arstin-kerschekt - Tumblr blog

arstin-kerschekt · 3 months ago

Text

City of Blinding Darkness

Previous Chapter: https://www.tumblr.com/arstin-kerschekt/773518228656930816/first-memory

Next Chapter: Coming soon!

Master Post: https://www.tumblr.com/arstin-kerschekt/777794980983029760/voidics-violence-masterpost

Hearing the sounds of life, I stumbled my way to the city. Approaching this grand city at the time seemed exciting. One could only imagine the ceaseless joy of a city that never slept. Walking through the bustling streets, the sounds of life moving was going all around me. The place is both brighter and darker than the place I had been when I awoke. And yet, people could be seen begging for money or food either mocked in open streets or hushed in the solitary desperation of the dark alleyways. Meanwhile, a murmur of voices trying to haggle down prices at local shops could be heard and people shouting at workers that couldn't care less. At the sight of all this, all that had glittered to me seemed to fade faster than the flame of a match in the wind.

As I walked around, something in a stall caught my eye. It was a blank pendant, although it seemed to have a glowing emblem resembling a snowflake on it when I picked it up for a closer look.

“Interested in the charm there?” The shopkeeper asked.

“Yes. Why does it glow like this? It was only blank a few seconds ago,” I had asked him with a look of confusion.

“Well, it’s a handcrafted rift charm. Some folk believe it improves your ability to riftcast. Although, that’s just an old wives’ tale.”

“I see. What can I do for it?”

“Well, I’d prefer money. Unless you got something that’d be worth my while.”

I sit and ponder for a moment, until realizing that I had been visited by the Reaver before I had gained my sight. I could be a status symbol for the stall to attract all manner of customers. While I myself couldn’t provide money, I could get others who could.

“Well I was visited by the Reaver. I can attract customers for you.”

The shopkeeper immediately became disappointed. “You should probably head off to another shop where someone of your importance can be treated more fittingly.”

And with that he ran me off, and I continued down the street. It was mostly more stalls, except the people around the stall with the pendant seemed to stare holes into me and whisper up whatever they could think of me. As I was walking down the street, a man dressed green as a lime approached from one of the many desolate alleyways.

“Howdy there Sonny, heard about your little visit o’ the Reaver. Howsabout this, you hand me a good bit o’ the cash you could spare, and I’ll have it doubled, tripled, no, quadrupled before you know it! Whaddya say, Sonny?” The man pompously proclaimed to me.

I stared blankly into him until my mind had comprehended what he had just proposed. “I don’t have any money, sir.”

“Oh that’s quite alright. Find yourself some money and call me up. Think about it.” The man had assured me, before handing me his business card. I thanked him and was about to head on, before I heard something that made me stop.

"Oh, look. Another freshly awakened heading for this city." Griped a low voice to my left. Looking towards it, I saw a void being with a short top hat and the dark gray right half of a tragedy mask with luminescent green and purple accents. His eyes were luminescent purple dots on his face. Hanging from his waist was a rift charm, glowing with a green tragedy mask and a purple comedy mask. I also couldn't help but notice his left arm was gone.

"They really are a dime a dozen. Cannot go one day without seeing one." The man sneered at me. "What do you mean 'dime a dozen'? I attracted the attention of the Reaver before i even got my sight! What makes you think I'm a dime a dozen?!"

The man was laughing so uproariously that anyone who wasn't already looking towards our encounter soon turned their heads in shock at what I had said. Although thinking on it now, part of it may have been that he was cackling like a madman in the middle of the street.

"I cannot with this thing! I simply cannot! Oh what joyous joy it must be to believe such a lie that you are special. Give a round of applause to our 'special little guest'!"

And suddenly, the crowd is giving the most insincere round of applause I think I've ever heard in my entire existence. All the while, others were giving me the death stare.

"EVERY voidic meets the Reaver on their awakening to receive their sight. How truly hilarious it is that you think you are special!" The man mocks.

"Then what is it that makes you so special?" I inquire, with a snarl.

"Oh of course you would not know. Who would know of the Fifteen Sentinels of the Void on their awakening? Or even know what, say, the Masquerade Sentinel would look like when they awaken? Oh but who knows for certain?" The man hinted with a smirk.

"Are you trying to tell me something?" I questioned.

"Are you dense? Is osmium envious of you?" The man replied, dumbfounded. "What I am trying to tell you is I am the esteemed Masquerade Sentinel, only one of fifteen of the Reavers most powerful, trusted riftcasters to fight for or alongside him. So watch your tone around me, boy." The man chastised.

"...Your left arm seems to reflect your strength very well." I argued back.

"That it does! You see, boy, I am one of the few in this realm who can perform riftcasting with just one arm. An exceptional ability most do not possess without having to use their whole body." He proudly announced, looking all around into the crowd and back at me.

"I meant your lack of strength is why you lost your arm." I retorted. The crowd gasped at what I had said, as though I had insulted a king. The man was shocked by my remark, and tensed up. He grabbed me by my throat and picked me up.

"You better listen REAL close, boy. You do NOT insult someone of MY status like that. You think you have what it takes to be a Sentinel because you have more arms than I? Go ahead and try. I'll watch with glee as you die, incapable of handling a simple mimic. Now, why don't you go on your way, and I'll go on mine. Lest my image be further weighed down by your stupidity." He snarled, as he threw me hard into the ground.

I woke up in an alleyway next to one of the homeless people I had seen. "I can't tell if what you did was the bravest thing I've ever seen, or the most outrageously stupid thing ever done." The homeless man said in a hushed tone.

"How long have I been out?" I requested, matching his volume.

"...about an hour, give or take." He said, looking up, then back at me.

"...I see." I looked around, wondering just where I was. "So who was that man?" I asked.

"I remember reading about him. His name is Ralasch Le'ran, the Masquerade Sentinel." He answered.

"Are all Sentinels like Ralasch?" I asked, looking dazed.

"He's an exception for sure. Most are kind and helpful. But they always prioritize their mission, being the Reaver's closest n' all. Don't take what that bastard tells ya to heart. He just cain't admit he ain't the Reaver's gift to voidkind." He said, his tone raising as he furrowed his brow.

"...Well as you could probably hear from our exchange, I am freshly awakened. I don't know where to go from here." I said, looking at the man. He seemed shocked that I was asking him where to go. And then he let out a chuckle.

"Heh, you'd think I'd be the last being someone would ask for advice, given my predicament. Well, in any case. Theres a school I used to attend, meant specifically for awakened voidics. There, you will be able to learn how to harness your innate ability, should you choose to." He said, with a hint of nostalgia on his face and tone. "Hell, I'll even take you there myself," he offered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I know, I know. It took a long while getting here. But this is it. The school I attended. Just walk in, they'll get you set up. Oh, and don't worry. It's a boardin' school. So no need to worry about finding residence for now." He said as we arrived. He had a familiar look of remorse plastered on his face.

The school was huge, with a long flight of stairs leading up to the entrance. It looked more like a fortress than a school, if anything. "The Grand Academy of the Dark Art of Riftcasting" was posted clearer than day on the front of the school. I looked back and thanked the man as I began my ascent. Suddenly, the man grabbed me by the shoulder.

"Hey, Arstin. Make me a promise, will ya? Please promise that ya won't end up like me, yeah? You've got a lot of potential and all the time to do it. So please, don't squander it like I did." He said, looking at me with that same regretful look from earlier.

"I can promise you that much, my friend." I said to him. He smiled at me as he let go of my shoulder. As he walked away, I continued my ascent, towards the school where I would spend the next few years.

#arstin kerschekt #voidics & violence #OC #original character #my OC #original story #original stories #relasch le'ran

0 notes

arstin-kerschekt · 4 months ago

Text

First Memory

Next chapter: https://www.tumblr.com/arstin-kerschekt/777794881782448128/city-of-blinding-darkness

Masterpost: https://www.tumblr.com/arstin-kerschekt/777794980983029760/voidics-violence-masterpost

I awoke. Or, was I awake for longer? The only thing I know is that I am here... wherever that is. It's pitch black, nothingness for miles on end. There was no sound to be heard. There was nothing to see. And I can't quite remember whether I could feel anything in the emptiness.

After what felt like an eternity, in what seemed to be the distance I saw a faint purple glow. Following it, I face two things in the void I was trapped in. Their shape was impossible to determine, and if they had bodies, they were as black as the empty landscapes around them. Their eyes glowed a strong purple. They held spears with luminescent purple cracks and glowing green engravings. They held their spears in an X formation, and the engravings seemed to glow brighter. As they gazed angrily at me, one of the things shouted. "HALT!”

"What business do you have here?" The other figure snarled. I felt a chill run down my spine, yet it also seems as though I didn't feel anything at all. The engravings seemed to grow brighter as they affixed their gaze onto me.

"Leave at once, and never return!" they both said, enraged yet synchronized. I froze, not knowing what to do or where to go. I didn't even know where I was. Come to think of it, did I know what I was? Following this thought, I looked down at where my arms should have been. Nothing, and if something were there then it was as black as the nothing that stretched for miles.

"Are you broken?" The guard on the left said, presumably puzzled as to why I was trying to stare at my own arms. I tried to speak, and I can't tell if I imagined me saying something, or if they ignored me. But either way, my words were as nothing as the void surrounding me.

"For guards who respect me beyond all else, you seem to lack respect for those that I have brought here." A voice said, loud enough to make thunder cower. The guards turned their attention away from me, and began bowing in the direction of the voice.

"Please do forgive us for our unbecomingness, Master." The two guards seemed to plea.

"You always apologize, and yet the only thing growing here is my weariness of your disposition." The voice said frustratedly and glaring at the two guards. Come to think of it, I think this is the only time I've heard him sound upset. Two eyes appeared high above me, more purple than the guards below it. I then noticed a tall structure to the thing's right. It had purple and green cracks running all down it, with an overhang of pure purple, fluctuating in intensity. It was at seeing the overhang I realized it was not in fact a structure, but rather a towering scythe. "The young one is born anew, within the darkness. Heed the call, he did. And now out walks a fine voidic." The voice loudly proclaimed.

"Who are you? What is this place?" I stammered.

"Ah, it was rather rude of me to not introduce myself. I apologize. I am Kerschout P'lasch. But everyone else here knows me as the Void Reaver." The Reaver said, gazing at me curiously.

"You are currently in the Void. A dimension defined as vast nothingness, to those without the sight." One of the guards chimed in.

"You. What is your name?" The Reaver asked. I didn't know how to answer. Did I have a name before then? Who was I? The Reaver seemed to immediately know my answer.

"Nameless one, hear me. In your new vessel, your new life, you shall bear the name of Arstin Kerschekt. The frost heeds your call, and the vines shall grow where you please. Go forth and see, a world unseen."

The Reaver said. I closed my eyes took a deep breath. When I opened my eyes, I looked around and a world appeared before me, full of life. I turned back to face the Reaver, to see him and his guards weren't there. I awoke as the voidic known as Arstin Kerschekt. I have no memories of what happened before, but I have a path forward. Everything is both dark and vibrant. There's forests of dark trees and purple leaves. I look another way and see a river with a city on its bank. Birds chirped, wind howled, and the faint sounds of people talking in the city could be heard from here. It's warm out here, and what appears to be a sun is shining. If I was lucky enough to draw the attention of the Void Reaver before I even got my sight, then I believe I have a chance in the Void.

#OC #original character #my OC #original story #original stories #arstin kerschekt #kerschout p’lasch #voidics & violence

0 notes