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Bone & Steel

The clatter of bone and steel reverberated through the old halls.

“Quickly!” he screamed, his voice laced with terror. “This way! The dead are nearly upon us!”

A trap. The final exit crawling with bumbling corpses. The crowd stumbled inside, driven by panic and fear, unknowing. A mass of bodies, teeth, blood and screams. It was unclear which living and which were dead.

The guard, who followed behind the crowd, slowly backed away, tears streaming down his face. He did not intend to lead them all to their demise. But now, thanks to him, the legions of dead had grown again.

He looked around. Dead everywhere - closing in on him. There was no escape, he knew that. He fell to his knees and removed his helm, cursing the higher plane. The thought of impending death was not what crippled him into defeat, but the burden of knowing his final act had doomed over thirty people to rot for eternity. 

He unsheathed his blade and held it to his throat.

“Asgal have mercy.” he pleaded.

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Arralon. That is where it all ends. The place where the strings of destiny tie together. No matter what path you take, what choices you make - in the end, we will all travel to Arralon.

Shinato

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Cold Flame, Black Ice

The air was rigid and tight. We choked on it, suffocating in our final moments. He stood before us, glowing like a beautiful white sun. Any second now, I thought. Even he could not contain such power. It was so volatile, his veins swollen to bursting, embers spat and crackled from his eyes. His smoldering hair dancing in the storm. He could only scream. A luxury the rest of us could not bring ourselves to accomplish. Any second now.

But time had almost frozen. I saw visions of our past playing like an old movie in the wall of flames before me. The night I sank my blade mercilessly into our mother’s throat while she slept, covering her mouth and hushing her into eternal rest. The night he found out it was me, his own sister, that had been the one to commit the murder he had yearned to solve for so very long. The look in his eyes when he realized his entire life was a facade, a pantomime in which he unknowingly played the lead role. The day his rage finally consumed him whole and he cut the strings from his puppeteers and forged a new, dark destiny for his own. The day my brother died and the Flamebender was born.

I guess now it is finally over. Hundreds have gathered to watch the spectacle. They will all die along with him in his final act of vengeance, the blast radius will be nuclear. I’ll die, too, of course. But I deserve it. The men, women and children surrounding me do not. An entire kingdom, burned to ash.

Any. Second. Now.

[secrets-of-gondana-blog]

Secrets of Gondana: Prologue

You hear something crunch beneath your boot. Like autumn leaves, but there are none around. It is mid-summer. You look down to see an old, tattered scroll. Aged. Blood stained. Torn. But the ink has kept well. By it's side, a blade, furled in vines, claimed by nature. Runes etched onto it's tarnished metal. You stretch out the scroll, trying to not tear it.

My name is Ardus Renala Barkskin. I am the boy-Regent Lord of my home, Tel'Ranis, in the absence of my mother, Lady Arduin Barkskin. I send this message in hope it one day reaches her. I pray it is not too late.

Mother, if you are reading this, know that Tel'Ranis has fallen. Father has gone, too. I do not know his whereabouts, but I fear he may have fallen with our kingdom. I am writing this to you not as a plea for help, but as a warning. If you're out there, if you're alive, do not return home. For there is no home left to return to. We have failed. Our people scattered, our will broken. Tirinas is nothing but an ashen wasteland, for the searing maw has unleashed it's fury upon us all. Tel'Ranis burned, the Motherwood scarred by flame and bathed in ash. If the march is not stopped, the fires will spread and consume all. Even the humans cannot be trusted, they withdrew their elites and left us to burn. They retreated back to their mountains in the south. I hope the flame claims them as it did us. I am writing this to you not to break your spirit, but to strengthen it. I have heard of a secret land hidden somewhere on Gondana that may hold the key to rejuvenating our broken land. Ediacara. Have you heard of it? Rivers of moonlight and skies of diamond.Within it, the Crucible of Life. I do not know if this place truly exists, but we have nothing left to lose. I, along with Grove Lord Remulon and the remaining Bristlecone Offense, have migrated east - we seek the jungles of Amazar in hope to rekindle an old alliance. I believe our allies in Amazar may be able to shed some light on this apparent paradise. I hear whispers that they know the location of a diety named Entropus who guards the entrance to Ediacara. Mother, if you're out there, know that if I fail to locate Ediacara and the Crucible of Life, I will seek refuge in Zogtommon. I will wait for you there. I know this message will reach you, it has to. Make haste. Our people have lost faith. I have lost faith. I do not know how to lead them anymore. I have promised them utopia, but I fear I may have sealed their fates. If we are not destined to meet again in the world of the living, I will join you when Arralon sings. A'tel, a'duneht etoth.

You crumple the scroll in your hand. It disintegrates and scatters in the wind. You pick up the blade and dust it off. Elven steel. This will sell for a significant price, it will feed you for a week. You sheath it in your backpack and carry on your way.