Post by Ebbeh | Demon's Poney on Jan 14, 2009 10:21:18 GMT -4
[tab]Throughout history, there have been several undocumented reports about large stones containing a great and terrible power, used by their captors for both good and evil. In most every myth the stone is given, traded, or stolen by some large monstrosity with the strength of a demi-god. Often times, the creature would demolish the former owner of the stone and travel to Heaven or Hell to seek destruction or virtue. Yet these tales are long and old, forgotten and stretched, skewed and broken. What truth can be gained from stories full of so many holes that water cannot seek knowledge in them?
[tab]There have been no reports, no sightings, no shards, or any such clues that might signal the return of these stones for many, many years—as though all the stones had taken refuge deep underground. It was soon accepted that what had been told as myth, were only myth and nothing more. Soon enough people began to replace the myth of the stones with more alluring ones of adventurous heroes and troublesome villains. The stones, they believed, would never bring power to the realm again. However, was not the case
[tab]High above in the Heavens, the stones existed—thriving and fermenting in safety; even from miles away, one could feel their random, pulsating power. In a locked room secured by the most faithful of spells and guarded by the most loyal warriors in the farthermost reaches of the glorious, silver castle, lay fifteen stones each in their own nests of silver cloth. There was no furniture in the room, no windows, only a single heavy wooden door six feet tall. In dimension, the room was no bigger than 12’x12’, seven feet high with bubbles of soft, white light dancing along the ceiling. All of the stones lay in a single circle on the floor in their silky nests, arcs of energy occasionally stretching from one egg to its nearby neighbors. These arcs were as silent as the room; not even the mutterings and movements of the guards just outside the door could be heard from within. Nothing moved. Nothing whispered. But something lived.
[tab]Somber brown eyes held their gaze upon the heavy wooden door as delicate feet fell with a sense of responsibility, carrying the goddess toward the silent room. Behind her eyes, her mind was churning over the happenings of the previous night. Sweet, sweet Mellion—Goddess of Virtues—had come to her bearing a stone, tears streaming from her eyes as she recounted the tale of how Dreken—God of Sin—had come to her and forced her into bed with him. Somehow he had managed to place spells upon her door to prevent her cries for help from being heard by the guards just outside the door. It was hard to keep all the gods under one roof, but Santianda believed that it was for the better. Just as creatures of good and evil were placed in one world, the gods of good and evil should be keep in one place.
[tab]With a sigh, the Goddess of Creation dipped her chin and closed her eyes a brief moment, pondering over the world she had created and what it had become, sending her long blonde hair into the air. A sudden thought purged her mind, hooking itself in her forethought and striking up an ingenious plan. “A test.” Smiling, she returned her gaze to the door and just as she reached it, the guards swung it outward and allowed her to enter the silent space. True it was cramped, but the goddess felt perfectly free within its confines. Carefully she removed a large piece of silver cloth from her white robes and placed it on the floor, setting the newest stone down upon it and moving nearby stones so as to enlarge the circle to allow space for the new comer. Tenderness in her touch, Santianda gently touched the surface of the stone—it was smooth and slick, cold yet she could sense warmth within it. Immediately the other stones began sending sparks of energy toward it, as if testing it to see what kind of power it contained.
[tab]Satisfied, the goddess left the room with one last look back to the stones. Each had their own colors, patterns, and textures; some even shifted from color to color or from smooth to rough and back again. However, she dared not linger too long lest she become lost in their gentle entrance. Down the hall she strode, light in her step, fingers gently trailing along the rough silver wall as she moved. ‘A test—one to figure out the true nature of the world I have created.’
[tab]As the Queen of the Gods drifted slowly out of sight, another being appeared like an oasis vision in the hall before the guards, inspecting them as if they were fruits in the store he planned to buy. Clothed in stiff, blood red garments, the god looked like a human fused with a dragon. Dark brown hair fell just below his jaw line, parts of it sweeping backward and becoming two solid brown horns behind his head, points pointing up. Though his clothing was armor-like in nature, it was easy to tell that he was malnourished, though packed with muscle. Scaly wings shot out from his shoulder blades, each scale flaunting a simple pattern of soft red. All along the bottom edge and the end of the wings were scales that had grown into sharp blades, stained permanently in blood; they were more for fighting than flying.
"Dreken?” The guard on the right spoke with surprise for it was only known to Santainda where the stones were kept. His name caused him to smile, a sickly, blood thirsty smile that spread wide across his well tanned face. Odd shadows from the collar of his self-supporting trench coat danced across his face from the tiny bubbles of light above; the collar ended in oddly shaped points, the front ones as low as his jaw and the back ones ending in line with the top of his ear. With his high jaw line and pointed, he had a very defined, determined look about him as if he knew all truth in the world.
[tab]Slowly his metallic red claw of a hand stretched up before him, hanging down loosely from his wrist at first, suddenly slinging upward so that his palm was mere inches from the first guard’s nose. Even the most loyal, faithful, and proven warriors could be turned into lusting sinners when faced with a foe housing enough power to make the world turn round—the guards here had such a foe. It took only two minutes for Dreken to have one guard kill the other and feed upon his comrade’s flesh. Gluttony could drive a man to murder.
[tab]Now with the Queen Goddess’ “loyal” warriors taken care of, Dreken moved toward the door, which swung wide open for him to slip easily into. A father’s gaze came from his pitch black eyes as he looked upon each stone in turn. Slowly, the stiff-coated god knelt down to pet the nearest stone with his glossy hand seemingly made of smooth scales. Arcs of energy frantically flew from stone to stone as if they were discussing this new comer. “Worry not little ones. Daddy’s here.”
[tab]One large, glassy, golden eye peered in through the door way, hard and sharp like a hunter’s arrow knocked in the bow. “What are you doing, Dreken?” Even more fearsome than his gaze were his words that caused the entire castle to quiver. Intently the dragon studied the odd god before him, fully aware of his remarkable ability to bring out the worst in any creature. “Your petty tricks will not work on me! Foul beast, leave this room.”
"Tell me, Jaque, do you honestly think that such a meager creature like me could persuade such a strong willed who is full of valor to do any wrong? Come now, you must not think me so strong.” Sly were his eyes, the dragon noticed, and only snorted at the comment—his breath coming out as thin blue smoke from his nostrils. “Besides, I was only looking. What right does Satianda have to keep them from us? It only seems natural that we sho-“
"Because of souls like yours, corrupt and eager for the fall of the world! She has every right in the world to keep us from them lest we give them to those on earth that we wish to succeed. Such a power can never be held in mortal hands, whether it be the long lived elves and demons or treacherous humans. Nothing good could ever come from them—they are all wicked at heart.” Here he paused, giving Dreken the look of one that had just seen the devil’s disgusting face himself. “It would become a game to the gods to see who could over throw who. Such a game would create enough chaos to bring the Heavens crashing into Hell.”
[tab]Smiling still, Dreken took a step toward the large golden eye of the dragon, soft purple scales slowly becoming heavier in value as they extended away from the eye. “If you think them to be such a dangerous thing, then why are you down here O’ God of Emotion?” A growl was his only answer. Dreken moved on, “I would guess that there’s something else ticking in your heart,” another growl. “Being the holder of all emotion, you must be feeling all the hate the world has been conjuring up as of late—it must be so heavy on your heart.” Here the dragon attempted to interrupt, but Dreken would not let him. “So you’ve come here to do what? Just look at them?” Placing his hand over his mouth, Dreken took in a dramatic gasp. “Does the Queen know you’re here?”
"Shut up! Just shut up Dre-“ Before the god could blink, the red metallic, scaly palm of Dreken’s hand was before his eye. Like a worm wriggling through the decaying carcass of a deer. He could feel a tugging at his inner soul, weary from the constant beating of horrid emotions streaming from the land below. It yearned for justice, for hope, for happiness to come from the people, for an end to the sadness. So strong was the tug that it brought a great sense of anger toward those of the mortal world for feeling such a strong hate for one another. “Let us make them pay.” The god spoke to no one but himself, eyes narrowed on some unseen object as his once just and virtuous heart was filled with anger and hate.
[tab]It is unknown by what means the two managed to smuggle the stones out of the castle and down to the mortal realm, though it can be for certain that it had something to do with Jaque’s incredible stealth and intelligence. They hid the stones deep within the forest while a plan for dispersing them was conjured. Finally it was agreed upon that Jaque would lure a single creature from the nearby Zireling Kingdom to come witness the stones and then it would be that creature’s responsibility to spread the word of the coming power.
[tab]Everything fell in place; the form came quivering and afraid, in awe of the great and powerful stones. When the stones were dispersed across the land, the creature was given orders to spread word of their existence here on earth. There was no hesitation from him—immediately he flew back to the market in order to proclaim that the gift of power had been sent from the gods themselves.
"Success.” The dominating voice of Jaque caressed Dreken’s ears as a sweet cup of tea sooths a sore throat. Grinning, both watched from the shadows as the form they had brought disappeared from view. “Now we sit back and watch as the thin fabric of sanity is torn by the claws of greed and envy.” Deep within the dragon’s soul, he felt fear and power-hunger bursting forth from the land. ‘Already I can feel a change in the world.’
[tab]Many might wonder from where these stones came from, what caused them to have so much power, and what in the world were they? These questions had remained unanswered by the gods for they feared the response of the mortals. Would they try to take down Heaven and Hell with their new found power or would they just destroy each other? Truth be told, these were not solid stones as any onlooker might believe—they were hollow. In that center gap was the source of the stone’s power: an embryo.
[tab]When the gods reproduce, they are unable to birth living children—they must give birth to eggs with tiny embryos inside and keep them safe in order to allow the child’s power to ferment and grow over the years. The sooner the child hatches, the weaker it will be....normally—there are always exceptions. There is nothing anyone can do to speed or slow the hatching process and the children will hatch only when they feel like it. If they happen to hatch in the hands of a being, they feel no special attachment, no bond toward whomever saw it hatch. Although, they will typically offer the beholders of their hatching a single wish to be granted, whether the wish is actually granted or not depends on the hatchling.
[tab]All over the Zireling continent the eggs were spread, occasionally leaving hints and clues as to their whereabouts. Some have already been found and are being offered for sale , though their price is high for any marketer can tell that these objects are one of the most powerful things on the face of the planet. And what will become of the world when their true power comes into light? Will war break out as creatures battle for the godly stones? Will the mortals turn their sights to Heaven and Hell and attack with their demi-gods’ powers? The true nature of the world has been put to test; what will there be in the end?
- x -
The stones/eggs will be randomly hidden on Zireling—not on the main page, in the boards. There will also be some for you to buy in Trade It In, please look there for further details. Hiding of the eggs will begin sometime next week and you will not be able to buy them until next week. We will post an announcement in the cbox table, welcome table, and/or the Updates thread so that you will know when to start looking for them. (= Happy hunting.
The stones/eggs will be randomly hidden on Zireling—not on the main page, in the boards. There will also be some for you to buy in Trade It In, please look there for further details. Hiding of the eggs will begin sometime next week and you will not be able to buy them until next week. We will post an announcement in the cbox table, welcome table, and/or the Updates thread so that you will know when to start looking for them. (= Happy hunting.