter' cannot be created nor destroyed, but taken between different planes of existence. And that is how Sigrun knew that Kain was still alive.

Sigrun turned to Zan, now somewhat a little more controlled over his explosive reaction. He nodded and spoke: "Stranger, thank you. I owe you my life. I only hope to one day repay you with the same kindness you showed me."

Smiling at the end of this, he turned to Izual and questioned:

"Are you all right? That was a hell of a blast."

OOC: FastFacts, I'd like to invite you to join our region "Fatal Terrain", a collection of us who enjoy doing character rps. It makes it easier for all of us to communicate with one another as well. If interested, telegram me and I'll give you the password to enter.

Izual cursed in a language not known to any mortal creature as he watched Kain fade into nothingness from his position on the stone floor. Getting up slowly, the angel watched as the wraiths fled, their unknown task completed. Popping his arm back into place, the angel groaned as he walked over toward where Kain had last been seen.

Izual knew he wasn't dead. Being an angel, he just knew these things. However, he was gone and Izual had no idea where. Looking up to see Sigrun questioning him, he shrugged.

"I am fine, just a dislocated shoulder."

The socket emitted a loud crack as Izual rolled it around a little, then closed his eyes for a few moments, engulfing himself in a warm golden glow. His shoulder was now completely healed.

Kain was near the group....he was underground. Deep within the ash soil....no....he was further....further down. Unconcious, lost and in perpetual fall downwards in mist form.

His vampiric abilities were few, but one more notable and mainly used for transportation, stealth and combat was his ability to turn to mist and fade. Many a vampire hunter had tried to pierce his heart with a silver stake or slash him with a sword only to find thier target had jinked without harm away. It had not saved him this time though, the harm was not physical.

Falling, cast down into the earth....Kain fell....but soon, he faded downwards into a underground world beneath Velmora. A land of decay, lifeless and devoid of life. The mist settled upon the dead land....and formed slowly into Kain's unconcious form. He was intensely pale, his body completely limp. The underworld was completely drowned in the darkness that was provided from having no sun, no moon, no stars....

Kain was below......he was in the Abyss of Velmora. The abandoned land of the first war that Kain had fought against Xzar....his father and mentor.

Do...not....follow......teleportation....results....in.....seal....wait....wait...wait...

Kain's voice was barely audiable, as he was weak. He had projected his voice mentally to the throne room, using the actual throne as a sounding board. With a voice wavery, and full of absolute shock.

In a faraway land, atop a mountain that scraped the heavens, a man stood, waiting, quietly contemplating the remorseless and hopeless life that awaited. Narrowing his eyes as he thought, Lance Crusade sighed, a sound that gave full weight to the pain and suffering that he had endured and was still attempting to conquer. Shaking his head, allowing the sadness and pain to retake their hold upon his soul, Lance turned around and began to descend. As his unsure and uneven steps brought him slowly down, Lance's thoughts raced, his senses dulled, his thinking unclear, and his muscles slack. Suddenly Lance sensed a strange feeling, similar to something that he had first felt many years earlier. Perhaps, an old friend has returned... Shaking his head in disbelief, Lance sighed, thinking. But which one? As his thoughts sought to pinpoint the source of this feeling, Lance realized when he had first felt such a strange stirring. It must be Kain Irenicus... That vampire is still alive... Hm... Perhaps it is time for me to set aside my thoughts and go meet an old friend... A friend from my joyous past. Thus resolved, Lance's movements quickened, his senses sharpened, his mind racing, his thinking clear and flowing, and his muscles tense. Perhaps, there is a meaning to my continued existence... Thus, Lance finally returned to the full life, away from the dulled, dead senses of his past. Quickly, he moved towards Velmora and a meeting with his past...

A gravelly voice echoed from the shadows at the far end of the room, a familiar voice with an interesting accent...

"Worry not... He will return..."

The speaker moved forward, cloaked in black. The immense hood of the garment concealed the head of the wearer, but it was plainly evident that it was not human...

"Izual... Interesting..."

The hooded visage turned to the other two warriors, reguarding them with an unseen gaze...

"I do not believe we have met..."

(OOC *dances* Everything old is new again! It is like a big get together of Kain's freinds!)

][ I've missed too much with my week of no internet. I'll just, slide away under the carpet now. ][

Izual spun around the sound of another voice, raising his blade level to the source. The angel had been too focused on attempting to locate Kain that he hadn't noticed the presence of the cloaked figure within the throne room.

The angel lowered his blade, but didn't sheath it as he recognised the figure in front of him. Izual didn't know him personally, but he knew this one to be a friend of Kain's and so he wouldn't casuse any trouble. He simply offered a nod of greeting and began eyeing the others within the room, he didn't trust any of them...

What in the hell just happened there Kain? I'm in terrible pain from whatever they did there Kain! I'm....I'm scared! Please tell me what just happened! Cloak spoke to Kain. The magical entity simply called "Cloak" had intellgence and some degree of emotions. The fact that Cloak had been terrorfied so much by this when it had remained perfectly calm in the presence of armies of demons was a testement to what had just happened.

Cloak and Kain where emotionally linked. If Kain felt pain, Cloak would change colour to reflect his emotion. If Kain was feeling dispair, Cloak would feel it also, but in a lesser degree.

Cloak had felt something utterly horrific.

Kain! Kain answer me! Tell me what I can do to get rid of this feeling! I cannot stand it! I cannot stand it! Please.....don't leave now. My existance is bound to yours, if you leave in this manner......

Kain did not reply.....Cloak remained distressed as Kain's body remained completely lifeless.

Sigrun eyed the newcomer with curiosity. Momentarily, he drew his sword and held it down, but at the ready. His Elven senses allowed him to see deeper into the darkness of the hood, just making out the glint of the being's eyes.

That voice...

The scales...the tail...the reptilian eyes...the gravely voice...

Suddenly, it clicked in Sigrun's mind who it was.

"Whiptail Longtail?" Sigrun pressed as he sheathed his sword once again. He stepped forward to the stranger, who merely watched him with distrust.

"If it is you...I will have you know I have considered you a friend for many years in the past. Together we fought against the demons and foes of the world. Back then you knew me as a vampire with elven magical abilities...none other than Maximus!"

Sigrun was incredulous of the arrival of Whiptail. Although Whiptail was cold to the world, he believed that Whiptail had warmed somewhat to Maximus, out of respect for his skills in battle, and his friendship...or so Sigrun thought...

(OOC: Sorry, just finished moving back into school. No internet in tha apartment, oh the horror!)
Zan looked around, confused. He'd seen vampires burst into flames, or some that even just died almost like a mortal. Hell he'd even seen one get disintigrated by a mage once, but vanishing, THAT was a new trick. Since everyone who had fought seemed to be alright, he turned his attention to the newcomer. "Hello, I am Zan."

Having introduced himself he turned back to Sigrun. "What do we do now. I think I've seen just about every way a vampire could die and that's not one of them. Besides, there's usually some trace. What do you think we should do to go about locating our misplaced host?"

"I'm not sure. This has never happened to Kain before..." replied Sigrun as he continuously tried to reach Kain by telepathic link.

Kain...

Silence...

Kain...

Silence...

Kain...where are you?

Silence...

Sigrun growled slightly in exasperation, before looking to Izual.

"Any bright ideas?" he asked as he conjured up a drink of Enelia, his own concotion that cured weariness and healed up the body faster.

Cloak released itself from Kain's shoulder, now independant of the vampire. It was deeply distressed and worried. Confusion was paramount in it's mind, as Cloak floated in circles, it's colour being a bright flashing yellow.

Then, it had an idea. So good was the idea, and so desperate was the situation, that Cloak sparked into life to carry out the plan to get Kain some kind of help.

---

On the surface, the items which Kain had been preparing were still there. Slightly out of thier proper locations, but intact. They had to be in the correct location Cloak thought. Using it's own powers, Cloak slowly dragged the items into the positions which were required for the procedure at hand, which Kain was about to perform before the interruptions. Cloak possessed some limited abilities on the physical plane, but many on other planes to which it was created from. Few magical items existed like Cloak, and few could actually create it. Kain certainly did not create it, but Kain had been given it by his father, and his father was given it by his father and so on and so forth. Kain was the end of the line, and this was all Cloak had ever known. So naturally, the world alone seemed very scary to it, and Cloak did care for Kain. It found Kain a good person, and one of the most interesting people that he had ever served, even though many stages of his life had been most painful to endure with him.

Good, thought Cloak. The items are ready...now...Cloak wondered if it had the strength and the ability to do what it was about to do. It was a variation on what Kain was going to attempt.

Focusing it's form to become non-physical, the energy of Cloak floated up to the surface from where Kain came from. It took Cloak some time, and it did not doubt that the people up there would find this very strange indeed. But, Cloak supposed, nothing was really strange when Kain was involved.

The items began to glow.....a pile of carefully arranged jems, a collection of silver parts to what seemed to be a humonide form, branches of a deep purple wood. They all glowed a subtle blue, changing from blue to green and then to blue again.

Cloak certainly hoped that this would work....and then it considered something, and thought that it should give the strangers some kind of warning.

Stand back! The female voice spoke commandingly.

Sigrun eyed the newcomer with curiosity. Momentarily, he drew his sword and held it down, but at the ready. His Elven senses allowed him to see deeper into the darkness of the hood, just making out the glint of the being's eyes.

That voice...

The scales...the tail...the reptilian eyes...the gravely voice...

Suddenly, it clicked in Sigrun's mind who it was.

"Whiptail Longtail?" Sigrun pressed as he sheathed his sword once again. He stepped forward to the stranger, who merely watched him with distrust.

"If it is you...I will have you know I have considered you a friend for many years in the past. Together we fought against the demons and foes of the world. Back then you knew me as a vampire with elven magical abilities...none other than Maximus!"

Sigrun was incredulous of the arrival of Whiptail. Although Whiptail was cold to the world, he believed that Whiptail had warmed somewhat to Maximus, out of respect for his skills in battle, and his friendship...or so Sigrun thought...

The hooded visage nodded...

"I am he... Why is it that you have changed your name? And how is your mate? Skadi, I believe..."

The Dark Argonian moved forward slowly, his tail moving about behind him like a possessed snake...

"Interesting..."

Whiptail watched, somewhat fascinated by the magical display. He himself was an amatuer mage, knowing only a few spells of simple difficulty...

Sigrun nodded in understanding as he watched the magical display. In a moment when the magical display paused, as if the mage or whatever it was seemed uncertain of what to do, Sigrun replied to Whiptail.

"My name, translated to "Secret Victory", is my proclamation of my return over the one who took my life initially. Skadi is fine, still alive and still hunting as always..."

Stand back!

Sigrun was startled slightly by the voice. He hadn't expected it from...wait...wasn't that Kain's cloak?!

"Interesting..." whispered Sigrun as he watched the items glowing azule.

Izual sighed.

"Do as you wish..."

The angel walked towards his cloak and unfolded it, displaying the full size it could encompass. The cloak had been custom made to fit Izual whether he be in human or angelic form. His sword seemed to disappear once again as the angel placed the cloak around his winged back and sat down in a corner.

Within seconds his glowing eyes were closed and Izual's spirit soared free of his physical restraints. The world seemed completely different to a spirit, he could see things beyond the limits of physical senses. The energy grabbed his attention immediately, standing out above the magical objects, the runes and anything else likely to give off a spiritual or magical aura.

The warning echoed around the room, although he felt it more than heard such, the idea was still clear. Izual thought he recognised something about this energy, something definitely familiar, yet he couldn't quite place it. It wasn't something he had seen before, but he had been near it, somehow it was to do with Kain...

Whiptail removed the cloak's hood, letting his fin-ears extend fully...

"Your good news in an island in a stormy sea... Kain seems to have been very busy..."

Cloak focused and made her form into the center of the circle of items and runes. A great energies began to hurricane from the center of the items. Yet none could see anything, only to those sensative to the arcane a great tug of energies whirling around. And even to those without a sense of arcane direction, a great sense of something occouing swept over them. Everyone's focus went to the circle of the items.

Cloak found this task intensely difficult. Never in all of it's existance had it to do something like this....and it wondered if it was even allowed to do so! Well, it was too late now and Kain needed help. He would understand.

The items began to float off the ground now....still humming softly and harmoniosly together. The energies of Cloak still whirled around, still focusing and shaping what it wanted to do in it's mind, what the wave of possibility was, and how to create it. And also, the practicalities of it....

A shape began to form within the center of these items.....someone female, with outstreached hands. Her form was misty and ghost like....a spirit which was casting this spell and had uttered the warning. Kain did not even realise that the spirit was female, not that he had assumed it was male. The nature of it's voice was strange....and hinted and neither gender, if at all.

The items suddenly convolsed into life, and flew at the spirit, whirling in the same fashion.....they moved into place...to form some sort of human statue of some sort. A minute passed, as the items molded and formed together, clicking and fastening each other together. Runes were inscribed accross the surface's with blinding speed.

Soon....the construct was born. It floated down.....and lied down, for the most part lifeless. It was clothed, clothed in robes. And a cloak....upon it's back with the Shentavo symbol. Although now, it was a simple cloak, with no magical properties what-so-ever.

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/eb_gallery/82094.jpg

The construct shuddered. The being made from arcane metals and woods looked up at the group. It' small spherical eyes sparked into life, glowing for the first time, seeing through those strange gems. They glowed a bright blue colour.

It opened it's metalic mouth and spoke, in a distinct soft female voice, eerie due to it's arcane nature. It seemed to echo as it spoke, "Kain requires....your aid. Please....help me up....this....this is hard....." the construct said, unable to get itself off the ground.

(OOC Izuel, please note, this is not the same construct as D'tok. D'tok has green eyes, this construct has blue.)

Sigrun watched the entire display with quite some interest. Never before had he seen such an act of raw determination, strength, and love.

Sigrun was the first to move into action when he heard the Cloak's voice. He lowered his hands as if they would touch the ground then spun them around and pointed his fingers upwards, whispering words of Sindarin all the while.

The weight of the items began to lessen greatly as the spell was completed. Sigrun stepped closer, no longer feeling the danger of being in close proximity. A hand reached down and helped the being to its feet. The spirit of Cloak looked at him in appreciation.

"A simple spell, it will remain with you, making your burden lighter. Tell us, what exactly do we need to do for Kain's sake?"

OOC: Reformed Velmora, if you want, you can join my region specifically meant for character RPers. The region is 'Fatal Terrain'. Check it out, and telegram me if you wish to join and I'll give you the password.

Whiptail nodded...

"Indeed. I offer my services..."

The hunter bowed slightly, resting his right hand apon the ornate hilt of a finely-crafted mithrill saber...

Zan watched in awe as the construct created itself. "Kain, requires your aid" it said. Well, that was all well and good, but it left one question unanswered, and Zan decided to ask it. "Where in the ninth fiery side of unholy hell IS he?" Zan blurted out. Then looking around, he realized that everyone else was trying to help the construct get up to tell it's story.
As soon as Sigrun cast his spell, Zan looked eye to eye with the newly created creature "OK, now really, where is the vampire?"

The newly created construct, the first of it's new found kind got up onto it's feet, balancing itself with it's new found enchanted legs. The construct seemed innocent, but those eyes and the way it carried itself, even now, bore no innocence, only experiance of an adult. Those glowing blue eyes were eerie to focus onto, because they simply glowed back....a cold and impartial stare. He looked at the stranger in front of his witha n impartial and a sort of a blank stare, and looked to the others as well while she spoke.

"Kainisbelow, inthelowersealedcavernofVelmora. Something awful has happened due to those spirits, Kainhasbeendamaged verybadlybyit. There is no way into those grounds by normal means....unlessweunsealtheGatetothose grounds." The female construct informed without too much emotion, just a sense of duty and in many places, too fast to comprehend fully due to the construct's lack of timing.

Cloak was simply talking the way it talked to Kain, with a very fast speech which would normally be mental and legible due to that fact. It was having to speech with an actual arcane voicebox now. This spirit was obviously very strange in it's actions and words, due to it's nature.

"This form.....is limiting butnecissary....I prefer myoldone...but itwouldnotbe able to open theGateorguide you in a satisfactorymannertotheGate." she said, looking at those hands with two fingers and one thumb made of metal. The hands were like Kain's in design, perhaps delieriberately by Kain to emulate his own features. The construct certainly did have magical resistance...

(OOC Feel free to ask the construct what the hell is the gate etc, she is not your normal person per say. She lacks certain social abilities.)

Izual watched in mute surprise as the energies finally focused onto a certain task. Within minutes the essence of the energy sat within a physical form now, restrained by the limits of this world. Drifting back into his body, Izual's crimson red eyes opened as he ascended to his feet once again.

Upon laying his eyes on the construct, Izual immediately thought of D'tok, a construct Kain had sent to aid him on a search. Upon closer inspectiong, Izual realised this definitely wasn't D'tok. This construct had blue eyes and a feminine voice, far different from the stuttering male voice of D'tok.

Not hesitating at the request, Izual moved forward with an angelic grace until her reached the construct, standing over it easily.

"I am ready to aid my friend. What and where is this gate?"

It was a long journey, but the swordmaster known as Lance Crusade finally arrived in the blasted wasteland known as Velmora. It had been many years since Lance's last visit to this once beautiful nation, a memory of which he had long wanted to put into his past. I have finally returned to a visit with my past. A visit with a sense of destiny and foreboding. I should feel a sense of euphoria for my return, but all I feel is a sense that I will die finally in this blasted land... Years earlier, Lance had foolishly decided to aid the vampire, Kain Irenicus in his recovery of his land from a usurper, an action, although Lance did not regret committing, it taught him a lesson of caution. Lance Crusade had nearly died in the palace of the ruler of the Psi and only luck had allowed him to survive.

As his long hair blew lightly through the air, Lance slowly tied a black bandanna around his head, emulating his black clothing. As the bandanna was completely tied, a silverly light appeared and swiftly, an ancient Chinese character for "sword" appeared on the front. As Lance's ruggedly handsome face looked over the wasteland, in remembrance of an action long past, his thoughts raced.

With a tired shake of his head, Lance's eyes slowly ate in the details of the land, noting a landscape little changed from the past. Velmora... A beautiful for what has been a beautiful country... Alas, it will never reclaim its former glory and power... Continuing to shake his head, Lance continued on his way as he searched the wasteland for his old friend.

With a weary sigh, Lance began to trudge towards the main keep, hoping to find Kain there, a hope that would finally bring a new disaster to the man who was destined to die many times.

The newly created construct walked a few careful steps forward, getting it's balance in this newly found physical form. Cloak felt highly restricted, this new form not having the dynamics or abilities of her previous one. Within that arcane material, she could cross other realms and use abilities which Kain did not entirely know of. But in this form....she felt hideous. But such emotions were cast aside, Kain took precidence over her concerns. Within the form of arcane metal and alien wood, she explained the past events which had shaped Velmora.

"Kain...as you well know, was not always a vampire. He was mortal once, as all....most vampires are." the construct said, correcting herself when she thought of Kain's sire, Ravelyn, the angelic vampire, now since changed again into a form more like Kain's, a angelic demon, not that Kain knew about that.

"As the ruler of Velmora, Kain ruled justly with the assistance of many. All rulers called upon one infinate resource of wisdom and experiance. The Seer......the Psi's greatest asset and downfall eventually. The Seer....The Seer are a group of dead spirits, the spirits of fallen Psi, who have forgone thier own afterlifes to guide the future generations into greater prosperity and magnificants. Thus, eternally bound and chained to the walls of the Hall, down below in the Abyss as it is known now, where Kain is now, the spirits of the dead councilled the living, and did so effectively for four hundred years. There was only one spirit....one spirit which was different amoungst the Seer, for that spirit had a different task." The construct said vaguely, obviously remembering something. She walked slowly to the great wooden doors covered with ancient and powerful runes, and opened them revealing the ruins of Velmora before them. It seemed that the throne room and the library were the only intact buildings.

"None of this matters! It does not matter. All you need know that we face the Seer, the spirits of the dead who wish to destroy Kain for his actions when he ruled...and did not. The lower realms are the scared underground of Velmora, scared due to the war which occoured between Kain and his father, Xzar Brightblade in the first Great War, the second War obviously claiming both men's life." The construct said.

"Come....we most travel through the ruins to reach the Gate...the method to which the underworld was sealed..."

The construct began walking, staff in hand.

The world was a black and omnious one, one full of fear now for Kain. He had risen from his deep sleep from the trial he had endured to find that he was in a state that he had never been in his existance. He felt completely hallow, as if he did fall down that his entire body would shatter pathetically. His brown eyes could barely see through the darkness of his own mind and that of the underworld.

Up on his feet, stumbling like a zombie through this dead land, Kain proceeded on, lost and confused. And....afraid. Fear was not common to Kain, but he had certainly felt it's grim touch. He had felt it many times as a mortal, he had felt it as Qui thrust his sword into his chest and cursed him in the worst possible way. He had felt it as the Brightblade exploded into his chest, attempting to drain his soul.

But this fear...this fear was constantly crawling through him. He felt sick in his stomach and weak due to it, and Kain could not explain why he felt like it. He just felt compeltely awful and terrorfied now. And those wraiths, the Seer were the cause. What had they done, Kain wondered with frustration.

There....a light. A small, beam of sunlight....Kain began to stumble towards it, occasionally tripping over a crack in the dried and dead ground, or a small rock littering this place. When Kain did fall, it took him a long while to summon the strength to get up again, to overcome his weakness and fear to get up. He just wanted to sleep....to be rid of this pain and suffering which was within his viens....but he would not allow himself.

Alone in this dark place....Kain carried on for the sake of carrying on, as he had done in his darker moments before.


Finally, after some time, Kain collapsed into the small patch of sunlight which he had been walking towards. Kain's eyes strangely did not sting from the sunlight's touch. He had been experiancing the effects of sunlight, water and various other things which would normally harm a vampire. It would not kill him, but it would cause him irritation and harm. Sunlight made his skin crawl and his eyes to become irritated. His thoughts would be harder to summon, rationality seemed a distant concept.

This this light was not from the sun. Sunlight had never touched these grounds.

The light was in fact, from a surviving light rune upon the ceiling of this endless world of the underground. It still flickered, one of the last runes in this place still working since it's desertion. In Velmora's high day, and before the wars, this place had billions of these runes which bathed the place in soft warm light which allowed crops to be grown. Artifical day and night were implimented for the Psi who chose to live down below here....

And the reasons for living down below were many, due to the lower region's resources, crops and buildings. The greatest library and meuseam stood down here, testaments to the Psi's knowledge of magic and the world's secrets. Many secret to which were lost in the wars....few would remember now.

Kain lyed down, in the artifical sunlight...to rest and gather his thoughts on what had happened, and what to do. He did not know where Cloak was, and that thought disturbed him greatly. He felt utterly alone....although he did know that Cloak would still be acting for his good if it had left....but what if the Seer destroyed it? Hell, Kain did not exactly know what Cloak was entirely, it had been given to him when he began his short and young rule at 24.

Kain was now 27.

Alone with his thoughts, Kain was about to think of an explaination to some of this, when a voice came from behind him, a hauntingly familar voice.

"So here you are, finally, Kain Brightblade, my failed son who sold his soul to darkness, the vampire who destroyed his nation for his own selfish greed on life, come here, for the final punishment for crimes you have commited."


Xzar, his father and previous ruler of Velmora, was standing behind the horrifed Kain....

Whiptail followed the construct at a safe distance. Opposite the saber was a handgun, his old M1911. Eight sterling-silver jacketed bullets resided within, with two clips of seven each to the weapon's left. He was prepared to deal with whatever lay below, including the construct itself.

His natural suspicion was undoubtedly what had kept him alive for so long, he was not about to let the company of allies dull his instincts...

"Where is this gate?"

Izual nodded and began following the construct. He still wasn't quite sure who this conscious being was, but he now recognised the energy. He had seen it many times, flowing through the cloak on Kain's back.

The angel's blade appeared once again. Although he trusted the construct to be friendly, he had no idea what else may be buried in the ruins of Velmora.

The construct walked at a large pace, much the same way that Kain did. It was noticable that in the design of this construct, it held the characteristics and features of Kain. The feet had two digits, and her hands had three digits, two fingers and one thumb. The design had obviously been carefully thought out at the exact nature in which it was built, and much love and attention had gone into the preparation. An obsessive over his work, Kain ensured that what he started, he finished to satisfaction.

"The gate is some time north of this place. Through the main city center, to the temple district. Velmora is laid out in a very intreging pattern, a pattern which was designed to allow the viens of the world's energies through it. I believe Feng Shui is an apt comparison, although Ki is replaced with magical energies. The Psi were born and forged in magic, the reason why Kain has such remarkable abilities. Although....he does not honestly know what he is entirely." The construct said softly and rather mysterously. Her tone seemed to reflect the quiet reflection that was demanded of these ruins around them. The streets bore the memories of many, including Cloak itself.

Many souls still lingered in this eerie place, the buildings half filled with raw memories and emotions, many happy, many sad, all with the quiet reverance that they would never be again.

The group proceeded on, in the quiet light of the moon for guidance.

(OOC Can one of you ask what the group should call the construct, a name perhaps? And to what nature the construct is, who exactly the spirit is. Just try and act realisticly to this whole thing, if that is possible. I just ask that this is not made into a follow the trial, but an interactive and interesting story where my characters develop more, namely Cloak in this case. Thanks, I know I must sound patronising....)

---

Kain was not satisfyed with the past.
And neither was Xzar.

The rubble of the surface and the deadness below resulted in a bitter statemate of wills, the dead not remaining dead, the past not remaining in the past.

After all, it is the past which affects the presant and thus, future.

And Kain's past kept on catching up with him.

Time to finish the race.


Xzar's appearance was that was he was in life. Tall, proud and powerful with an air of wisdom and knowledge around the character. He was greatly like Kain, but nothing like Kain's mother.

Kain never knew his mother.

"Wha-"

Kain's words were lost as Xzar punched him in the head his gloved hand smashing into Kain's forehand sending him tumbling away onto the ground with a subtle thud which echoed dimly into the endless abyss of the cavern. The affectable and unphasable Xzar walked over very slowly and calmly, his massive dark blue cloak only adding to his indominatable presance.

"It would seem that both of us have found a way to cheat death. Although....you are not alive anymore Kain." Xzar said with a half amused tone, his deep voice chilling to Kain. "We cannot cheat destiny. All souls are bound to fate."

Kain let out a wheeze from the blow to his head, the pain throbbing through his body. There was something terribly wrong about all of this. Was this a nightmare? An apparition of Xzar come to haunt him? Xzar couldn't be alive....

But Xzar was as real as the pain which was within Kain's souless body as Xzar booted Kain's doubled over body with his heavy feet. A gasp came from Kain as he felt his body complaining.

Kain saw Xzar's hand come down to his body to pick him up and tried to resist. Try to push him away with his taloned hands, try and remember a spell or something to help him now. But nothing happened. His hand remained limp by his side, and his vast knowledge of magic was locked away. Kain was completely helpless as Xzar calmly grabbed Kain's throat and lifted him up to his level, the two staring at one another, one filled with frustration, disbelief and confusion, the other a calm calcuated satisfaction in this orchestrated set of events.

"But....now you have no soul Kain. Your destiny cannot be completed. Your efforts have all be for naught."

Xzar squeezed harder on Kain's throat, Kain's eyes barely seeing Xzar's hard stare of retribution.

"Know this Kain....that I could destroy your pathetic shell right now. But I don't, because it suits me that you don't. Know that....and decay." Xzar hissed and dropped Kain to the floor.

Xzar walked away calmly into the darkness, as Kain tried to make sense of it all....what was Xzar talking about...had he truelly lost his soul to those wraiths, the Seer?

"I will leave you with them now Kain." Xzar's said, his voice far away now as he walked from Kain to the endless darkness of the underworld.

Kain faded into unconciousness once more...the world and that light fading from his tierd brown eyes...his ears only softly hearing and recognsing other voices.....


"What is that........"

Bump!

Walking through the abandoned streets of the city, Zan was getting nervous. He'd never really liked citites to begin wth, and abandoned cities that were probably haunted were even worse. Looking carefully at each of the buildings, he was waiting for more of those wraiths to come out.

Looking at their new guide, Zan decided he really wasn't satisfied with the knowledge they had been given. First, this thing needed a name. "Hey, you," he said clumsily "Do you have a name?"

Without waiting for a response, he continued his interrogation. " Also, why haven't these "seers" attacked us again? They have to know we're coming for them. Are they waiting for us?"

"It looks like the time for the Typhoon Struggle has come," Lance stated quietly as he gazed down upon the blasted city. With a tired shake of his head, Lance continued to talk, stating the situation for himself. "This land can be restored, but in doing so, it will only delay the inevitability of its destruction. This land is doomed as is its people. Not even a god can prevent the damnation that will come. Kain Irenicus. A name that more than the damnation that people say it means. Perhaps he can undo the damage that he has wrecked upon this land..."

There was a faint click as Whiptail opened the breech on his handgun, checking for a round inside... It glimmered faintly, a cross etched into its surface. The weapon clicked again, louder this time, as the slide came forward...

"Indeed... I remain vigilant, yet I don't hear or smell a single thing..."

Sigrun followed the construct, also wondering if it was another illusionary form of Cloak, Kain's mysterious possession. He wasn't quite sure as to what Cloak was, and at the moment didn't give that much thought. As far as he could tell, this...construct was harmless, for now. Yet, he, as well as Whiptail didn't trust anything in the world, save for very few individuals.

And this construct wasn't one of them.

Sigrun surveyed the dead lands surrounding the group, silently lamenting over its death.

Such a waste of intellect, grace, beauty. Alas, very few races can find the delicate balance to live harmoniously with the Earth. What can take years to grow and build is also so easily destroyed in a matter of minutes...

Strange words cut through Sigrun's thoughts momentarily as he spoke of the destruction. Sigrun turned about to search for the source but failed to find it. It had seemed to float upon the wind, yet, strangely, there was very little breeze.

Sigrun sighed quietly as he continued to engage in his analysis...

Whoever it is doesn't realize is that Kain was destined to be a destructive being, whether he wanted to be one or not. However, it is quite possible that he can be taught to love and nurture the land and its inhabitants...only then will he be able to deflect the destructive power within himself. And by my blood, I will give my every effort to assist Kain Shentavo...

(OOC: Um, Tarlachia... I haven't entered the city, my character is on a hill overlooking the city...)

OOC: Oops...sorry, edited for ya.

Kain was drifting endlessly in a whirlpool of emotions and memories. Everything was so muddled, so....fragmented. Nothing made sense, it was all riddles that he could not understand. The sights....the sounds.....the feelings....it was too much, Kain couldn't stand it. He held his head in this limbo.....tucked up into a ball....

Leave me alone, I don't want to go outside today....

---

"Hold them back! God damn it!"

Another explosion threatened the little cave's ceiling into crumbling under it's bullying words, but the ceiling had backbone today.

"Carter, get in there and act as defence, Leon, use the flas-"

The words were drowned out as arcane missles were launched at the rebel group, hitting all around them. The explosion threatened the lives of these mortals more than the last assault from these....things. The underdark held many twisted monsters now, and these three mortals were trying thier best to resist.

"Cernd! We cannot hold them!"

"Yes...yes we can damn can!"

The mortal force sent back another counter-attack....


Kain could only hear the drowning noises. He had no idea where he was....no clue to what was going on. The voices were alien, echoed and muffled to his vampiric ears. He felt familar energies being summoned however, energies which had not been used here for a long while....at least to Kain's knowledge.

Kain slipped into unconciousness again....

Just....just leave me alone....I'm too tierd.

"I don't....don't honestly have a name...I don't know. Maybe I do need a name..." The construct said rather daunted by the question. The idea of a name was rather alien, she had always been called Cloak. But every minute she was within this body, she felt....felt like a new person, not just another spirit....

"As for the Seer...I don't know why they have not attacked again. Maybe they are just.....occoupied with Kain....or maybe they are planning something. I don't know. I don't....understand anymore. It has all gotten too much. Kain is so very tierd of it all. That is the reason he came back....we came back." The construct said somewhat with a hint of dispair in her voice.

She seemed to be becoming less of a robot and more of a person it seemed....she carried on, looking at the ground, leading the way.

(We will find the gate soon, just introduce your characters into the group if you are going to. Also I apologise full heartedly for the SHITTINESS of these posts. I might be forced to take a break, I have a lot of things going on at the moment that are making my writing bullshit.)

Taking a final look at the blasted city below him, Lance Crusade shook his head and closed his eyes, his mind poring over the landscape slowly experiencing the pain and agony suffered by the inhabitants of this once beautiful land. Shuddering under the weight of the experience, Lance slowly dropped to his knees, his countenance shattered, as he grieved for the dead of Velmora. The people of this land has suffered much for Kain's choices. Yet Kain is not evil. It has only been in his choices that he has turned to evil. Kain must be turned back to the right path, to make the right choices... And my existence will find itself a new purpose.

With a wan smile, Lance rose from the ground, his mind returned to normal. Flexing his muscles, Lance looked up at the skies and frowned. Closing his eyes briefly to locate the auras in the area, Lance discovered several unidentified beings in the city below. Smiling inwardly to himself, Lance leapt into the air, a powerful jump that sent Lance flying over the city. With his keen eyes finding the source of the aura, Lance descended from the air, landing on the ground, his knees bending slightly.

Rising completely from the ground, Lance closed his eyes. These are not any ordinary beings. I must be cautious and prepared for the impossible and the inevitable... In a hard voice, Lance challenged the beings before him. "Who are you? Why are you in this blasted land of Velmora?"

"Perhaps, you should take up a name that is best suited to describe yourself, such as your personality, history, whatever..." Sigrun offered as he kept his incredible calmness about himself. It seemed that nothing bothered him, nothing at all.

Sigrun kept his pace to a simple stride all the while keeping his eyes to the side as he watched the construct continue to walk along.

In the back of Sigrun's mind, an elven song began to sing softly, bringing further comfort and peace to him...

The voice of earlier suddenly called out to their group, causing Sigrun to turn and face the being challenging them. Yet it seemed that Sigrun was unhindered by the being.

A magical one... Sigrun thought to himself as he sensed the arcane aura around this one.

"Identify yourself first stranger! This is not your land to roam within and demand as you please!" Sigrun answered with a daring tone. If necessary, he would battle this one, but only if absolutely necessary.

The land has suffered enough from war...

(OOC: Okay... Tarlachia, your character is an elf right?)

Lance Crusade opened his eyes and gazed harshly the being that had challenged him. This person is no mere mortal. Damn my impatience... I must rectify this misunderstanding... With a soft smile that belied his uneasiness, Lance replied, "You ask me who I am? I am the manifestation of the fury and anger of the gods. The wielder of the forces of nature. And yet I am a man of gentleness and intelligence. The hand of the god of wisdom and the arts guides me. The power of the gods give me strength. For my name is Lance Crusade."

Narrowing his eyes, Lance continued, "You say that this is not my land? I once strived to save this land, helping Kain in his attempt at retaking what was rightfully his."

Shaking his head, Lance closed his eyes, tears slowly coursing down his face. As his eyes opened again, Lance, in a painful voice that was a manifestation of his agony and suffering, said, "Failure was the result of that action. Failure. Thus Velmora was destroyed. Trapped within the throes of the magic utilized by its people. You. You question my right for being in this land. What is your right?"

Sigrun noted the change in demeanor of Lance Crusade. In response, he did so as well, knowing now that this one was not a threat. He could see as well as feel the agony that Lance felt over the land's demise.

He suffers for the land as well...

"My name is Sigrun. I am of the high-Elves of Lorien Forest. Some knew me as Maximus Destroi in a previous life, a vampire and deliverer of death to my many enemies. Yet, my destiny has not been fulfilled, thus I have returned. I am a fellow ally and former student of Kain Shentavo. However, I cannot claim as long a relation with him as you."

Sigrun reshifted Lanta, his Elven sword to a more comfortable position, never breaking his calm look upon Lance Crusade.

Whiptail's focus shifted from his handgun to the newcomer, or rather, an old aquaintance in a new land...

"Crusade... It has been a while... Why have you joined our motley band?"

Following Sigrun's lead, Zan treated the new stranger kindly, not even bothering to draw his sword.
"Hello Lance, I am called Zan. I just kinda ended up here. Kain was taken to some sort of cavern below this land, and we're looking to find him."

Lance brightened a little when he heard the name Maximus. Just as he was about to reply, two of the other beings spoke up. Lance immediately recognized the first as the famed Dark Argonian warrior, Whiptail. His feelings buoyed by the familiarity with two of his new companions, Lance smiled, acknowledging Zan's comment with a brief nod.

Clearing his throat, Lance bowed deeply, a sign of deep respect for both the reincarnation of Maximus and for the Argonian, Whiptail. In a friendly voice meant to placate his companions, Lance said, "I am here of course to assist in metamorphsis of these lands back to its former beauty." Smiling, he continued, "And also to collect a little debt that has been owed for some time..."

"Debt? What debt is this that you speak of.....oh...wait.....there is something....something wrong....something deeply wrong!" The construct grew terribly concerned, horrorfied. It walked as if walking out of a car accident, it could not believe this....this thing that it now realised.

The construct staggered forward...to the center of the city...to the exact center of the city. At the center, there were four roads from each compass point, all converging to this single place, a circle encrusted completely with runes.....but on further inspection the runes had faded completely in many places, broken and now become useless.

The construct could not believe it, utter confusion reigned within her mind. She walked over, in utter disbelief of this event. It was unprecidented. She fell to her knees, her hands running over the runes....her hand actually shaking. She felt something which others could not. And that was the point. No-one else felt anything that should be felt....she did not feel it.

"How....how could this be? This isn't possible? No! There must have been signs, we must have seen it! Unless it was already....no.....no!" The construct howled in frustration to itself, and slammed it's fist into the runed circle in utter rage, her glowing blue eyes burning red for a moment.

"This....this is the gate....and it....it has been opened! Opened!" The construct cried out in anguish as she hammered the floor again, with some sizable dent coming from her metal and wooden hand. She shook with an uncontrollable mixture of rage, saddness and frustration.

Sigrun turned as the construct began to pound upon the gate and wailing in anger, or fear...

His eyes narrowed as he realized the danger.

"What should we do then?" he asked as he scanned the area around them, all senses alert. This wasn't good, especially since the construct was screaming its bloody head off.

Lance hastily followed the construct as it moved to the center of the city. When the construct began to gasp out something about the gate being opened, Lance's eyes narrowed, as he began to glance around, hoping to identify potential enemies. With a sharp curse, Lance closed his eyes and folded his arms across his chest as he silently prayed to himself. Opening his eyes again, Lance slammed two fingers of his left hand to the end of the sheathed sword strapped to his back. With a burst of light, the sword flew out of the sheathe and landed in Lance's right hand, its brilliant golden blade flashing dangerously as it reflected the little light present in the area.

Looking at the screaming construct Zan swore quietly. If this gate had already been opened, then Kain may not even be still inside. The positive side was that he hadn't sensed any powerful magic at work, and if his companions had, they'd kept quiet about it. This meant that if Kain was gone, his abductor couldn't have gone too far. Of course, they'd have to go check underground first, anyway. Zan drew his sword, and it glowed green, but far more faintly than it had during the fight with the wraiths. No danger nearby, for now.

Izual had kept quiet upon noticing the stranger, Lance. It appeared that others knew him, yet Izual didn't trust any of the others. He remained under the dark cloak, hiding his angelic form from the newcomer yet keeping his blade in a tight grip, obvious to all.

There was something about this situation Izual didn't like. He knew how spirits plotted and schemed when they had a mind to. They never made anything easy, everything was always covered. This sense of something wrong was heigtened when the construct began pounding upon the ground, obviously distraught at something not quite right.

He managed to pick up the gate had been opened through the hysterical screaming. Izual didn't know what the significance of this gate was, but it was obviously something of importance. Sword now in both hands, Izual remained silent but at the ready.

Kain woke to a confusing world. A world of complex spells which he remembered almost, they seemed to be at the very root of his early days...the runes of his people flowed over his eyes as they opened very slightly to gaze the darkness of this underground world.

His body felt as if it was hallow, filled up with some sickly liquid lead. Not boiling lead...a cold, chilling lead that refused his body movement. But Kain's mind was slowly bringing's itself from the precibise of the decent to which it had fallen, slowly crawling back to the surface. A insatable rage filled within Kain, one of frustration and confusion. He hated this....this weakness, this inability to do anything. Xzar had cast him down like a dog.

"Look, it moves! Quick, reinberse the ward, contain him in spellhold!", a voice commanded, as Kain felt more of the Psi magic flow over his body. His green flesh....slowly began to grow blue in protest...alarming the three Psi overlooking and containing this vampric demon, unaware to who they were trying to contain.

Roaring from the cold comotose state which the three Psi tried to contain him in, Kain threw himself upwards, utterly terrorfying the resistant members around him. They leapt back in shock of thier spells being broken and that this creature had burst backwards so suddenly. Kain was like the other creatures of the darkness...yet strangely different, both in apperance in behaviour as they were about to discover.

Bursting backwards from the cold slab of stone, much like an opperating table, Kain smashed the containing straps which covered his body which were arranged much like a web pattern. The runes which had been cast upon the table Kain knew and understood how they operated, for he had used them as a mortal and still did to an extent.

Leaping towards the wall which he was facing, backing against it in defence to these unknown people, Kain looked at those who had tried to cast such spells against him. His suspicions, however unbelievable....were true.

Standing in front him....armed with staff and arcane abilities....were

"Psi...how have you survived!" Kain said in astonished amazement at these three rugged mages, utterly covered from head to toe in complicated rune structures, structures which were highly potent indeed.

"It speaks!" One of the Psi, a bald man wearing pale purple robes with deep and old inscriptions written in the magic language of the Psi, said with equalled astonishment. The creatures they faced usually never spoke nothing more than a grim hiss of promised torture. This was most unexpected...and highly concerning. The three war experianced Psi faced on with grim preparation of this.....creature.

"I thought all of u...you died!" Kain said, still keeping against the wall. He was obviously not believing what he saw, and yet it was true. Before him, three people who had survived being contrained within this hell, a deathland with no hope which had been restricted due to the evil which had spawned and inhabited this place after the first great war. The terrible price of victory, and the terrible secret which most Psi tried to desperately forget and get on with thier lives....that there might be people still below in that place, unable to escape...

There obvious were people who still survived in this hell. And they were hardly in the mood for pleasantries.

"Silence beast! Explain yourself, least you feel worse than death!" Another threatened, his silver hair cut short for practicality, and one of his ears obviously ripped off in some combat. In his hand was a warhammer which was runed as much as his skin. His blood red eyes sternly considered this creature in front of him with much caution.

It was what had kept him alive for so long.

Kain raised his eyebrow at the threat, and kept to the wall. He still felt little of his former power, the spells that were usually available to his advanced mind were still locked frustrating away, with bars that Kain did not understand. The hollowness still remained, and Kain felt highly vunerable and weak.

He felt all the vunerabilties of being mortal again, only with far worse practicalities...without a soul, Kain could not cast his usual magic!

"Listen...I....I know you will find this hard to believe....and I don't expect you to...to forgive me, or listen to what I have to say...but...but I am Kain. Kain...Kain Brightblade. I have changed much..." Kain said very slowly, and almost apologeticly. He seemed ashamed and filled with regret. He looked at the three who were obviously taking this new infomation in with utter disbelief...talking to one another.

You believe him?

Well....I can't tell? His soul is....is not there! Or very well hidden to my senses!

I cannot detect it either....seems like a demon trying to trick us.

But demons don't usually seem this way....

I have an idea.


Kain stood there, weak and now holding his side. That action obviously took it out of him, it had relied on a strength that was not there anymore. He had lost something of his unstoppable determination....lost something of his confidence and power....Kain was now feeling geniune fear.

The three Psi walked slowly towards him...weapons in hand, ready to attack....Kain closed his eyes, in desperation, trying to call upon his spells.

Nothing came forth to his mind. No rush of knowledge. No runes available. No ability to call upon the Brightblade, that was lost now....

"Please...just listen...." Kain said meekly, reaching out with his hand.

The Psi came forward, the battle hardened group taking thier usual positions. The one on the right, holding his glowing silver staff, full of arcane energies. The woman on the right, holding a long sword and a cystal shield. And the center...who was the closest, those red eyes promising death to this creature, held his hammer which hummed dreadfully, in midswing towards Kain....

Standing up from her frustrations, the construct looked at the center of the circle of dead runes, an artifact which once was absolutely the most powerful ward and rune circle that had ever been inscribed into any Psi structure or item. It's magic called upon deep knowledge, a knowledge which many Psi died tried to summon and use. The price was high for containing the evil to the lower levels...

Standing within the center of the circle, with a grim determination upon her metal and wood face, thier eyes glowing an intense blue which were unreadable on what she was feeling, she stood.....preparing herself for a moment.

She sparked into life raising her hands and chanting the Psi words which had been used to trigger the immense chain of runes which lay about the place. The strange spidary words seemed to make the air charged with raw arcane energies, and her body became absolutely charged with the power of the area. Those aware to the shifts of magical energies detected that she was tapping into the four sections of Velmora...a tangable line of a river of raw flowing magic reaching her through the circle. She held her head in both hands....as if she just recieved a headache...and tried again, recieving a harsher blow.

She was recieving an overload of energies. In this physical embrace, she lacked the ability to do certain techniques. Her energy form which she previous could have allowed her to cast highly potent spells, spells which she had rarely called upon.

In fact...she did not really know how she knew about the Psi magic. She had always assumed she had learned it from Kain and her former masters...but....thinking about it...maybe she already did know it from before I even had a master.....did I ever have no master?

The energies surged through her body again, lifting her off the ground slightly, hands outstreached. Her eyes glowed a powerful blue, as if her body was beoming a supercharged rod of power, the areas of her body seeming to glow from within. Afterall, she was inhabited a form consisting and made from magic.

She fell to the floor now...slowly but surely. She seemed defeated, unable to perform the task. She was upon her knees, looking sullenly at the ground.

"I can't do it...I just....I just can't.....I...I'm sorry Kain...I am not strong...strong enough..." The construct said softly and with the most sincere and heartfelt apology that anyone had ever heard. She felt that she had totally failed Kain, not being able to perform the tasks she had been set.

Lance Crusade frowned as he saw the construct walk to the center of the runes that had originally guarded the gateway. His brows knit with confusion, Lance watched as the construct paused and with growing realization, understood the construct's gathering of energy. His eyes widened as he felt what the construct was trying to do. Lance wanted to scream that the task he was attempting to perform was virtually impossible for one not versed in the divine arts of magical manipulation. But before he could warn the construct, it acted. As Lance watched, the construct gathered the magical energy from the four corners of Velmora, channeling it straight into its being, quickly reaching a level of power that Lance had not seen in many years. Grimacing, as he felt the pull of the construct's gathering of magic, Lance took a step back, raising his sword slightly as he maintained his attention upon the construct.

But then, the construct dropped back to the ground. It was clear that it had failed. With a shake of his head, Lance sighed a world weary sigh as he lowered his sword back to his side and watched the construct whimper about his failure. Shaking his head with disgust, Lance stepped forward and said in calming voice meant to placate the construct, "The task that you attempted, I can see, was no meager task. You managed to acumulate an amount of magic beyond what most beings can accure. What are you trying to accomplish with such hideous amounts of magic?"

"I...I am trying to....to open this place. It is...is open in a sense, but think of it as a door which has been unlocked. The door still is shut, and must be opened. The feat of unlocking this was incredable alone...but to open the door is intensely hard, it had never been done, nor was it intended to do so...." The hopeless construct said, sitting on the circle of runes in desperate thought on what to do.

"Wha..."

The construct stood up and got away from the the Gate as fast as she could, scrabbling away. Her eyes focused on the center of the thing...which...seemed to be dissolving slowly but surely.

"That was not my doing though!" The construct said with something of an expression of suprise and horror as she realised what was going on.

The outside had not opened it to get in.
The insiders had opened it to get out.


A wraith form floated out of the rune pit....trapped within the place for so long. It's chilling form hissed a single word.

Free....

(OOC There will be around ten wraiths which will flow out of there, which are, and I stress this, very very difficult. Each one of these will be a challenge for the group, so I suggest that you pair up with someone to fight these things. These are not these cretures that will be killed with a spell or two, these are battle engines, able to take the punishment and dish out tons of damage. They are expert spell casters, and highly likely to dispel any spell of your own. That said, they are vunerable to the usual turn undead spells, but they cannot be destroyed or weakened too much by holy spells like that, only extremely powerful. This battle should be a struggle, not just the group plowing through them. Thanks. When one causes physical damage, again the coldness comes over, and magical weapons when they hit these creatures will make the user's arm feel numb and eventually become useless to use in battle.)

(Carter Leon Cernd)


The hammer swung down, and Kain could do nothing about it. His skin did not flare up in defence against the magic. His hands did not attempt to parry or twist the hammer away. His eyes just dully accepted the blow as another attack on him, an attack against him which he felt justifiable.

After all....Kain felt he had caused all of this.

Seeing these people made him feel the accusations of his people against him stronger than before. His defenses were feeble, shameful. Kain closed his eyes, a tear coming from his tired eyelids. He expected the killing blow to this body....his soul not inhabiting it anymore.

I am sorry...I am coming Daniella.

But the blow never came. The hammer stopped before the fatal connection, and the hammer was put by the Psi's side.

Kain opened his eyes slowly opened to wonder what had happened.....

"No demon then. Or at least not an intelligent one, one that would attempt to save it's hide. You are most strange. Explain....explain your claim to being that...person." The Psi with a hammer said calmly. It was obvious that he was still ready to strike him down...but he was giving Kain a chance.

Mercy.

Kain spoke....spoke softly, but the words that he spoke the Psi had not heard or imagined they would hear ever again. In the language of thier people, a most complex and emotiotive language, one which could not be learned by most people. The words were linked with magic, and it was far far more rich than normal languages, visual images and exact feelings coming into being.

"I am the one who sealed this place. I am the one who ruled when Xzar attacked, twice. I am the one....who caused the destruction above. I am the one who is a traitor to what he swore. I am....Kain....Kain Brightblade....known now as Kain Shentavo....I'm...I'm so...so sorry..."


And with the being in a state of nothing gained absolution for his sins, imagined or otherwise.

"Kain...for what crimes you have commited, we have forgiven you. The hatred which...which suffocated our people was not of thier own. The Seer has gone insane, corrupted the people. It corruped Jarrid, tainted his mind and caused this. If you had not come back to the surface, which we all knew of due to the arcane mirrors which allowed us to see the carnage above....we knew that what you did...had to be done. Kain...we need to get out of this place. Would you help us?"

Kain smiled as the weight of years left his shoulders.

Izual hadn't really been paying too much attention to the group as the construct wailed about its failure. Not long afterwards, his higher senses flared to life with alert, something of magic was happening at the gate.

Blade up at the ready, Izual layed his eyes upon the form of yet another wraith, one of these Psi ghosts. The angel remained still as he watched with caution, waiting for the creature to act. The previous battle had left Izual wary of these creatures. It was obvious that whilst competent, the previous wraiths were not the most highly skilled of these Psi out there.

Whatever this new ghost may be, Izual stood at the ready.

The sword in Zan's hand flared bright green the instand the first wraith appeared. A quick appraisal told him that these wraiths were not going to be as easy to get rid of as the ones they'd fought in the hall. That being said, Zan also figured that these were here to guard the gate. The only way to Kain was through them.

"Sigrun, Let's take the one on the left. Aim low, I'll try to keep him crossed up in melee combat. Use something nasty, you may only get one shot. Oh, and try not to hit me."

Zan charged at the wraith he'd indicated, holding his weapon arm behind him. He hoped he'd get lucky, and be able to take this thing on his own, but then again, if he wanted to be lucky, he would have served a god of luck not of nature.

With reflexes honed to near perfection, Lance Crusade leapt back away from the runes, his eyes widening with horror as he swiftly identified the beings that sprang forth. They were wraiths, Lance saw as he stood one meters away from the runes as he watched ten wraiths appear from the ground. Bloody difficult creatures to handle. There's going to be trouble... With a shake of his head to clear the pessimism from his mind, Lance lifted his sword from his side.

With a thoughtful smirk, Lance slowly began to whirl the weapon, twirling around him in a defensive technique not seen for many years. As the golden Sword of Cala flashed through the air, it whistled, an eerie sound that chilled to bone. Narrowing his eyes in concentration, Lance prepared his ultimate technique. With a yell, Lance released the Sword of Cala from his hand, allowing it to continue spinning around him. Suddenly with the fury of an angered dragon, the Sword of Cala seemingly disappeared, replaced by a large number of swords gathered around Lance flying about, forming a barrier. With the Infinity Swords Technique in place, I will have little to fear... Slamming his palms together, Lance raised his head to gaze up at the sky. Soon, his palms began to smolder with a flame that grew with intensity with each passing second. To any observers, it seemed that Lance was unaffected by the fire, a deadly fire that was the fire of the dragons of old. With a roar of fury, Lance released the fire from his hands, extending his arms and sending his palms to each side of his body, forming a cross.

With a roar of anticipation and ready for the battle, Lance lowered his head and turned his attention back to the wraiths. With a smile of what seemed to be arrogance, Lance stood his ground, a cold fury building within his body as he called upon ever ability that he possessed. In a chillingly biting voice, Lance leered the wraiths, "Come ye, hellspawn. Your master is here to teach you a lesson..."

"Your lesson here is that we are neither hellspawn, and ye are nor a master! We know of your spells, because Kain knows of them fool!" The wraiths hissed in a certain victory...as thier powerful dispels crawled out.

The chain of arcane runes sprant into being, coming forth from the wraith's sleeves, a great glowing purple chain of complex runes. The magic seemed to make the air charged with the intensity of these power, and what it could inflict.

They also engaged Izual, another two which broke away from the group. They launched some sort of physical attack, a launching of physical shards of bone...along with an arcane blast of dark energies which threatened to tear the flesh off bone.

The chains wrapped around the blades that Crusade had brought. The effect of such a powerful were two fold, to dispel that baneful spell which surronded Crusadel's blades which flew about. But...such things could not be dispelled, only held in place. And that is precisely what the chains did, wrap themselves around the swords and freeze them in place, making them simple stationary obsticals. The wraiths let go of the chains, as like snakes the rune chains constructed those glowing blades which still tried to break free.

But such an attempt was feeble, for the wraith's knew of the magic to which Kain used and observed and understood. Kain's very soul was a tomb of infomation regarding people, places, things and all things magical to which he had learned. Of course, Kain certainly did not know how to stop those blades, but the combined combination of Kain's knowledge and the wraith's and whoever they served, was a potent database.

In short, the wraith's knew all the battle techniques that Kain had ever observed his companions use, and knew who and what they were dealing with. Signature moves of the group would be anticipated and dealt with easily. Of course, there was one exception to this rule, and that was with Zan. The wraith's knew nothing of Zan. Zan, he fought a lone wraith, a wraith which had no real concept of who he fought. This was someone new...and as such, the wraith did not make any attack, but allowed her opponent to make the first strike....to judge him, to anticipate him and his techniques.

As for the construct...they knew her very well.

So well, that three wraiths had focused thier attacks on her, thier ghoul forms like serpants, leaping to strike after being coiled up for so long. Thier various weapons hummed with that strangwe purple glow that consumed those awful chains which had dispel'd Lance's blades, and now these wraith's attentions came for the construct.

Thier threats were infinately more heartfelt by the wraiths, for they knew this spirit within the body of stone and wood. They knew her very well indeed.

"SHAR! Traitor to the Seer, you are almost worst than Kain! And we know you the best, both in mortal and immortal life! Shar, feel the justice that since the begining of Velmora you have deserved!"


So that is my name...Shar...and I was...was once...Psi?


After all this time, she had been part of this. Fragments of her mortal life came back to her, when Velmora was first founded....she....she had been important then. She had been one of the first....the first to be.....

Shar summoned the fires of her past around her...as she remembered that which she had lost to the binding of the cloak which Kain had worn since Xzar went insane....

A child.

A husband.

A land.

Her people...

What is real? Can someone please explain? What is real? What...what is real...

This...this past fueled her fires of war. Her personality....fragments of it came back to her....it was completely confusing, she was lost within a whirlpool of the present and the past. Flashes of combat...then flashes of the past.

The construct raised a firey blue halo around herself...trying to ward the wraith's away with divine magic.

Shar was holding a staff....she was standing on a field of flowers...poppies. It was beautiful...she was standing next to someone who made everything all right. Everything fine again. He always knew what to do. He was so wise....

What is real? What....what happened?

Shar saw the wraith's glowing synister eyes as they approached closer, dispelling her own spell with ease as they knew everything about her from Kain. Fear crept into Shar's heart...as she tried desperately to summon another spell....something they wouldn't know...deep down...

The past came again....Kain's voice of a conversation not so recently said.

"Cloak...how were you...brought into being? I know so little about yourself."

It was a rare moment that Kain had time to talk.

"I....I...don't know Kain. It doesn't matter. All that matters is...."

Something else.
Shar never asked herself.
Never knew.

What is real? I have lost touch.

The wraiths suffocated her....they seemed all around her, she could not see any light anymore...only thier shaded bodies surronding her. Her spell never came....she felt thier aura of dread around her, as the wraiths took pleasure in killing her slowly. She was helpless, completely alone with no Kain to save her, no Alexander, her husband, to save her. A Psi who founded Velmora...and sent her reluctantly to the chamber to be made into the robe....

The scene replayed...she was standing in front of a stone door....a simple stone door. It was door to the Seer....or at least it would become.

"I...I'm scared....please...I...I'm not strong enough Alex..."

"You'll do...do fine. I love you...and....and I wish there was...was something I could do...but..but the circle has decided......"

"We can do something...please...I don't want to go in there...be...be held forever within something! I don't...don't want lose you....I...I am tierd of being alone."

Tierd of being alone...

"Shar...."

"We...we can run....please Alex...go somewhere else....where...they don't do this! I don't care...anywhere. This place is not...not the promised land....they would not send someone...someone to be held for the...good of the people....they would not force me....please..."

"Please Shar your crying.....come here...."

"I don't fear death....I fear...that fate Alex...don't...don't make me go in there...."


Don't make me. Please don't. Please.



Shar....your right....let's....wait, who are you! Get off her...get off her! No! Shar!

A tumbling of cloaks and a dragging of a young woman...

Alex! No! Get...get off me! Your not protectors of the people! NO! Don't lock me in here....I don't want to be alone....

SHAR! No.....no....get off her Freth, your meant to protect the people!


I am Alexander. That is why I send her into there, to protect those who protect and guide the people.

You monster.....Shar....Shar is a person....a person who I will never see again...never feel her hair....never see her cry! How...how could you! You deserve to be brought to justice for this!

The voices began to fade...

Calm down Alexander. Shar is now within that place...undergoing the change. And....she will always be with you. She will protect you in her new form....and help the people and our nation.

Alexander's words were barely audiable as Shar began to change....be contained...but she heard his words better than any words she had ever heard. Alexander was crying bitter tears as he pounded the door...


Shar....I.....I'm sorry....I'm so....so sorry....




Slowly....after time, I lost my memory? Lost...idenitity within that cloak.....this is real? This is real? Please.....


Then....Shar did something she had not done since she had entered that robe which had been worn by the Psi rulers since the begining of Velmora's founding a thousand years ago. Surronded by the wraiths, wraiths who scorned her for leaving Velmora with Kain, for constantly being a free spirit while the Seer were contained within that awful chamber to guide to people...while Shar guided the ruler and protected him or her...the number of rulers countless. The wraith's of the original people surronded her.....included the man who condemned her....Freth. Freth's eyes were her world....they did not promise death...but a fate worse than it. She spoke....spoke to anyone...anyone at all.






"Help me...."

The booming report of Whiptail's .45 echoed through the empty streets & alleys...

With horror, Lance Crusade heard the wraith speak. The words twisted deep into him as Lance flinched in realization. What the hell!?! That thing said, "We know of your spells, because Kain knows of them fool!" With a growl of frustration, Lance Crusade cursed colorfully. His face contorted with hatred, Lance took a step back and with a swift manipulation of his hands, dissolved his Infinity Swords Technique, revealing the Sword of Cala once more. With blinding speed, the Sword of Cala returned to Lance's right hand.

Shaking his head in disgust, Lance Crusade began to think, his mind attempting to find a solution to the unenviable problem that he found himself in. Ah... Yes. What does Kain know of my abilities. He has witnessed my Infinity Sword Technique along with the Eighteen Techniques of the Xiang Long. This means that they have found a way to defeat both. Damn't. I cannot use my two most powerful techniques...

With a sigh of acceptance, Lance turned his attention back to the wraith. With a smirk, Lance slammed the sword into the ground and raised his right hand to point at the wraith. And suddenly, the entire arm began to shake, a dreadful shake that seemed to make the arm like ten different ones. Wraith, let's see if you can handle this technique... With a smile, Lance picked up the sword and pointed it blade first at the wraith. In a clear voice filled with malice, Lance said, "Come now... Let's dance..." Before he finished, Lance erupted from his position, speeding swiftly towards his opponent...

Sigrun narrowed his eyes as he watcehd the first few wraiths swoop menacingly out of the gate. It seemed that time slowed down as Sigrun's senses went into hyperdrive. Sounds became exceedingly clarified, movements seen as a whole and expressions upon the others' faces and upon the wraiths' own seen as they truly were.

Zan called to him to fight alongside him as he lunged bravely toward one of the wraiths.

That's it...divide and conquer...

Strength in numbers...

Time to turn the tables...

Lanta was in his hand, glowing a strange emerald green as the enscriptions upon the blade glowed yellow-white. A sword meant specifically for demon spirits, but would be more effective nonetheless against these wraiths.

Suddenly Sigrun paused as he eyed the wraith Zan was fighting.

They were Psi wraiths, but more power seemed to emanate from them than the ones earlier. Didn't Kain want to try to save what remained of his people's history, land, culture?

Sigrun whispered to himself, his voice becoming stronger and more clarified to all in area:

"Destruction is not the answer! We are here to work together, to rebuild what has been lost!"

Sigrun went to seclude himself from the entire melee. He stood still, Lanta sheathed and his hands held in front of him in the Elven hand signal of commitment.

If any were to look toward Sigrun, they wouldn't understand, well...except for maybe Lance. Lance's philosophy was similar to his, but had its differences. And it already seemed that Lance had seen defeat in one of his spells, a powerful one, Sigrun noted.

The only one that still had a wild card was Zan.

The rest were in check. The Psi wraith knew all about them, and their abilities. The logical conclusion in Sigrun's mind was to compromise, and hopefully start the wheels of time once more in this forsaken land for the greater good.

An utter feeling of silence and calmness seemed to overcome all other feelings of hate, rage, defense, murder all collumnating into the great horrid feeling of Destruction.

With a powerful voice, Sigrun cried to the winds and the whole world,

"SILENCE! CEASE YOUR COMBAT!"

They also engaged Izual, another two which broke away from the group. They launched some sort of physical attack, a launching of physical shards of bone...along with an arcane blast of dark energies which threatened to tear the flesh off bone.

Izual kept a completely blank face as he watched the two wraiths launch their attacks. Izual did not use signature moves, that was an advantage, these wraiths could not predict exactly what he would do. Not to mention that Kain had not seen Izual in many many years. Izual was a Cherubim now and far stronger than Kain had ever seen. Still, the basics of angelic abilities were similar. Although, his demonic side was now stronger. These wraiths would not find the battle with this angel as easy as Kain's knowledge would foretell.

Waiting until the bones drew closer, Izual merely turned his gaze upon the sharp pieces of living remains. All that remained was dust. The dark energy was another matter. His demonic studies made him familiar with such power and the angel was slightly surprised the wraiths could muster such strength so easily.

Deciding it was best to avoid altogether, Izual seemingly disappeared in a blur and reappeared ten meters to the right. There was no magic involved with such, merely a demonstration of the speed his angelic form allowed. Dropping the grey black cloak once again, Izual spread his wings and revealed his true angelic/demonic form. Surrounded by an aura of cackling darkness and light, Izual turned his glowing eyes upon them, yet didn't attack. They knew about his abilities, it was about time he learned of theirs.

"Yes...I remember it well. I might be able to Cernd. I just might." Kain said quietly, as he felt the silver circle implanted into the wall with great purpose. The metal was still as it had been placed in the second war...a device which sealed this dark underworld, a land of barren wasteland from the surface which seemed much like the same now...only the moon and the sun could cast thier eye upon it.

"But something is wrong Cernd....it is....it is unlocked?" Kain said with puzzledment, as the lock had been broken.

The device was simply a silver circular plate in the wall, with many runes forged into it with great labour. And in the center was a small hole which allowed a blade inside...a very specific blade.

Cernd approached the seal, and felt it himself. His eyes widened as he realised what had just happened.

"You did it Kain! You unlocked it!" Cernd said trumphantly, the first reason to celebrate in a long time. But Kain did not smile, he simply felt the device with the same curiousity.

"No...something is not right. I did not do anything...I would have felt it. It requires the Brightblade to unlock..." Kain said quietly, in thought.

Holding out his right hand into open space, he waited and commanded a thought. But.....nothing happened. The usual command for the Brightblade to appear was not obayed, not even heard by the Brightblade. Kain was in a strange confused state now...the Brightblade was no longer answering his summons.

"This is not good....someone...someone other than me has the Brightblade....that is the only way that the seal could have been unlocked. They must have unlocked it some other way then....but how?" Kain wondered, still touching the seal, feeling the warmth eminating from it.

"We should go Kain....if the seal is open....we should exit this place and come back later if it is your wish." Cernd said, his hammer by his side and his voice gruff. The small group of veterans certainly would follow Kain's lead...but after three years without seeing the sun, being trapped in this hellhole made them very eager to get out and see thier land and be free.

Kain did not have the heart to tell them that thier land had been totally destroyed....he did not know if they knew about the whole state of events.


The group went to what would be the centre of town, where the actual gate was itself. The device which they were at was one of the locks which opened the device. Unknown to Kain and his new found company, the device had been opened by those wraiths and were currently attacking the group above...

"Let's go." Kain instructed, and followed Cernd's lead as he guided Kain, Carter and Leon through these tombs to thier salvation and escape. The three men seemed very eager to get there for obvious reasons, thier hope being restored to them.

Remember the task at hand.

The wraiths seemed to recline and go towards the skies for a moment, considering what to do. Removing themselves from the combat which had not really begun, they floated in mid air. The gunshots from Whiptail's pistol were heard, not that they hit the wraiths as they powered away on astral strength.

Remember the task at hand. Do not fail.

The wraiths recieved the message from thier own Master, and then disperced....towards the east, somewhere.....leaving the group alone for the moment, and a gaping hole in the ground, a result of the wraith's unlocking of the seal.

Shar fell to her knees holding her head with both of her metal and wood hands, hiding from it all. It was too much, she could not handle it. Those things caused utter dread within her...and the shock of knowing her past.

She had not realised the threat had gone until several seconds afterwards, the feeling of dread dissipating and the sunlight granted to her once more. She opened her eyes, her glowing blue eyes and began to do something which few people would expect from a being made from metal and wood.

She began to sob.

Her entire body shook, as she was holding her head, hiding her glowing blue tears. She felt totally alone, and in complete shock from the revelations those creatures had just gave her. Maybe she was crying because the experiance was just replayed to her again for the first time. Maybe it was because of the knowledge that she had lost everything she had every loved.

Maybe it was simply because she could want to cry.

(OOC Can I ask of you all to write a small, OCC post giving me two lines about your character? It is a bit late in the day, but I need this so I can make a little "database" as such. The reason why my posts have been really shit as of late, is because I have been losing track. I need to get my footing back as such. Sorry to be a pain.

Just two lines, maybe something like this:" Cernd- hammer wielding, plate armoured, small shield. Gruff voice, very serious and responsible. Grizzled. Very little humour, and rather cynical. Red eyes. Tattooed all over his body. Confident." If you could do that, just short note like details about appearance and behaviour, that would be unbelievably helpful to me, so I can really make this rp exciting and detailed, because I know I can do so much better than this. Thanks.

And if you are wondering why Tarl hasn't, is because he has already sent me this description via MSN. Seriously, if you have MSN or AIM, give me a IM. It will be very useful just to talk about progression of the story and such. :) )

Sigrun watched as the wraiths flew away, off on their mission. Something wasn't right, but for now, they were no longer a threat. Right now, the construct needed comfort.

Sigrun walked over to the construct and reached down and pulled her to her feet. Just as Sigrun touched her arm, his face contorted and images flashed in his mind. It was an unexpected event, a magical transfer of thought...

After a few moments, Sigrun composed himself once more and spoke softly to the construct.

"The past holds much darkness, but you...we must work together to build a future worthy to call wondrous once again. Do not suffer from the past, but let it be your motivation for the greater good!"

The construct looked up to Sigrun, seeing not just an Elf standing before her, but a being of a higher order, of a noble race that was tasked to preserve the world's treasures.

And a vague thought floated in the back of her mind: Velmora was one of those treasures...

Zan stopped almost immediately at Sigrun's request. There was no point in engaging one of these wraiths alone. He'd win, but since the group was out numbered 2 to 1, he knew he'd probably be killed. Zan hopped back to a range that he knew would give him time to react to the enemy. Noticing that he was taking a repose, the falcon which had been circling overhead since they left Kain's hall came down and landed on his shoulder. Most people would find this behavior odd, since even trained falcons were a danger to the eyes if they got that close. However, a slight crackling of green energy made it rather obvious that this bird wasn't normal. As the Wraiths departed, Zan followed Sigrun over to the construct, all the while making bird noises to the falcon.

(OOC: Zan is an average height human male, who's apparent age is 25. He wears chain mail under a green tunic, and wears a brown cloak. He carries a rather plain looking bastard sword. Zan serves the nature god Avitros, and is probably one of that God's more powerful "mortal" servants. He ages slowly, as a reward for his service, but can definitely be killed. His actual age is closer to 40. The bird is a familiar, whose most useful ability is to serve as a method of communication between Zan and his master.)

Lance stopped, his brows knit with frustration as he watched the wraiths retreat. Shaking his head in disgust, Lance sheathed his sword, stopping the sharp vibrations in his right arm, as he slowly returned to normal. With a snort, Lance walked slowly towards the construct and listened as Sigrun spoke. "The past holds much darkness, but you...we must work together to build a future worthy to call wondrous once again. Do not suffer from the past, but let it be your motivation for the greater good!"

Suddenly, Lance laughed, a haunting laugh that chilled to the bone. "The past? How can one not be affected by the past. The past is once's life, the history that guides the future. The past affects the future, for time is entwined together like a lover's embrace. To say that the past must be overlooked is like saying that a being must not feel emotions. An abomination that cannot occur. The past is a lesson that one must never forget."

Disgusted, Lance turned away, slowly approaching the opened gateway to another world...

(OOC: Character Biography is here (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=6639680&postcount=2).

Lance Crusade looks about 35 years of age, although he is in reality, is over 2000 years in age. With a height of 180 centimeters and weighing 76 kg, Lance is extraordinarily fit. Of Han Chinese ethnicity, Lance grew up in China. He has dark blue pupils, which occasionally flashes golden. His clothing is all black or all white, with a bandanna around his head with an ancient character for the word "sword." He is a swordmaster and utilizes an ancestral weapon known as the Sword of Cala.)

http://perso.club-internet.fr/pserve/hero11.jpg

Sigrun turned to Lance and laughed in response.

"Fool! You did not hear me correctly! I said to not suffer from the past; in other words do not dwell on the past! Instead, let it be a motivation to not let the same mistakes happen again!"

Sigrun watched as Lance walked toward the gate, before shaking his head slightly. He turned back to the construct, speaking her name for the first time any of them had ever heard.

"Shar, join me. We shall find Kain. We shall stop the wraiths. And we shall build Velmora from the ashes once more!"

Lance paused at the gateway and listened to Sigrun's comments. Shaking his head in wonder at this resurrected being's lack of intelligence, Lance sighed and gazed up at the heavens, an unspoken question on the lips of his mouth, Is there a reason for me to be here, in Velmora? Is there? Closing his eyes, Lance lowered his head, unwanted tears coursing slowly down his face.

In a clear, haunting voice, Lance began to speak, "Sigrun, at one time, I would have killed you for daring to raise your voice at me. But that is another matter. Sigrun, you are mistaken. For at times, dwelling on the past is the sole source of survival, of maintaining hope, of preservering for another day. You have not felt the great pain and agony that swordmasters have experienced in their path to enlightenment. You believe that you, Kain, and this construct can rebuild this shattered land and allow it to regain its former glory." Lance shook his head sadly, as he continued, "Velmora can be rebuilt, but the result will only in a sad image of its former greatness. Velmora will never be able to achieve the magnificence that it possessed many years in the past. The past can never be regained." Pausing briefly to allow his words to sink in, Lance swiftly continued, "Velmora has not been burnt to the ashes. Underneath what seems to be but a shattered landscape is a delicate and beautiful ecosystem that has existed. Its grandeur and strength is astonishing. If you truly wish to build once more a nation to its glory, you must find a way to coexist with what you possess. Attempting to force a change with magic or other means will achieve nothing. You will only return to what you started with, a blasted land unfit for human life..."

Lance quickly turned around, bringing his attention back fully to Sigrun as he spoke once more, his voice harsh and unforgiving, "Do not attempt to tempt the gods, for they are very unforgiving. Velmora has been damned for one reason only. Its rebirth will require a steep price that is not easily paid. Beware of the paths you choose."

Without another word, Lance turned around and walked smoothly towards the gate, gazing serenely down upon the darkness below. Let them stay... There is important work to be done and little time to waste...

Sigrun growled silently as he watched Lance disappear into the gate.

What a fool! He merely expresses exactly what I am saying in different words! The pain he has felt is unique to himself, but I have suffered my own as well...

Sigrun turned to Shar once more.

"He doesn't understand. Rebuilding Velmora doesn't necessarily require using magic to accomplish the end result. With my help, Kain will learn what Lance has outlined: to peacefully co-exist with the existing ecosystem. After all, that is what my race does... I must acknowledge Kain's words long ago that magic is intertwined with all planes of reality. Thus, we can, and we will find the balance necessary for magic and the ecosystem to coexist perfectly."

Zan shook his head. Philosophical arguments held no appeal to him. He drew his sword and joined Lance at the entrance to the gate. "Let's roll."

Shar was about to reply to all of this. Answer in some way. Offer her opinion, as she tried to stop crying. She still shook slightly from the stress of it all....until she heard a quiet voice, a voice that was not itself.

"Hello? Anyone up there?"

Immediately reacting to this, a fountain of energy burst from within her, her eyes glowing a wonderful blue of the ocean. She was warm to the touch as she ran to the hole, seeing if her hope was true. If that voice was really was him. Really was Kain, if he had survived.

"Kain! Your ok!" Shar said with a happiness she had never felt, a reassurance that the one she cared for was still alive, that she was not alone. Not to be like this land, forgotten and ruined.

"It's me alright! Help us up." Kain said shakily his voice hardly the confident and strong voice that he had before. It was obvious to Shar that he was weak. His flesh was paler than it should be, and he was not too strong on his legs, shaking slightly. And Shar wondered what he meant by us.

Kain did not actually realise who he was speaking to, the spirit which had been inhabitting his arcane cloak which had been passed down from ruler to ruler. A cloak which had saved countless lives, been a council and friend to them and a symbol of the ruler's power. But Kain was different. Cloak...cloak truelly cared about him. He had shown him hope, that there was something worth fighting for. Kain had shown her things that she had not realised.

Shar did as Kain asked her to do, her metal hands weaving arcane energies around themselves, charging herself for the task at hand. The small two runes on the palms of her hands glowed and helped the forming of magical energies.

She made an arcane rope, a rope which floated in the center of the hole and travelled down, so that Kain could clamber up it. It was very similar to the trick where a man would make a rope levitate and climb up it into the clouds, and dissappear.

The glowing rope which changed it's colour from purple to a light pale green, reached Kain's cloven hands with great appreciation. But...Kain had a thought. He let go of the rope, and let other mroe human hands touch it first.

"You deserve to be free from this place first my friend." Kain said to the Psi next to him, who's smile he would remember forever. It was the smile of a man who had endured hell and was given the ladder to escape, or the man who had lost his life and been given it back. He looked up, his bald head covered with the complex tatoos of the Psi, thier most powerful technique and knowledge. Cernd began to climb up, his hammer upon his powerful and muscled back.

He exited, finally getting out of the place where he had been left behind for years.....to see for himself the devestation which had been wrought upon Velmora. No words came from his mouth.....just the expression of grim determination, a sober man who knew he had lost everthing since he had seen it reported in his spells as he looked upon the earth in his dreams.

"By the Gods...." He simply uttered to himself and looked around like a zombie. It was completely unreal, the cold air blew in his face as he looked at the places where he remembered being. He was one of the few Psi that lived now....

The other two Psi, Leon and Carter came up in a similar fashion, stayng together, absorbing this sight intently. They were.....antiques from a dead civilisation, relics of a bygone age.

"We should be dead..." Carter said softly, holding his staff with white hands, his purple robes fluttering slightly as the cold air blew in thier face.

"Aye...we have left one dead world simply to enter a new one. God...." Leon said with a soft disgust, as he held his hands in his pockets and his jaw straining in anger. He felt like he could explode. His large black warlock hat covered his great mane of black hair which would go with the wind, unlike his crimson cloak. Knifes were around his body, with a longsword by his side.

The three stood together, realising what they had now....

Kain clambered up, and fell over due to weakness. Shar caught him with a quick and caring reaction, holding him as he went slightly limp within her three pronged hands.

He was completely exausted, his body felt more cold than usual...his absorbing eyes seemed to have lost thier fire....his voice was dampened and shakey.

"Thank the Gods your alright Kain...I was...scared you left me." Shar said, with a deep concern as she looked down on Kain who was barely seeing her metal formed face, and glowing blue eyes.

Kain replied weakly, "I...who are you....Cloa-"

"No...my name is not Cloak. My name is Shar, Kain. My name is Shar. I remembered who I am. I remembered...."

The explaination still left Kain confused, but Kain did not press the matter at this moment. He was too tierd and weak. Trying to stand on his own two feet, taking a venture out, he almost fell again.

"Lean on me Kain." Shar said softly to Kain, and Kain looked at her appreciatively, his right hand slung around the construct's back for support. Obviously, being of metal and wood, powered by magic and spirit, she was intensely powerful in physical and arcane strength.

"I see....I see you are all here." Kain said, addressing the group as a whole. Everyone's attention was drawn to him.

"I...I know some of you are thinking this place is entirely damned. That I am damned. And that is fair enough....judge this place, and myself...as you will. But...but I ask of you...all of you...if you would assist me. In this land....the spirits of the vengeful spirits of the Seer....the council which guided my....our people....are still running rampant. Down below where I we have come from...is the one who has stolen my soul. My father."

Kain let the words take affect before he continued, his weary eyes looking over the group, each one's reaction. The three Psi looked at him without much emotion, simply listening to what thier old ruler had to say. Kain sighed, is body moving as if it would fall at any moment.

"But what I ask of you....is that you aid me in this. To rid this land of the spirits that should not have dwelled. We.....the Psi...made a terrible mistake. The spirits of the dead should not be trapped.....for the living to rely upon. For the dead deserve peace that they long for. The wraiths down below are insane...driven insane by the eternity which they have served and lingered within stale walls and ancient statues. I intend to....get my soul back....at the very least.....stop Xzar's plan...whatever that is. I don't know what he wants...but I know that I have buisness which I need to settle. I understand if you do not want to fight with me...possibly die....die with me. This is not your fight....you need not come if you do not want to...." Kain said to the group...

A long silence passed as the group thought about it.




Shar whispered slowly into his ear, "I am with you...I always have. Even if no-one else is."

Sigrun stepped forward, resting his hand upon Kain's shoulder softly.

"You have my service, my friend. I will stand by you in whatever may come, and we shall prove to be a foundation upon which a new chance for life will be born!"

Lance sighed heavily, shaking his head, as he listened to Kain and Sigrun vow to resurrect Velmora, rebuilding what had been lost, seeking to save a land beyond hope, and striving to complete the impossible. Closing his eyes, Lance swiftly turned towards Kain. Opening his eyes, Lance began to speak in a warm, calming voice. "I came here to meet you, Kain, hoping to see a reminder of the past that has left me... But, I am not greeted with the past, but with a reminder of the future that will be the doom of humanity. I am sorry, but I cannot assist you with this monumental task."

Smoothly, Lance bowed, his eyes remorseful, his heart hard, and his mind sorrowful, as he continued. "Kain, if you wish to rebuild this land, a great price must be paid. A price, which I think, you will not like to accept. Time is short, for the price can only be paid at the moment in which it can be. Any other time will wreck the delicate balance that flows within this land."

Clearing his throat to allow himself some time to organize his thoughts, Lance glanced up at the heavens, "Although, I will not assist you with the rebuilding of what was a once fair and beautiful land, destroyed by the wreckless meddling with the magics of the gods, I will assist you in one task, a task that I must complete to fulfill a debt that has been owed for some time."

Swiftly, Lance turned his attention back to the runed gateway. As he glanced slowly down its dark depths, Lance steeled himself, preparing himself for the struggle to come. Just before he jumped, Lance turned and said, "Farewell for now, Kain... We will meet again..." With a wan smile, Lance's right hand began to vibrate, as the Sword of Cala leapt out of its sheathe and into his right hand. Lance prepared leapt into the abyss, seeking repayment for an old debt...

(OOC: Kain, if you don't like this post, please say so and I'll delete it, but for now, Lance wants repayment for a debt owed since the last time he was in Velmora... Lance has been a bit out of his mind since the death of his son and his wife, so he's inherently unstable...)

(OOC That is fine, your character is reacting in the way that he would. One small detail that I would ask you, is that you do not jump down the hole, but stand away from the group, ready to act in the next way. I plan to go somewhere else before we move to the underworld.

I will post my responce once everyone has posted)

Zan watched as Lance hopped into the pit. That one he feared, was a little crazy and that made him dangerous. However, Kain seemed honorable, and Sigrun had called the play with those wraiths just right. Besides, it wouldn't do to have someone without a soul running around, or worse yet, someone who had a propensity for taking souls.

"Count me in, Kain. Looks like you could use an extra hand."

OOC: Sorry for the absence.... has been rather busy lately.

IC: Izual was prepared to take anything the wraiths had to deal him, but it never came. To the angel's surprise, the ethereal creatures ignored him and the rest of the group, choosing to flea into the sky and quickly disappear. Deciding it wasn't worth an attempted pursuit, Izual turned his attention upon the rest of the group.

The elf was comforting the sobbing construct whilst the swordmaster seemed to be nagging the elf over some matter. It didn't concern him. Sword still in hand, the large figure moved toward the gate. A few strides in, Kain's voice echoed throughout chamber, into the open air. Again Izual was surprised, and decided to watch as the construct helped him and the other Psi emerge from the gate.

Remaining still, Izual watched and listened as Kain made his statement to the group, asking for the help of his friends to rebuild this once glorious land. He was asking a lot. There was little in this world that swayed Izual's judgement, but he held his devotion to a friend in high regard. Still silent, the angel considered Kain's plea, keeping his eyes directly trained upon the vampire.
__________
OOC:
Here's a little refresher for you.

Izual has two forms. Human: Tall, appears to be in early 20s, long black hair, fair skin, muscular build, usually hidden under dark robes, black eyes. (6 ft 2)

Angelic/Demonic: Stands at about 6 ft 8, muscles are more define, hair is the same, eyes take on a crimson glow, usually wears a black/white plated armour (breast plate only), one wing is white feathers, the other leathery black. The black/white sword logo is on the armour. (obviously this is all about the hybrid demon/angel thing)

Izual has become an increasinly cold character over the years. His concerns do not encompass anyone but himself or those he deems worthy. His continuing goal is to seek a balance between his dark and light side.

(Will add a bit more later, must go now)

(OOC Alright, no problem. We can wait for a bit.)

(Bump for Arithon)

<<OOC: Historical context question: does this thread take place before or after Kain met Darius Steele at Princess Aiwyns party??>>

OOC: Alright, a bit more. Just tell me if there is anything in particular you wish to know... sorry for the wait, I've been out doing some job induction stuff.

Izual holds his loyalty to Kain in high regards, as the pair share a mutual friendship that has nothing to do with their roles in the world. Obviously he will be slightly torn between the continuance of his goal and helping a friend.

He has left the light at the rank of Cherubim (2nd highest angelic rank) to further seek his demonic side, thus resulting in him leaning more towards an evil nature. He isn't outright hostile to others, but he has little concern for them.

Anything else you want to know?

"Thank you for your assistance. What about you three? I cannot ask much more of you...I will respect your decision if you decide to leave." Kain said weakly but pleasingly, addressing the three Psi who were still looking at thier ruined homeland.

They turned slowly, thier tatooed faces hard and grim. They gripped thier weapons with thier hands tightly, and Cernd simply said, "Velmora and her people must be avenged. It is our duty as Psi."

Kain smiled slightly in gratitude, still leaning on Shar for support. The construct gladly acted as a pillar for Kain, for Kain had acted as such for her many a time. The two seemed joined, completely confortable with each other's company.

"We should be moving then....below....to face Xzar." Kain said slowly, looking down the hole. It was not a long fall, but long enough to warrent a rope.

Shar summoned the rope once more, and the group made it's decent.

---

Once below, the group saw the darkness which lay beyond. The deadland of the lower Velmora.....there was nothing to see in this unnatural gloom, except one noticable feature, a throbbing entity within this darkness, distant yet immediately apparent.

A dark red glow of...something. Far away, so far away in the depths of this place.

Kain began walking, using Shar as support...into the depths of the cavern....

After some time, Kain said softly, "How long have I lived? I don't know...."

Shar replied slightly confused, "I think you are around 29...I think. I am not sure. Why?"

Kain smiled slightly and said with a degree of sadness, "Hmmm. I just thought....that I have lived for some time. I can die I suppose."

"Don't talk like that Kain! This is unlike you.....your not well. Everything will be alright in the end." Shar said softly.

"Aye, you should not speak like that." Leon said in reassurance.

Kain looked at the ground and kept quiet.


---


"The preparations are made. The first strike has been made, the Library holds out resistance of course. "

The shadowy voice of the wraith spoke softly to Xzar, who sat on his self-proclaimed throne wisely, his hand gripped around the Brightblade. His eyes focused on this wraith.

"Good. Make sure the forces are ready. I need him, I need answers."

The wraith did not ask questions on the subject, and left Xzar in the chamber.

Alone, Xzar looked at the Brightblade, the weapon of his enemy, the weapon that should grant him more powers than he had.....there was something being held back from him. He could only command a fragment of what he should be able...something was intensely wrong. Where was the demon within the blade? Perhaps it only responded to Kain.....he needed answers.

It was just as well he left Kain alive, Xzar mused as he held the Brightblade up, pondering.

Izual decided he would help Kain with his initial struggle. The rebirth of Velmora was not his responsibility, yet he did not wish to see his friend die. And so the demonic angel would travel with the group of those aiding Kain, lending his assistance wherever possible.

Gliding through the gate with relative ease, Izual reached the bottom before those on the rope and waited patiently. He didn't like the look of this place. Izual was comfortable battling any form of demon or creature of the light, yet these Psi were new to him, he knew nothing of them save a few fundamentals about wraiths and what Kain had mentioned. Finally the angel spoke up, his deep voice echoing around the abandoned room.

"What is this Xzar capable of?"

Lance Crusade did not use the rope, instead leaping down into the abyss below. As the darkness swallowed him, Lance roared, a roar distinctive to the dragons of the east. Like a torch, the Sword of Cala flared, a brilliant golden light which illuminated the surroundings, as Lance landed on the ground, his legs easily cushioning his fall. Straightening, Lance surveyed his surroundings. Suddenly, Lance sensed a dark, evil presence that was similar to what he had sense when he had first met the unredoubtable Kain. Narrowing his eyes, Lance spoke in a cold voice of disappointment. "I see that the Brightblade still exists, Kain. I would have thought that you would have destroyed the evil that plagued your existence." With a weary sigh, Lance continued, "The Brightblade is the true bane of your existence, the true cause of the annilihation and devastation of your land. Remove it from existence and a lot will be returned to normal, for your weapon is the addiction that will never be better." Without another word, Lance advanced towards the blight upon his senses, his Sword of Cala illuminating the darkness before him, as he moved.

"Xzar is capable of too much now....although I do not know...to what purpose. He has my...my very soul at his disposal, and it grants him my abilities and knowledge...and the ability to command the Brightblade. Although, I doubt that he...understands what it truelly is. It is a symbol of the Psi as a whole, a device which held the demon once...but it still holds the key to Velmora. It is much more than a simple arcane blade, and as such...I cannot destroy it. It is impossible to destroy, and I would not dare hide it.....Xzar wields it....although there are questions of my own I would like to have answered...." Kain said weakly as he looked into the darkness ahead, the red throbbing form which lay beyond.


"What questions Kain?"

Kain stopped upon hearing that voice...a voice that no other heard. Everything was slowed down for Kain, everyone else walked ahead....fading away into nothingness, one by one. Everyone was gone...walking into that darkness, leaving Kain alone with this voice, and the silence that remained when he did not speak.

The red throb within the darkness had faded.

Kain looked around, barely standing, his flesh pale and his eyes glazed, but his spirit determined. He could not see any form within the darkness, nothing to which to prepare against, nothing to fight or converse. Yet the choking presence of Xzar was felt around him.

"What questions Kain?"

The voice, now had direction. In front of him, was the form of Xzar, magnificant in his new found glory.

He was bathed in a purple glow, his white robes seeming cancerous due to it. His robes were magnificant and overflowing all around him, a great crimson cloak draping behind him several feet, with the symbol of the Brightblade upon it, adorning it proudly. Xzar's face was trumphant and smiling, as he sneered at Kain's pathetic form. In his right hand, he held the Brightblade, the wave blade not glowing blue at all, not as it should. And within his left, was Kain's silver staff, the weapon which he duel weilded. The staff, like the Brightblade, did not glow as it should, although the white pale cystal on top of the staff hummed and glowed as it always did.

"What is the purpose...of all this Xzar? What is the meaning of this maddness!" Kain asked accusingly, pointing a cloven finger at his insane father.

Xzar simply responded with a light chuckle, as he stept forward towards Kain. Xzar was taller than Kain, his black hair in a great length as Kain had his white hair now, although Xzar had a great black beard along with it. Xzar's purple eyes honed in on Kain, as his strides took him closer to Kain.

Kain thought of a spell at his disposal...anything....

---

"Kain!" Shar cried in desperation, as Kain's form slowly faded away into nothingness. Shar looked around, as did the Psi.

"What happened? What is going on!"


Something rumbled within the darkness beyond. A creature stirred, a humongous titan of shadow and will, a will to destroy. It rumbled most terribly, as the very walls and floors of Velmora quaked.

This creature....was the collective group of dead Psi. A huge, wraith monster, joined in minds and forms....to make his great demonic entity which promised death.

It launched it's barrage of spells without effort, as it crashed towards the group, a great cloud of shadowy form, a form which was neither harmed by spell nor sword, or at least seemingly so....

Izual cursed in a demonic dialect as spells seemingly launched out of the darkness. The angel could sense the presence of a wraith, but this one was far stronger than anything he had ever encountered before.

Suring into action, Izual called upon a shield of intertwined shado and light, creating a barrier around himself that would shield against almost any kind of attack. He just hoped it would be strong enough...

The energy formed a semi-sphere around the angel seconds before a group of spells collided with the shielded space. Izual cried in pain as the spells forced him back, knocking the angel off his feet and hurtling him into a destroyed builing. The shield had protected him, but the force of the spells was immense...

Stumbling to his feet, Izual gripped his blade tightly once again and began moving back towards the group...

Sigrun was thrown forcefully back by the barrage of spells cast toward the group. Unlike Izual however, he had been caught off guard and had sustained injuries to his body as it had collided into the same building Izual had been cast into.

With a slight groan, Sigrun muttered a quick healing spell and got to his feet. His head rose up to face the Psi behemoth before them. He remained calm, but his eyes gave away the fury that was beginning to escalate within. The elf stepped forward, giving him clearance from the rubble that lay about him. An explosion of movement occured as he drew Lanta and charged toward the wraith behemoth. Lanta, the bane of demonic forces, began to sing a melodic song as it glowed emerald green in its movements and hit the high notes as it was swung toward the Psi wraith's chest, if it could be called that.

Sigrun let out a loud battle cry as he moved aggressively toward their foe...

OOC: Don't forget that Lanta is an anti-demon sword and you did mention that the Psi wraith was of a 'great demonic entity'...

With a roar of frustration, Lance slammed the glowing Sword of Cala into the ground and kneeled. As his knees touched the ground, Lance began to pray audibly, a loud roaring noise over the raging music and harmony of spells flashing and roaring around the enclosed space of the abyss below the real world above. "I call upon Azashim the Seer to bear witness... I call upon Randork the Great to my left. I call upon Sashim the Pure to my right... I call upon Arago the Brave to my front... I call upon Araza the Multitude to my rear... And I call Omnus Stormrider above me... For these six are the six true dragon lords... Brave beings who protected the land against darkness... The true heirs to the land... Come forth you old souls of the great, the brave, and the powerful and protect your own!"

With a flash of great energy, six wraiths appeared around Lance. One on either side of him and two above him, each flashing their grave countenance as they took upon the shape of ethereal beings. In an united voice, they spoke, "We are the Dragons long dead and we heed the call of our own!"

When the onslaught smashed into Lance, the presence of the six spirits of dead dragonlords blocked the brunt of the assault, although Lance wavered a bit from the power. By the Gods that created us and made us what we are... What is this power!?!

Zan stared in shock as the creature moved towards them, and managed to raise a meager arcane defense just before the first wave of spells hit. His shield wavered a bit, and nearly vanished, but managed to hold. Angrily hoping to strike back immeidately, Zan raised his left hand and began to chant. Within seconds, a cloud of green glowing insects appeared, and flew towards the wraith monster. When the first of them hit, it exploded with a green flash with force similar to that of a firecracker. While not likely to actually harm the creature, as the spell was more of a crowd control effect, it definitely looked good, and the continous buzzing and explosion caused by the insects had a tendency to slow bigger foes down, which might be all the help the group needed.

The entity seemed to recoil slightly from the drawn blade, but still, it did not fear it too much. The spell from Zan collided into the wraith form...and was absorbed by it! The spirits, the dragonlords, certainly did have an affect upon it. But not to an extent where it was crippled, simply restrained in it's onslaught.

The entity stayed still, sending waves of spells, pushing back the group from getting close to the creature. Screens of earth rolled forward, lighting crashed from the ceiling, ice thundered down, fire cascaded forward, preventing the group from getting close.

The Psi, acting as thier usual battle group, formed a solid group. They all worked in practicaed harmony, thier faces contorted in complex spells as they channeled thier arcane energies together. They tried to dispel the more threatening spells coming towards the group, as did Shar, which flowed into the group harmony easily.

---


"What is the purpose? Ha! Reason does not matter. I have my own plans Kain, and you have helped me so much. I must thank you for this wonderful soul, I feel the fires that a soul provides! I feel alive again, full of passion and desires again, and not just the shade of a life you tossed me with Kain!" Xzar said venomously as he strode towards Kain, who lay upon the floor, trying to summon up a spell feebly.

Kain's efforts were wasted, without a soul and his knowledge, he could do nothing. Xzar slammed his hand upon Kain's pale green neck and lifted him upwards, his own pale hands choking the vampire.

"Tell me Kain, did you enjoy killing the Seer? The heroes of Velmora?" Xzar hissed to Kain's face.

Kain weakly replied, his throat being constricted by the snake like grip of his father, "Did you enjoy damning our nation to this?"

Xzar raised an eyebrow, and his thin lips curled into a strange eerie smile. His hand grew intensely cold, but did not slacken in the intensity. Kain began to feel the affects of having his soul within such close proximity...a sense of longing and vertigo. The world seemed to spiral around him as he felt the throbbing of his soul within Xzar's physical form.

Kain was just an empty shell.

"Are you enjoying the affects? Rather interesting is it not, that your soul is only a few feet away, but you cannot have it. Now...you will die Kain. You are slowly dying now, your form cannot sustain itself without a soul. You are becoming like dust! For that is all we are Kain...shadows and dust in the end....and your vampirism or demonic nature cannot halt that fatalistic reality." Xzar softly said, his eyes glowing more intense as he watched Kain's form begining to literally fade from view.

Kain felt that he was becoming faded.....grey and not entirely there....he felt filled with a liquid lead...not hot lead. A cold, sick dread as he felt his body evaporating...unable to sustain itself. Kain was on his knees, as Xzar's hand gripped tighter, Kain now in sick servitude.

The Brightblade still remained within Xzar's hand...and Xzar began to raise it, bringing it up to Kain.

The moment Xzar had been waiting for had arrived. He brought the Brightblade, the curved blade which was the symbol of Velmora...and the instrument of darker forces by trapping a demon within it.

Xzar brought the flat side of the blade in front of Kain's face...the silver metal reflecting Kain's weak and pained face...as it was slowly fading away. Kain tried to reach out.....grab Xzar...anything...anything to stop this.

"Speaking of demonic nature....there is one thing I wish to know before you die Kain. How is the demon summoned?" Xzar asked, as Kain looked up in astonishment from the question.

Kain responded, with a weak defiant laugh.

Fury raised within Xzar. He held the Brightblade tightly now, rage consuming him. What was Kain laughing about?

"Answer me damn you! And I will not trap your body to an existance of eternal pain!" Xzar threatened vicicously, those purple eyes of his boiling and exploding in inner rage. This infomation, this power was what Xzar had been planning on. The demon was the vital part of his plan. With the demon that dwelled and was trapped within the blade centuries ago, he could gain dominance and power once more.

Kain replied softly, "He's gone Xzar. I made him go away." with a sense of priceless ultimate victory.

Xzar's face contorted into a demonic war face, and powered by the rage of his entire plan being ruined, he lifted the Brightblade high into the air, the gleaming silver blade raised on high within this darkened room, ready to bring it down on Kain.


The blade was sent, sundering into Kain's neck in an explosion of blood, the cry of pain coming from Kain as he felt death approach, the world fading from him....

The metal strap which held the bloodstone around Kain's neck, the ultimate vampiric gift and holy item, snapped....making the gem fall to the ground and smash at the same point that Kain hit the ground on his back...the lifeblood flowing out from him....his body fading away...

Izual stood out amongst the group, wings fully outstretched and a mixed halo of demonic/angelic power flowing around him. He had never encountered a creature like this before and was unsure of how to combat it, but he would experiment and learn, as he always did.

The angel figured that most conventional energy attacks would be useless against such a being of vast arcane talent and knowledge, he would have to try something entirely new. Izual's biggest advantage lay in the fact he possessed a wide range of skills in the dark and light arts and was skillfully able to combine them, thus creating entirely new spell structures.

Moments later, the halo had evaporated and was replaced by several glowing figures surrounding the angel. Half of them possessed the tortured expressions of those cursed to an eternal damnation, their only release inflicting pain upon others. The other half wore a serene yet stern look, a face that spread across many so called 'enlightened' angels when they combatted demons. Each form was a manifestation of a past being, all famous for their exploits in combat between the light and dark. Now their talents would be applied for the same cause. The Psi entity.

Leveling his blade at the creature, Izual merely nodded. With the approval of their commander, the smaller wraiths began weaving through the array of spells, unaffected by the physical attacks such as the flames. It didn't take long before the wraiths had formed a semi-circle around the front of the beast as Izual observed calmly.

Each wraith wanted to attack the entity via their own methods, but Izual would not allow it. They would have to combine their might to defeat this creature. What happened next surprised all in the room, save for the instigator. The wraiths turned their back upon the Psi and began casting a spell in the opposite direction. Shadow and light weaved through the air, converging in four seperate locations. In front, left, right and above. The combined power of the wraiths allowed the spells to be completed quickly. Sitting in those four positions were two portals into the world of the light and two into the abyss of the dark. All attempting to draw something inside. Finally they spun around and released a tiny orb each, straight into the Psi. Upon entering the being, the orbs quickly merged into the essence of the creature, like a cancer it became part of the body. The Psi would only realise it when the orbs activated. They were becons.

Placed in key locations around the Psi, the orbs emitted an intense glow or caused an absence of light. Either or, these orbs did one thing. They called to the portals, encouraging it to draw more fiercely upon the souls of the Psi, attempting to draw them into the collective souls of the underworld or the light.


Izual didn't know if this would work or not, but the Psi would have some time unweaving such spellwork...

So the bane of demons would not work on this Psi monster...

Sigrun sheathed Lanta and thought quickly of his next attack. Yet, in the back of his mind, he kept getting the feeling that time was running out.

I didn't know there was an hourglass... he thought darkly to himself, before pushing the thought out of his head and concentrating on his plans...

Izual's spell surprised Sigrun slightly, but in a moment, he knew what he needed to do. Izual was trying to rip apart the Psi entities bound together as one. A smart maneuver of divide and conquer.

~Lova termara en' templa~ came the enchanted words from Sigrun's mouth as he began to utter a massive and powerful spell, one that would work upon this Psi creature.

At a number of places around the Psi wraith creature, it seemed that green lightning sprung from the ground and plunged into the creature. Sigrun deftly weaved his fingers in a nearly impossible figure as he wove the spell deep into the body of the Psi. First the legs, then the torso, then the arms, and finally the head of the Psi collective was secured to with the spell. Finally with a powerful surge of force, the spell began to strongly drain the mana of the creature...

The combination of Izual's and Sigrun's spells would hopefully be the ultimate destruction of this wraith collective...

Xzar, holding the instrument of so much destruction, the blade still planted within Kain’s neck, his vampire blood pouring horribly from it, splashing all over Xzar’s robes and hands, his appearance now seeming deranged as his eyes flared as he saw his vampiric son, impaled on his own blade.

His hand trembling in rage, Xzar brought the blade upwards in the air, the blade still impaled in Kain’s neck. Xzar brought the Brightblade backwards, so the Xzar could see the death face of Kain, as he gasped his last breaths as the world faded from his now grey eyes.

The two were centimetres away, Xzar could even feel the chilled breath of Kain as his lungs gave out a few more pathetic efforts to keep functioning.

Kain’s vision had left him….everything had gone dark…only the outlines of Xzar, his face finding no real satisfaction in Kain’s death. Kain had the last, fatal, victory over Xzar, by thwarting his plans. Kain’s dying world was one of coldness, an intense fatigue….and an old sensation bubbled to the surface of his dying emotions.

The Thirst.

Xzar said something, hissing a final farewell which Kain never heard. His vision had gone….hearing gone…the pain, all but numb now. Even the coldness had left him. He was feeling with all of his being, all of his mind that something animalistic, the instinct of all vampires, that of to feed. He felt his fangs, felt the intense wanting and desire for life liquid which coursed within the blood living beings….

Driven on by pure will, nature and instinct Kain lurched forward in the darkness of pre-death, trying to find the cure for the thirst...something that would give him strength to fill his empty vassal.

And then….the taste of blood filled his form…..the elated sensation of blood once more entering his form….his senses returned, the darkness leaving now, and only the joy of feeling the blood once more enter his soulless body consumed him.

And the scream of his father, Xzar, filled his ears pleasantly as Kain bit viciously and without remorse into his pale neck, the blood flowing out of his corpse into Kain’s vampiric one.

Kain….Kain was restored to some degree by this unexpected move. Xzar howled as he threw Kain off of him, his contempt unmeasurable as he realised what Kain had done.

Kain held a wide smile of elation on his face, as he slowly recovered….picking himself off the floor slowly. He felt the wound on his neck slowly heal, the blood still flowing from the fatal wound, but it was indeed healing, due to Kain’s vampiric nature.

Unlike Xzar’s wound on his neck, which still bled from the fangs that had punctured it.

“You….you will pay for that Kain!” Xzar howled angrily, his rage intensifying if that was possibly.

Kain stood now, tall and readily, flexing his cloven hands, the new power from the blood coursing through his veins. He felt powerful again, the knowledge which was held from him restored, the key had been given to him and he was opening doors to find the familiar rooms of his castle again.

And now he was summoning the defences of his castle again.

“You will pay for stealing what is rightfully mine.” Kain retorted calmy and meaningfully the two immortals stared at one another.

And then, began to clash of these two highly powerful individuals.

Kain Shentavo, the vampire who had such a long history of strife, sacrifice, suffering and wealth of experience, now completely defiant of those who would seek to manipulate him.

Redeemer and destroyer, once pawn and messiah; Kain Shentavo, ruler of nation and his destiny, fighting for his people and his soul.

And Xzar, the father of such a man in mortal years, a man who had once been kind, gentle and forgiving, now driven mad by the forces that would have manipulated Kain so cruelly and expertly.

Xzar Brightblade, the exile and once revered as the greatest rulers, a good man gone mad through the powers of the dead, and now trapped within the complex state of madness.


The combat began.

Lance stood and removed the Sword of Cala from the ground, sheathing it. With swift steps, Lance brought himself right next to the amalgation of wraiths, his palms smoldering in a deep, dark flame. Yes... Come to me, dragonflames... Come... With a deafening roar, Lance rose into the air, spinning into a deep firestorm of power with a draconic fury unknown for more than a thousand years. With a roar, the spirits of the six dead dragonlords surrounded Lance, adding more power to the flaming conflagration of fury and rage. The dragon within Lance's soul was being reawakened. Yes... I am once more alive to the sense of my soul... YES!!! With a delightful smirk, Lance stopped spinning and landed smoothly upon the ground, his right hand vibrating quickly as he stepped forward. With a swift movement of his right arm, the Sword of Cala sang as it was released from its home whin the sheathe. With a continuous unstoppable vibration, Lance ignited the sword with a pulsating unquenchable flame. With a battlecry of thousands of years, "CALA, CALA, CAAAALLAAA!!!" Lance struck...

The combined forces of all the members of this group were too much for this creature. The very fabric to which held it together was falling apart, crumbling in confusion as so many threats hit it from all directions. The intensity of the magic was unbelievable, the very air crackled as the two polar forces clashed, with outstanding visual affect as explosions of purple, green, crimson and white all exploded and were sucked back in by the wraith creature.

The very ground shook, and the ceiling of the cavern rocked with the stress of this creature. Runes smashed and became utterly useless as the silver lining which had been used to make them crumbled and fell like a strange snow upon the battlefield, blinding one’s eyes. Sound had no meaning anymore, the vast explosions, the chanting and the deep sub vocal moaning of this creature made the ears unable to hear anything, not anything at all.

It was complete chaos, flashes of combat and magical energies all conflicted, threatening to make reality buckle under the strain. Perhaps within this mortal realm, such displays of power would endanger it somehow….it seemed a possible and very real fear to behold this display, as the wraith tried now, only to survive. It was nno longer attacking, it was just trying pull it’s resources together, but failing. It was being attacked from too many sides.

-------

The magical powers of both these powerful masters of the possibilities realities fought bitterly, summoning up the energies at their command, the spirits which answered their summoning and the sheer will which forced reality to bend to their very whim of destruction. The two titans of awesome arcane strength duked it out, as the very fabric of reality became as water, malleable and ever changing to these two. One moment gravity would be double the affect, to cause a great wave of rock and stone crashing upon the other, and then the other would counter it by hurling the wall with a change in the rules, a change in the setting, gravity becoming nothing but an abandoned idea.

Kain roared as he summoned numerous energy spheres to his bidding, his white hair streaming out behind him, making him seem like a Zeus throwing down thunder towards the denizens of earth from his high and mighty standing position. Xzar summoned his own dark forces, a circle of power emanating from around his feet as it rose and arced in it’s dark runes to affect the battlefield with a thought from Xzar. It humming darkly as Xzar fought his bitter rival and son, his robes flared behind him reflecting his unlimited rage towards this defiant. He seemed like a great purple flowing mass which seemed like he was attracting the very entity of Evil itself to his calling, the shadows which billowed within the cloak fearsome to behold.

The pocket plane to which Xzar summoned Kain, hummed with the raw energy which was being displayed here. Utter passion, both of malicious hatred poured into these two artist’s work, as the canvas became splashed creatively with the imagination and will of the two artists, the paint clashing in a war of colour, mixing to make a stalemate of garishness.

Kain lifted his hands and sent a complex web of a mixture of flame, earth and lighting, all crackling and combined together by Kain’s advanced mind. His own exposure to the demonic kind had granting him the godly ability to multitask while casting magic, an ability which Xzar certainly did not possess. Kain had the ability to cast multiple spells, and was doing so with the greatest zeal and intent than he had ever done before. The web was hurled at Xzar, immediately Kain began on a new spell, while still sending the other towards his hated foe.

Xzar summoned up entities from the shadowy realm to which he served, the cackling forms working for him, dispelling Kain’s intensely powerful spells with teamwork of their comrades, while Xzar tried to put up an affective resistance. There was little high ground, and both combaticants knew one mistake would cost them everything.

Kain bellowed harshly as he saw the great wave of reality pictured in his mind. It was growing harder and harder to find that fine line of reality, which was constantly changing due to the intense warping and manipulation which both combaticants were doing to reality. It was hard to weave a new possibility into this wave of reality, due to the erratic nature of the reality, as it constantly spiked into a new reality either from Kain’s own planned doing, or Xzar’s spirits and spells.

But Xzar was finding the same problem too, his eyes closed, only aware of the energies arcing to and fro from the two duellists, one moment in his mind he saw an intense ice storm ready to crash upon his head while seeing the forming of a binding spell which would halt his own assault which was in the progress, while seeing the affect of a dispel to one of the spells his minions was trying to form. Truly, this battle was more intense than any had fought.

In previous encounters, Kain had always had team members fighting with him, someone to rely on, someone to assist him while he concentrated on something. Not that the thought entered his mind, his mind was a complex tapestry to which no distractions could be allowed at this point. His life, his very soul was at stake, and nothing could be allowed to get in his way in victory, not for so much to gain here.

And Xzar was fighting for second prize, his eyes flaring as he sent wave after wave of his dark magic against Kain’s own complex magic which originated from so many different sources.

The battle raged on, the vast war of minds ultimate in it’s upcoming climax.

Lance Crusade abruptly halted his attacks, stopping suddenly, as the vibrations in his right arm paused. The Sword of Cala unexpectedly lost its golden glow, as the six spirits dissolved returning to whence they came. Like a statue, Lance stood motionless in the abyss, seemingly frozen to his spot. But he was not frozen, merely concentrating his nearly limitless energy upon quieting the demon that slowly stirred maliciously within his soul…

Inside Lance’s mind and body, turmoil reigned supreme, as Lance struggled to control his reawakened draconic soul, which raged for blood and chaos. With deep concentration, Lance had so far managed to keep that dangerous power within from taking over, but it was evident on Lance’s face that he was fighting a losing battle. I must not fail... For failure will be destruction of everything... This draconic soul was released once before, a catastrophic release that brought this world to the edge of destruction... I must not fail... I must not fear, for fear is the mind killer... I must abolish my fear, for fear will bring about my failure...

With single-minded concentration, Lance slowly forced the draconic soul to calm down. He knew that if he could control it, everything that he could work towards would be lost, an unbearable and intolerable that would destroy the very fiber of his existence. I must not and will not fail… With a roar of defiance, Lance regained control over his soul, quelling the devastating power within. Wearily raising his head, Lance slowly regained his senses, becoming aware of the battle still raging around his. With a weary shake of his head, Lance raised his right arm, bringing the Sword of Cala up, as he once more prepared to enter the fray. Praying deeply that this time, he would not fall victim to the insanity that had almost gripped him, both of Lance’s hands began to smolder, while the sword once more began to glow with an eerie golden light. Within moments, a brilliant, multi-colored flame sparked into being from both of Lance’s hands, a burning fire fueled by Lance’s will and his soul.

Suddenly, a chilling thought occurred to Lance, the full circle has come… With growing horror, Lance stopped again. Continuing once more with downcast eyes, Lance brought the Sword of Cala before him and slowly gripped it with his two hands. With a weary sigh, Lance raised the Sword of Cala above his head and with a deafening cry of rage and resignation, Lance released his hands from the sword, allowing it to hover freely above him. Dropping his hands to perpendicular of his body, like a cross, Lance roared like a dragon.

Seeing the Wraith change it's tactics to an all out retreat, Zan decided it was time to put an end to this fight. Zan bowed his head, and brought his hands together in front of him. He began to speak slowly in a language unrecognizeable to most around him. His words increased in tempo and volume until he was almost shreiking like a falcon. His hands began to glow bright green as the ball of energy increased in size to nearly 4 feet in diameter. He screamed once, and the energy went flying forward, taking the shape of a bird's head. It crashed into the wraith and continued to pierce inward.
As it hit Zan fell to one knee, having expended far more energy than he was used to for one spell. Being unsure of how effective it would be, he began chanting again, hoping that he and the others could destroy the damned thing just by sheer volume of spells.

Whiptail continued firing, large-caliber bullet after large-caliber bullet...

Something cold went through his right hand, his gun-hand, and the weapon hit the floor, spinning off into the darkness, lost forever... His right hand remained intact, yet felt cold & dead... With a roar of blood-lust, the hunter drew apon his saber, slashing left-handed at the wraith in front of him. It had little effect, simply making him look more foolish than before...

"Arrg... I banish thee, foul specter..."

A white light coursed through the blade, making it more effective against the specter, but Whiptail's inept use with his left hand did little to take advantage of the augmentation...

The specter's translucent hand entered the warrior's tunic, grasping his heart in a death-grip... Whiptail slumped to his knees, the mithrill saber clattering to the stonework as it dropped from his lifeless hand... Silently, he pitched forward, lying facedown on the death-cold floor...

Izual staggered backwards slightly. The assault was working, yet his strength was quickly depleting. The angel had underestimated the amount of power required to keep four portals of such a magnitude open and attempting to draw spirits.

Falling to his knees, Izual grunted in exertion. The spell was working, yet it wasn't finished. The backlash of explosions forced him to slide backwards across the ground, yet Izual would not abandon his task. The portals began to shimmer slightly, causing Izual to double his efforts, drawing on the very energy that kept him alive.

A forced roar filled the air as Izual moved to his feet, energy swirling around his strained form once again. The portals flared to life too, their pull upon the wraiths growing even stronger. Coils of dark and light energy arced out of the portals and ripped into the wraith, pulling individual Psi away from the collective energy.

(OOC: Alright Kain, Calm the HELL down... I'll change the post for you... You don't have to go and try to burst a blood vessel on this... Sheesh...)

(OOC Sorry, just under some strain here.)

(OOC: Edited previous post)

With a flash of brilliant light, the Sword of Cala emitted a powerful blast energy that seemed to permeate the entire abyss below the world above, a permeation of a powerful nature that seemed to freeze everything, but not quite. Slowly, the sword descended from the air and stopped in front of Lance’s face, as the power dissipated. Closing his eyes, Lance gripped the sword with his two hands, leaving the sword in its position. Opening his eyes, Lance stared straight at the battle raging between Sigrun, Zan, Izual, and the amalagation of wraiths. With a smile of confidence, Lance narrowed his eyes, releasing his left hand from the sword as he dropped both arms to his side, the Sword of Cala still gripped tightly in his right hand. As he slowly walked towards the two embattled warriors, Lance’s hand began to vibrate, a powerful vibration that eerily hummed in the abyss, a distracting hum like the power before, seemed to permeate everything.

Stopping about two meters from the embattled combatants, Lance stopped, as his eyes gradually and inexplicably began to glow. Soon an unnatural golden glow as emanated from the eyes, as the pupils and irises disappeared underneath the gold. Unbeknownst to even himself, Lance had fallen into the power of the destructive draconic soul that he had so wearily tried to suppress. And without distinction between friend and foe, Lance lashed out, his sword ringing through the air, as he struck with unforeseen brutality and speed against the Sigrun, Zan, Izual, and the wraiths...

(OOC Stuff. Sorry, a bit OTT there.)

The wraith creature came about a climax, to which it was forced to come to. The energies, no matter how strained, where pulling the very fabric of it's being in opposite directions, the great combat barely seeming real, like a dream which was so confusing.

Sound was no longer a reality, just a distant concept which was so far away now...the arcane warping of sound made it seem alien, changed and mutalated. Sight seemed to be a harsh thorn in the mind, the bright explosions of colour eminating from the various powers in this room. You could see colours which should not belong within the mortal realm in this place! Great waves of three dimensional colours which flowed, exploded and warped the mind in concept! It was like nothing else, it made you want to fall onto your knees and cry due to the beauty and horror of it all. The mind was twisting with this place as it tried to figure out what reality was again...because reality in this place was warping strangely and horrifyingly.

The runes from above, lining the ceiling like a collage of words, continued to crumble and fall. Only now they seemed to come down like a strange snow storm, the twisting ash of silver which could not tollerate the arcane powers here. It made the eyes suffer, and if it touched the skin, the flesh crawled and the mind was irritated.


Fighting here was fighting in chaos itself.


---

The battle was reaching an end, the two great men of power totally drained, thier minds emptied of the spells they possessed. Kain stood, breathing heavily, holding his long arm outwards, his cloven talons ready to dispel Xzar's baited spell.

Xzar was pointing his staff towards Kain, the two many feet away from the other, and using the Brightblade for support, it's wave blade inside the ground. It still resonated nothing that it's former master would.

To two, still had thier eyes locked on the others, the two god's of this nation still fought for it's control. Both had taken an obvious strain to get to this point, the marks of combat all over thier bodies and psyches. Kain was paler, his hair scorched in some places, blackened by hellfire and covered with little nicks and scratches. Xzar's robes were cast off, revealing a more practical wizard clothing. The royal robes and grandious overclothing were gone, destroyed and left tattered about this pocket plane.

"Are you done Xzar?" Kain gasped out viciously, a challenge to carry on what Xzar had started.

The grim expression was Kain's answer. Xzar brought himself upwards for the next attack. Both knew that this would be the last one. The last assault which would determine who would win or lose, who would win or die, who would save or destroy.

"It ends now Kain. One of us ends now." He said slowly and calmly, as he stood up fully, his breaths and ragged as Kain's. He brought the Brightblade forward, ready to use it as a physical blade, an action which he had not done since the begining of the battle.

Kain, unarmed but for his abilities and mind, stood up also, drawing up the reserves of strength within him.

The two, looked at each other, the strange calmness before the storm began for one final, climacatic clash.



They charged, thier strides long as the two drew closer and closer to one another, bellowing as they did. Xzar had the blade by his side, ready to impale Kain, and the staff above his head, whereas Kain just had his hands ready to deal out raw bodily pain to Xzar with his cloven claws.


It seemed....like a fantasy tale....those two running legends...towards thier fate...


And then, the final combat began.

Xzar's staff exploded into blue flame, as Kain gripped the downward strike with his own hand, while the Brightblade, still only the physical blade affecting this world, the enchantments only working for one being.

As the blade came upwards towards his chest, Kain veered and grabbed the skull hilt as the wave blade only hit thin air. Xzar's inexperiance in physical combat showed by his frustration as he realise the stupid deadlock they were in. Face to face, Kain's hands preventing the weapons coming down, but prevented from taking any action from doing so, the two looking at each other.


Both, then, suddenly felt it.

The Brightblade flared up, and both were unsure to what was happening. The skull hilt flared up, the blue flame consuming the wave blade, making both men feel a sickening tug of thier beings.

"You have something of mine Xzar." Kain said through gritted teeth as he still held the Brightblade's hilt firmly.


Kain was in control of the Brightblade now, it was his blade, and his law was absolute. Xzar was simply holding the blade, while Kain was commanding.

"I want it back now."

The Brightblade slowly moved, slowly, yet dreadingly for Xzar. He screamed in frustration, trying to bring more strength into his arm, to stop the Brightblade moving away from Kain....towards himself.

Kain looked calm and determined as he continued to stare into Xzar's panicking eyes as he guided the Brightblade, centimeter by centimeter, towards his will.

"No! This cannot occour! This will not occour! I will not allow it!", Xzar bellowed through gritted teeth, his eyes darting from Kain's face to the Brightblade which seemed to be sucking him in.

"This will occour. And you know why Xzar?"


The Brightblade gained dominance, Kain's command overuling Xzar's. The blade entered Xzar's heart.....


"Because I will it to be."


Xzar, eyes agape, realising what was happening, feeling his....Kain's soul flowing from him to the sword to Kain once more, tried to do something. Anything. The pain was unbearable, the explosions eminating within his spirit and mind, the racking stress of what was occouring to his possessed soul and his decaying physical form making Xzar endure a pain which he had never felt before.

Kain got closer to Xzar's face, his eyes burning as Xzar began to fade to nothingness, Kain regaining his soul back through the power of his blade, the blade of Velmora. He said, resolutely and with more zeal than he had ever said anything before.

"Velmora and this mortal world renounces you Xzar. Go!"


And then....Xzar exploded into nothingness....


Kain held the blade...trembling, in a state of powerful limbo. His soul was restored to him....his mind trying to comtemplate what had just happened....the sudden rush something which the mind was never meant to survive or endure.

Everything was going to be fine.

Everything was right with the world again.

Kain stood there....Brightblade in hand, alone....and collapsed as the pocket plane faded.....and was restored to whence he came.

---


A sudden jolt.

A thunderous change.

And then....nothing.


A flash of white, blue, purple and colours which were never meant to be seen by your eyes.

All senses numbed, all reality washed away.

Are you dead?

Are you alive?

Are you real?




Reality became restored.....the contrast to the chaos was gentle order. The silver snow slowly ceased to fall...no more explosions and noise of utter chaos. Just a quietness which was unreal, there was never a quieter moment within the world.

Other people come in view. Others you know.

Others you recognise, others who see your face and know they have returned to the real world.

What happened, just did happen.

The monster had gone....replaced by the darkness of this place.....and a man.



No, not a man.


A vampire.


A vampire who was now a ruler.


A ruler who was now, along with everyone in this land.












"Free."

(OOC This thread is done. Now, I would prefer to think, that everybody does everything as they should, and do whatever they want to do. I am going to make a new thread, a new start. It will be two days after or not want.

Thanks for everyone for partipating, and I apologise for any mistakes I have done. But this has provided me a fresh new start.



Kain's come back, and he's got a nation to rule.


And that means a military.


:cool:

(OOC: Well, you kinda have to "freeze" Lance from doing anything crazy now...)

(OOC: Well, you kinda have to "freeze" Lance from doing anything crazy now...)

(OOC How do you want to deal with this? Because, the battle has just finished. The wraith thing is gone.

The affect of what just happened is, all spells are negated and everything is brought back into calm percpective again. You can rp it if you wish.)

(OOC: Well he isn't affected by any spells... He's under the influence of a little too much adrenaline and a lot of crazy stuff from within himself...

Anyways, its alright... I'm started a sign up for the final days/months of Lance Crusade. The link is here (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=360017) and is entitled "Passing of the Torch.")

OOC: 5CN, do you want to do a little rp to finish things off with Lance or shall we leave it?

(OOC: Its alright, it can be finished in the new thread that I'm going to start...)

OOC: It has ended? Interesting...

I suppose I will enter one of my other characters in the follow-up RP, as Whiptail has fallen in battle. I'll bring him back in a later RP, if anyone's wondering.

I'm working on it as I type. It should be up by the weekend.

-WA