The Roots of Darkness – Orianna Èirigh – 27.10.2022
Oct 29, 2022 22:29:55 GMT
Velania Kalugina, Andy D, and 1 more like this
Post by Orianna Èirigh on Oct 29, 2022 22:29:55 GMT
“There is a fair amount I need to tell you in order to give context to why I am asking for your help. If I repeat anything you already know, understand I do it not because I think you have forgotten, but for the benefit of a reminder and context for new information learned.
“Okay. So. Seven days ago, Lucky, Derthaad, Glint, and I spoke to one of the priests of the Temple of Tiamat, Tyraxes Wraithborn, along with an acolyte from the Temple of Bahamut, Theilius, about the horrific undead attacks they’ve been plagued with. Both sides have weathered incredible losses, and both have come to see that they either stand together against this common enemy or both will fall. The foe I speak of is… somewhat known. But there are still many key things we need to find out before we can even think about stopping them.
“First, their name is Desathrax. They are a combination of the divine sparks of both Tiamat and Bahamut, and they have been consuming these sparks from the clerics, priests, paladin, acolytes of both temples. They have also been sending both followers false visions of their god’s, which have then compelled the followers to travel to the Sunset Spines on a ‘holy pilgrimage’ only to never return.
“Second, Desatrhax is trying to ascend to godhood but has not gathered enough power yet. However, the sand is running ever faster through the hourglass. If we do not find where Desathrax’s lair is, we will be unable to find their weakness which will allow us to stop them.
“Which brings me to point three; I know the general area of the Sunset Spines Desathrax’s lair might be, but I cannot go alone. I would like your help in not only finding this place, but assessing the situation and, most importantly, finding the weakness that will allow us to put an end to this undead reign. If we try to fight them now we will be killed, consumed, or converted to serve this as-yet-to-be-god. If we do engage in a fight, it’s important you know the undead and Desathrax have resistances to fire, cold, lightning, radiant, and — I suspect — acid and poison. But I would not see us try to engage in a fight this time. We need to find information so we can come back here. Once we do that, then we can plan with the two draconic deity Temples.
“So… Will you help?”
That’s what Orianna had said to each of the people who are with her now — Cechec, the hyper focused and scarily stoic gold dragonborn forging ahead; Ilthuryn, her star sibling whose stillness has kept her steady and grounded so far; Itzal, the half masked half-orc who’s discerning eye suggested the faster path they now walk; Archie, the dapper human man whose desire for knowledge seemed to rival her own; and Lolli, the lilac furred harengon who’s bubbly nature kept all of their spirits up as they hiked their way through the foothills of the Sunset Spines.
Starlight eyes catch sight of a deer dashing across the rolling hills to their right, running away from the mountains. The sight brings back the divinations she had performed earlier in the tower of the Academy, Valethra curled around a candle for warmth and light.
Orianna had been pouring over star charts, ancient tomes, and scrolls. Usual fair for a young scholar of the Stars and Night Sky department. She was doing a mix of Academy work and her own preparations for this dangerous excursion. It was when she started seeing certain words jump out at her — root, darkness, mountain, dragon — for the third time that she felt the Cosmos was trying to tell her something.
But what?
Divination is not an exact art, let alone a science but Orianna wanted to try. She remembered her father telling her to be cautious though. “Putting stalk into the answers sought from the future where things are not as certain means those of us who See should not view them as absolute. They are more guidelines, threads of possibility. A thought to pin cautious hope upon.”
So she had asked if they would be able to find what it was they were looking for and get out safely, keeping in mind her father’s words of wisdom. The answer had been simple, both yes and no. Concerning and yet unsurprising. More direct than Orianna was expecting as well, which caused her to pause in thought for a while.
But in doing so, Orianna kept coming back to those repeated words — root, darkness, mountain, dragon. As they had spun around in her mind, a burning desire to know why made her do the ritual again.
She knew the Cosmos might not answer her this time.
She hoped that it would.
And it did.
Powerful dragons leave imprints on the world.
She had been there when Grougaloragran had passed, and he had been powerful. She had Valethra beside her, enjoying a scritch behind the scales of her cheek, and she would become powerful. She had a dream given to her by a demi-god of dragons, who claimed she was their Star Herald, recorder of their radiance and ascent to godhood.
As her cloven feet crested another hill, the sun falling behind the peaks of the mountains, Orianna could not help but wonder, again, if what they were doing was actually preventative or perpetuating the inevitable…
OBSERVATIONS & EXCERPTS from the JOURNAL of SECOND ASSISTANT ARCHIVIST ORIANNA ÈIRIGH of ASHKHA
We had been walking for three turns when we all felt it. A chill in the air more akin to all the ‘goodness’ and ‘warmth’ of the world being sucked away. Then Itzal found the tracks, shambling and uneven.
We had found the path to Desathrax’s lair.
What vegetation was there was long dead — greyed out as if the colour had been sucked out of them leaving only withered and bare boned branches of dead trees. Even in a desert that can be life. This was unlife, unmistakable and blatant.
Ilthuryn was spending his time as a giant eagle, trying to find other kin to speak to. He must have found one because he came back and signed to me where we needed to go.
As we planned I could tell something was bothering Cechec. His focus had become feverish and I began to worry that though he said he understood this was an excursion to scout out and gather information, he might lash out at the first undead we came across. I was glad for Itzal’s back up in reaffirming our goals. I don’t know how the Elders back home-... I don’t know how any leader does it. I felt so out of my depth leading a group of people into a place where we knew death awaited us if we misstepped.
I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if anything happened to one of them…
I failed to mention the undead’s strange language of Celestial, Infernal and Primordial! It nearly cost Archie his life. I am a fool! Such an oversight, such a simple thing to have ensured I told them and I did not.
He did not blame me, but I blame myself. They are trusting me to guide them to where we need to go since I have the most knowledge of everyone here. And yet-
Not to self: Create a note, something simple, that summarises the key points of these undead. Make sure to include resistances (radiant, fire, lighting and cold) along with the madness of triple tongued language…
So many undead. Humanoids and dragons alike! We cannot fight them. Not even those I have heard tales of — the mighty Ghesh, or the commander of the independent militia in Daring Heights, not even the young fey queen who is said to have built the Feylight Garden Theatre — could stand against this horde and hope to survive. There are just… too many.
Even as we became Children of the Sky, flying up to the cloud shrouded peak, I felt a fear I had but a taste of in my very first vision, and again when I spoke to Desathrax. Great and vast and all consuming.
I want to stop this, I just… I just don’t know how…
Ilthuryn motions he wishes to go further into the cavernous hall filled with undead. Orianna, torn, chooses to go with him, though doesn’t know how to say that any magic they may cast will probably not work. There’s no way to say how she knows this, it’s just a feeling. But she feels it like the truth in the air she breathes.
Cechec accompanies them, whilst Archie, Lolli and Itzal stay where they are. The human mage is looking around, trying to find any weakness, something Orianna knows she should be doing. Yet she is compelled to come forward, closer to the void where a low rumble begins to take shape.
Two eyes illuminate in that darkness coming forward towards the Herald, Steppenwolf. The draconic face that emerges is larger than the gargantuan dragon they had seen outside the entrance, and it is clearly undead. But that is not the strangest part. It is seeing the perfect split down the middle where two different bodies have been fused together.
On the left side is half a face and body of a platinum dragon, beautiful scales shimmering from the dark flames wreathing Steppenwolf who stands closest to the void it emerges from. On the right is half the face of a red dragon, with the main body continuing on — except there are two additional heads: one white and one blue. They all realise it at the same moment.
This is Desathrax, and they are terrifying to behold.
All three heads stare out at the undead gathered before it before its gaze shifts, as they begin to sniff the air.
“Oh look. We have visitors.”
All three gigantic heads turn towards them but the main one finds the spot where Orianna hides as if she is plainly visible.
“You came to me, my Star Herald. And you brought friends,” Desathrax says.
Orianna stands. “I told you once already, I will not be your Star Herald and I will tell you again, never.”
There’s a low rumble of laughter from the draconic avatar. Orianna is partially aware of all the undead turning towards her and her friends too — Just like my vision… — but she stays focused on Desathrax’s terrifying form.
“You came to my lair,” they say as if it should be obvious what her intentions were. Orianna feels her will fumble. “Who said that would be able to leave?”
This was a mistake. She shouldn’t have come. None of them should have, at least not this far into the heart of this darkness. They weren’t going to get out. They are going to have to fight and they would all die, and there was nothing she could do to-
Crystal clear light fills her mind and Orianna feels the certainty of the Cosmos fill her, powering her voice as she speaks.
“The Stars say so.”
Then several things happen at once.
Ilthruryn stands, casting a hand out as he whistles. Orianna recognises it as a way to dispel magic. Except there is no magic to dispel and so nothing happens. Cechec stands, drawing his knives. Archie stands too, looking at the entrance they came through with a clear, arcane eye. Itzal is grabbing Lolli and beginning to turn away towards that entrance. And Orianna…
Just like in her vision, she swings her Star Cradle in a big looping arch over her head, the crescent moon crystal flashing with light as the crystal scales on her body glow brighter. From the light fly out two giant falcons, one grabbing Cechec even as the dragonborn is about to step into the fray, before following its partner towards the others. Ilthuryn, seeing his magic fail, signs, ‘Run?!’ to Orianna, who nods. In a leaping swoop, he becomes a horse, which she quickly mounts.
And then they run. They flee the darkness, the cave, the undead and Desathrax, and much like how it happened under Kundar, Desathrax’s laughter follows them in their wake…
As we left we were not chased. We were not even stopped. I do not know if the others heard it but certainly Ilthuryn did as I. Desathrax’s final parting words: This is the Dawn of the Dark Radiance.
It wasn’t until we were flying by the dragon-made-of-many that words told to me by a dying crystal dragon rose up in my mind, silencing the horrible proclamation with their own cold prediction.
“I saw you… wreathed in flame, held high on the pedestal of another. And yet… you were unbound to anyone.”
The entrance to Desathrax’s lair, the seat of his power, is on a large plateau.
“Something wants you…”
These words haunted me all the way back to Daring Heights…
“Okay. So. Seven days ago, Lucky, Derthaad, Glint, and I spoke to one of the priests of the Temple of Tiamat, Tyraxes Wraithborn, along with an acolyte from the Temple of Bahamut, Theilius, about the horrific undead attacks they’ve been plagued with. Both sides have weathered incredible losses, and both have come to see that they either stand together against this common enemy or both will fall. The foe I speak of is… somewhat known. But there are still many key things we need to find out before we can even think about stopping them.
“First, their name is Desathrax. They are a combination of the divine sparks of both Tiamat and Bahamut, and they have been consuming these sparks from the clerics, priests, paladin, acolytes of both temples. They have also been sending both followers false visions of their god’s, which have then compelled the followers to travel to the Sunset Spines on a ‘holy pilgrimage’ only to never return.
“Second, Desatrhax is trying to ascend to godhood but has not gathered enough power yet. However, the sand is running ever faster through the hourglass. If we do not find where Desathrax’s lair is, we will be unable to find their weakness which will allow us to stop them.
“Which brings me to point three; I know the general area of the Sunset Spines Desathrax’s lair might be, but I cannot go alone. I would like your help in not only finding this place, but assessing the situation and, most importantly, finding the weakness that will allow us to put an end to this undead reign. If we try to fight them now we will be killed, consumed, or converted to serve this as-yet-to-be-god. If we do engage in a fight, it’s important you know the undead and Desathrax have resistances to fire, cold, lightning, radiant, and — I suspect — acid and poison. But I would not see us try to engage in a fight this time. We need to find information so we can come back here. Once we do that, then we can plan with the two draconic deity Temples.
“So… Will you help?”
That’s what Orianna had said to each of the people who are with her now — Cechec, the hyper focused and scarily stoic gold dragonborn forging ahead; Ilthuryn, her star sibling whose stillness has kept her steady and grounded so far; Itzal, the half masked half-orc who’s discerning eye suggested the faster path they now walk; Archie, the dapper human man whose desire for knowledge seemed to rival her own; and Lolli, the lilac furred harengon who’s bubbly nature kept all of their spirits up as they hiked their way through the foothills of the Sunset Spines.
Starlight eyes catch sight of a deer dashing across the rolling hills to their right, running away from the mountains. The sight brings back the divinations she had performed earlier in the tower of the Academy, Valethra curled around a candle for warmth and light.
Orianna had been pouring over star charts, ancient tomes, and scrolls. Usual fair for a young scholar of the Stars and Night Sky department. She was doing a mix of Academy work and her own preparations for this dangerous excursion. It was when she started seeing certain words jump out at her — root, darkness, mountain, dragon — for the third time that she felt the Cosmos was trying to tell her something.
But what?
Divination is not an exact art, let alone a science but Orianna wanted to try. She remembered her father telling her to be cautious though. “Putting stalk into the answers sought from the future where things are not as certain means those of us who See should not view them as absolute. They are more guidelines, threads of possibility. A thought to pin cautious hope upon.”
So she had asked if they would be able to find what it was they were looking for and get out safely, keeping in mind her father’s words of wisdom. The answer had been simple, both yes and no. Concerning and yet unsurprising. More direct than Orianna was expecting as well, which caused her to pause in thought for a while.
But in doing so, Orianna kept coming back to those repeated words — root, darkness, mountain, dragon. As they had spun around in her mind, a burning desire to know why made her do the ritual again.
She knew the Cosmos might not answer her this time.
She hoped that it would.
And it did.
Powerful dragons leave imprints on the world.
She had been there when Grougaloragran had passed, and he had been powerful. She had Valethra beside her, enjoying a scritch behind the scales of her cheek, and she would become powerful. She had a dream given to her by a demi-god of dragons, who claimed she was their Star Herald, recorder of their radiance and ascent to godhood.
As her cloven feet crested another hill, the sun falling behind the peaks of the mountains, Orianna could not help but wonder, again, if what they were doing was actually preventative or perpetuating the inevitable…
OBSERVATIONS & EXCERPTS from the JOURNAL of SECOND ASSISTANT ARCHIVIST ORIANNA ÈIRIGH of ASHKHA
We had been walking for three turns when we all felt it. A chill in the air more akin to all the ‘goodness’ and ‘warmth’ of the world being sucked away. Then Itzal found the tracks, shambling and uneven.
We had found the path to Desathrax’s lair.
What vegetation was there was long dead — greyed out as if the colour had been sucked out of them leaving only withered and bare boned branches of dead trees. Even in a desert that can be life. This was unlife, unmistakable and blatant.
Ilthuryn was spending his time as a giant eagle, trying to find other kin to speak to. He must have found one because he came back and signed to me where we needed to go.
As we planned I could tell something was bothering Cechec. His focus had become feverish and I began to worry that though he said he understood this was an excursion to scout out and gather information, he might lash out at the first undead we came across. I was glad for Itzal’s back up in reaffirming our goals. I don’t know how the Elders back home-... I don’t know how any leader does it. I felt so out of my depth leading a group of people into a place where we knew death awaited us if we misstepped.
I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if anything happened to one of them…
I failed to mention the undead’s strange language of Celestial, Infernal and Primordial! It nearly cost Archie his life. I am a fool! Such an oversight, such a simple thing to have ensured I told them and I did not.
He did not blame me, but I blame myself. They are trusting me to guide them to where we need to go since I have the most knowledge of everyone here. And yet-
Not to self: Create a note, something simple, that summarises the key points of these undead. Make sure to include resistances (radiant, fire, lighting and cold) along with the madness of triple tongued language…
So many undead. Humanoids and dragons alike! We cannot fight them. Not even those I have heard tales of — the mighty Ghesh, or the commander of the independent militia in Daring Heights, not even the young fey queen who is said to have built the Feylight Garden Theatre — could stand against this horde and hope to survive. There are just… too many.
Even as we became Children of the Sky, flying up to the cloud shrouded peak, I felt a fear I had but a taste of in my very first vision, and again when I spoke to Desathrax. Great and vast and all consuming.
I want to stop this, I just… I just don’t know how…
Ilthuryn motions he wishes to go further into the cavernous hall filled with undead. Orianna, torn, chooses to go with him, though doesn’t know how to say that any magic they may cast will probably not work. There’s no way to say how she knows this, it’s just a feeling. But she feels it like the truth in the air she breathes.
Cechec accompanies them, whilst Archie, Lolli and Itzal stay where they are. The human mage is looking around, trying to find any weakness, something Orianna knows she should be doing. Yet she is compelled to come forward, closer to the void where a low rumble begins to take shape.
Two eyes illuminate in that darkness coming forward towards the Herald, Steppenwolf. The draconic face that emerges is larger than the gargantuan dragon they had seen outside the entrance, and it is clearly undead. But that is not the strangest part. It is seeing the perfect split down the middle where two different bodies have been fused together.
On the left side is half a face and body of a platinum dragon, beautiful scales shimmering from the dark flames wreathing Steppenwolf who stands closest to the void it emerges from. On the right is half the face of a red dragon, with the main body continuing on — except there are two additional heads: one white and one blue. They all realise it at the same moment.
This is Desathrax, and they are terrifying to behold.
All three heads stare out at the undead gathered before it before its gaze shifts, as they begin to sniff the air.
“Oh look. We have visitors.”
All three gigantic heads turn towards them but the main one finds the spot where Orianna hides as if she is plainly visible.
“You came to me, my Star Herald. And you brought friends,” Desathrax says.
Orianna stands. “I told you once already, I will not be your Star Herald and I will tell you again, never.”
There’s a low rumble of laughter from the draconic avatar. Orianna is partially aware of all the undead turning towards her and her friends too — Just like my vision… — but she stays focused on Desathrax’s terrifying form.
“You came to my lair,” they say as if it should be obvious what her intentions were. Orianna feels her will fumble. “Who said that would be able to leave?”
This was a mistake. She shouldn’t have come. None of them should have, at least not this far into the heart of this darkness. They weren’t going to get out. They are going to have to fight and they would all die, and there was nothing she could do to-
Crystal clear light fills her mind and Orianna feels the certainty of the Cosmos fill her, powering her voice as she speaks.
“The Stars say so.”
Then several things happen at once.
Ilthruryn stands, casting a hand out as he whistles. Orianna recognises it as a way to dispel magic. Except there is no magic to dispel and so nothing happens. Cechec stands, drawing his knives. Archie stands too, looking at the entrance they came through with a clear, arcane eye. Itzal is grabbing Lolli and beginning to turn away towards that entrance. And Orianna…
Just like in her vision, she swings her Star Cradle in a big looping arch over her head, the crescent moon crystal flashing with light as the crystal scales on her body glow brighter. From the light fly out two giant falcons, one grabbing Cechec even as the dragonborn is about to step into the fray, before following its partner towards the others. Ilthuryn, seeing his magic fail, signs, ‘Run?!’ to Orianna, who nods. In a leaping swoop, he becomes a horse, which she quickly mounts.
And then they run. They flee the darkness, the cave, the undead and Desathrax, and much like how it happened under Kundar, Desathrax’s laughter follows them in their wake…
As we left we were not chased. We were not even stopped. I do not know if the others heard it but certainly Ilthuryn did as I. Desathrax’s final parting words: This is the Dawn of the Dark Radiance.
It wasn’t until we were flying by the dragon-made-of-many that words told to me by a dying crystal dragon rose up in my mind, silencing the horrible proclamation with their own cold prediction.
“I saw you… wreathed in flame, held high on the pedestal of another. And yet… you were unbound to anyone.”
The entrance to Desathrax’s lair, the seat of his power, is on a large plateau.
“Something wants you…”
These words haunted me all the way back to Daring Heights…