The rooms within the Temple of Pan were hardly opulent. In truth, they were little more than cells, containing the absolute necessities of individual life: a bed, a small table, a chest for a few things...even a simple wash stand with a pitcher. But they were warm, comfortable, and actually rather spacious...far more spacious than their use might otherwise indicate.
It was very, very late...or perhaps very, very early. The sun had not yet rose...there was not yet even a faint nimbus announcing it's imminent arrival...but there was a freshness to the air, a freshness that spoke of the evening's rains last night, and the clean, lifting smells it left in it's wake, smells that crept in through the shuttered, narrow window despite any efforts to close them.
And yet something was not so serene. It was footsteps approaching...and a stiff, quiet knock...that interrupted the perfect, restful evening. The knock shook the door to the cell, it's insistence and urgency plain through the sturdy, thick boards.
The Blackest Mark (Samheen 23rd, GT, Closed)
Moderator: Mods
The Blackest Mark (Samheen 23rd, GT, Closed)
Last edited by Grant on Sun Sep 04, 2005 4:53 pm, edited 2 times in total.
-
Guest
Celestine had been lying on her bed in a light doze, her mind processing all the strange events that had befallen her since her arrival in the Citadel about a week ago. She'd have never imagined then that she would be wrapped up in affairs of state, or those of Gods. All she'd wanted was to be a Rose and settle in a nice and comfortable lifestyle. Then life had thrown her into a strange and confusing whirl where she had made terrific new friends and dangerous new enemies. Her mind needed time to take a breather.
Then someone knocked. Joy. She hoped it wasn't another initiate come to speak to her instead of Vanir or Father Erik. With a sigh and a grumble she got to her feet, stretched, and then went to the door and opened it. "Can I help you?" The adhiel's violet eyes were still a little foggy from sleep and her blonde braids flowed about her round face in an untidy fall.
Then someone knocked. Joy. She hoped it wasn't another initiate come to speak to her instead of Vanir or Father Erik. With a sigh and a grumble she got to her feet, stretched, and then went to the door and opened it. "Can I help you?" The adhiel's violet eyes were still a little foggy from sleep and her blonde braids flowed about her round face in an untidy fall.
Rising up to check the door, Celestine pulled it open and found...no one. In truth, she found nothing, the hallway just beyond her door empty and dark, illuminated only by the soft starlight that only lightly filtered in through her own window to provide soft and sterile color to the stone floor beyond.
But this was wrong.
There had always been a candle, lamp, or torch burning in the halls before, so the inky blackness was a surprise to her. There was also...something else. There was no breeze, no air...the temple had several open atriums to house the alters, and Celestine had grown accustomed to a certain flow of air through the complex...but that was lacking now, giving the place a stagnant, stale, almost bitter taste to the air, as if she were actually underground in some deep, dark cave.
She could hear nothing...no sound at all save her own breath...and her pulse, which seemed to speed itself from some unknown or unexplainable wrongness of the situation before her.
But this was wrong.
There had always been a candle, lamp, or torch burning in the halls before, so the inky blackness was a surprise to her. There was also...something else. There was no breeze, no air...the temple had several open atriums to house the alters, and Celestine had grown accustomed to a certain flow of air through the complex...but that was lacking now, giving the place a stagnant, stale, almost bitter taste to the air, as if she were actually underground in some deep, dark cave.
She could hear nothing...no sound at all save her own breath...and her pulse, which seemed to speed itself from some unknown or unexplainable wrongness of the situation before her.
Maeve: It starts with ambition
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
-
Guest
Celestine felt her heart start to beat faster. Oh no. Not again. The last time she'd felt a wrongness like this was when she was trapped in the demon's abode. She felt the first hints of panic start to rise but then she clamped down on them harshly.
It's not like I haven't been in worse situations this past week. That brought a bit of an ironic smile to her face. The important thing was not to lose her head. The first thing she did was close her door, then settle herself in a sitting position on her bed and close her eyes, taking and releasing deep breaths. Her mind sought out the guidance and wisdom of Pan, the warmth his presence had inspired her when they had met and which had been reflected in his priesthood. She sought to calm her mind and embrace her own inner magick and strength before confronting whatever or whoever was behind this wrongness.
It's not like I haven't been in worse situations this past week. That brought a bit of an ironic smile to her face. The important thing was not to lose her head. The first thing she did was close her door, then settle herself in a sitting position on her bed and close her eyes, taking and releasing deep breaths. Her mind sought out the guidance and wisdom of Pan, the warmth his presence had inspired her when they had met and which had been reflected in his priesthood. She sought to calm her mind and embrace her own inner magick and strength before confronting whatever or whoever was behind this wrongness.
As if dispelling the changes in the temple, closing the door only served to make the foreboding feelings evaporate, as if they were never there at all. Seated upon her bed, Celestine called upon her faith, and found it instantly with her, though it was a fickle, uncertain thing, a mirror of her own uncertainty. Despite this, it was vibrant, living, and strong...
Thug THUD THUD THUD!
Her door shook with the knocks once again, knockings that were far more insistent and demanding, crashing into Celestine's world and threatening to undo her inner resolve. "Sister Celestine!" the voice was that of Father Eric, but it was...pained? Tormented? It was weak and frightened and spent, like a man that feared for his life...or worse.
Thug THUD THUD THUD!
Her door shook with the knocks once again, knockings that were far more insistent and demanding, crashing into Celestine's world and threatening to undo her inner resolve. "Sister Celestine!" the voice was that of Father Eric, but it was...pained? Tormented? It was weak and frightened and spent, like a man that feared for his life...or worse.
Maeve: It starts with ambition
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
-
Guest
Celestine almost started to get up. She recognized the voice of Father Erik, and he sounded like he was in pain! But then something clicked in the back of her head. She'd heard no footsteps. Normally one could hear the footsteps on the stone of the Temple before it reached her door, unless she was otherwise occupied. But she'd heard nothing, and seen nothing. How had found her door in the eerie darkness outside? She hadn't seen him often enough for him to visit her room regularly. And why would Father Erik come to her, an initiate priestess? Why not go to Vanir or one of the more experienced priests if he was in trouble?
Trusting to her instincts and her faith in Pan, she reached out with the magic she had learned, trying to read the Father's aura through the door, as she had once read the aura of the priestess who taught her, and sensed the presence of a dark force within the temple itself. Her eyes were closed and her breathing regular and even as she let her mind and heart reach in to find her power and then out into the world.
Trusting to her instincts and her faith in Pan, she reached out with the magic she had learned, trying to read the Father's aura through the door, as she had once read the aura of the priestess who taught her, and sensed the presence of a dark force within the temple itself. Her eyes were closed and her breathing regular and even as she let her mind and heart reach in to find her power and then out into the world.
Last edited by Guest on Tue Oct 04, 2005 3:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
There was very little about the process that could be considered simple, and while Celestine did manage to focus herself upon the aether by way of her faith, she found her concentration somewhat more difficult to maintain than she had before. Shaking off the lingering affects of sleep and something not unlike unknown dread, she tried to reach out and see what might lie behind the door...and found nothing. It seemed as though nothing was beyond her doorway, though it was just as likely that what actually was beyond the doorway was not visible in the aether, not to her awareness.
As if to defy logic and sense, the thudding came at her door once more, this time less urgent and explosive. Thud thudthudthud it rattled, once again Father Eric insistent. "How can you still sleep? Celestine, by Pan's hooves, hurry! There's been a terrible accident, and I need your help!"
As if to defy logic and sense, the thudding came at her door once more, this time less urgent and explosive. Thud thudthudthud it rattled, once again Father Eric insistent. "How can you still sleep? Celestine, by Pan's hooves, hurry! There's been a terrible accident, and I need your help!"
Maeve: It starts with ambition
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
-
Guest
Celestine felt frustration at her inability to sense anything. Of course there might not be anything to be sensed, or it could just be outside her range. She was still a beginner after all. But she knew that she'd sensed a wrongness when she opened her door, and that sense had faded when she closed it. She wasn't about to go charging out there into Pan-knows-what without some idea of what she was up against.
"Father? What has happened? Please, tell me." She remained on her bed but pitched her voice so that he could hear it outside. "Where are the other priests? Why hasn't an alarm been sounded?"
"Father? What has happened? Please, tell me." She remained on her bed but pitched her voice so that he could hear it outside. "Where are the other priests? Why hasn't an alarm been sounded?"
Last edited by Guest on Wed Oct 05, 2005 2:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"This is an alarm, dammit!" came the priest's exasperated voice, a note of frantic fear very clear in his sound. His voice was faint as if he did not stand too close outside her door, for he was already moving away, his voice carrying onward towards the center of the temple and the welcoming foyer. When next she heard him, his voice was very faint indeed. "It might already be too..."
...and then silence. In the gloom, Celestine could see nothing...not even her own cell was so easily seen to her eyes...and now she could hear nothing as well, as if the world had gone still and motionless. There was still a strange, almost mystical feeling of unease in the air, some kind of divine warning that touched her soul and spoke of some horror that was about to befall the temple.
...and then silence. In the gloom, Celestine could see nothing...not even her own cell was so easily seen to her eyes...and now she could hear nothing as well, as if the world had gone still and motionless. There was still a strange, almost mystical feeling of unease in the air, some kind of divine warning that touched her soul and spoke of some horror that was about to befall the temple.
Maeve: It starts with ambition
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
-
Guest
Celestine felt her heart begin to race. What had happened?! Where had Father Erik gone?! Why couldn't she see in her own room?!? The wrongness! That had to be it! But she could not sense it? What...
"No!" She had to think! She had fought through wrongness before, in the demon's abode. She had to keep her head! She couldn't go out into the darkness unprotected, and her cell was no guarantee of safety. Her body and mind might not be able to fight this, but maybe her spirit....
She took a few deep breaths and tried something she had not done alone before. She stilled her mind as best she could, and then began to reach, not outward but inward, focusing her senses on herself first, to purge the traces of wrongness that may have filtered into her, before reaching her spirit towards the Aether, to seek guidance from Lord Pan.
"No!" She had to think! She had fought through wrongness before, in the demon's abode. She had to keep her head! She couldn't go out into the darkness unprotected, and her cell was no guarantee of safety. Her body and mind might not be able to fight this, but maybe her spirit....
She took a few deep breaths and tried something she had not done alone before. She stilled her mind as best she could, and then began to reach, not outward but inward, focusing her senses on herself first, to purge the traces of wrongness that may have filtered into her, before reaching her spirit towards the Aether, to seek guidance from Lord Pan.
There were no further sounds from the door. In fact, the hallway had grown eery in it's silence, with not even the usual breeze filtering through the halls to gasp in under her doorway as Celestrine had grown accustomed to hearing. She was left in only darkness, the sterile, white starlight that filtered in from her window illuminating the room imperfectly, leaving all in shades of grays and blacks. The silence was broken only once by the sound of something falling in another chamber of the Temple...something metallic as it clattered to the floor...bot otherwise no sound could be heard.
It was no simple feat for Celestine to return herself to the Aether. Once again, she had to calm herself to maintain her focus, and once more she could see the patterns of power around her, and once more they wrestled and moved beyond her comprehension or control. She could sense the energies around her...and they made some sense to her, each pattern distinct in it's flavor...but she could no more reach them than she could follow them overlong, their twisting, turning, chaotic movements eluding her and making her dizzy and almost nauseous.
It was no simple feat for Celestine to return herself to the Aether. Once again, she had to calm herself to maintain her focus, and once more she could see the patterns of power around her, and once more they wrestled and moved beyond her comprehension or control. She could sense the energies around her...and they made some sense to her, each pattern distinct in it's flavor...but she could no more reach them than she could follow them overlong, their twisting, turning, chaotic movements eluding her and making her dizzy and almost nauseous.
Maeve: It starts with ambition
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
-
Guest
Celestine felt the twisting currents of power and magick as she tried to free her spirit and return to the beautiful vale Vanir had shown her: the dwelling place of Pan in the Aether. She felt the reactions of her body, the nausea as she tried to follow the currents with her mind's eye and couldn't for very long.
So instead of trying to reach them, she let herself go. She let her spirit drift free, to carry her into the Aether on the currents rather than trying to grapple with the currents and waste her own energy and willpower. She just let her mind float into a state of contentment and kept her breathing even and regular as her spirit floated.
So instead of trying to reach them, she let herself go. She let her spirit drift free, to carry her into the Aether on the currents rather than trying to grapple with the currents and waste her own energy and willpower. She just let her mind float into a state of contentment and kept her breathing even and regular as her spirit floated.
(OOC: This thread is now Impassable due to sticky, bitey danger!)
...and then she was no longer in her room, floating away and into the Aether, past the strange, stifling pressure of the Aether around her and into a place of her own making....or perhaps a place of Pan's making. It was a meadow crested in wild flowers, a forest opening out to one side and a valley reaching beyond the crest on the other. It was different now, a forest that was in the autumn seasons, it's leaves golden, yellow, orange and rust, falling free and blowing over the meadow with a light, casual, lazy path.
In the distance just among the trees was a little girl of perhaps thirteen or fourteen yahren. Stood against one of the trees there and smiled over at Celestine from the distance, her rust-colored hair interrupted by two long...antennae and a set of wings, not unlike those of a dragonfly...sprouting from her back.
...and then she was no longer in her room, floating away and into the Aether, past the strange, stifling pressure of the Aether around her and into a place of her own making....or perhaps a place of Pan's making. It was a meadow crested in wild flowers, a forest opening out to one side and a valley reaching beyond the crest on the other. It was different now, a forest that was in the autumn seasons, it's leaves golden, yellow, orange and rust, falling free and blowing over the meadow with a light, casual, lazy path.
In the distance just among the trees was a little girl of perhaps thirteen or fourteen yahren. Stood against one of the trees there and smiled over at Celestine from the distance, her rust-colored hair interrupted by two long...antennae and a set of wings, not unlike those of a dragonfly...sprouting from her back.
Maeve: It starts with ambition
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
-
Guest
Celestine looked at the strange creature before her, her violet eyes wide. This place seemed familiar, but now it was autumn instead of spring, and she didn't remember any girls with wings and antennae here before.
Curious, Celestine raised a tentative hand and waved to the girl. "Good morning miss!" There. It never hurt to be polite, especially in foreign dimensions of being. Hopefully the girl was friendly.
OOC: I'm feeling sick, which is why responses have lagged.
Curious, Celestine raised a tentative hand and waved to the girl. "Good morning miss!" There. It never hurt to be polite, especially in foreign dimensions of being. Hopefully the girl was friendly.
OOC: I'm feeling sick, which is why responses have lagged.
(OOC: Sorry to hear! Hope you're feeling better!)
"Halloooooo..." came back the distant replay, a tiny voice from a tiny girl in the distance. Pushing away from the tree...she was only between two and three feet in height, with a slender, miniature frame to match...she bounced forward, moving with spry exhilaration towards Celestine. Nothing in her movements seemed hostile at all, though she seemed to have some trouble navigating the lush meadow. After all, the growth might not have been overly high, but to a little girl of her height, it was cumbersome at best.
"It's you!" she twinkled, her voice suddenly familiar to Celestine...a voice that came from under her bed, within her bed, trapped in a sheet, and then charging back to Vanir and Finodborn...just in time to disappear forever. Or at least what Finodborn had believed to be forever...and yet here she stood, clearly the same faery that had spoken to her before. "Should you be here?" she asked, her tiny, child-like face twisted in great concern.
"Oh!" She gasped, staring at Celestine with sudden understanding. "You're...you're dead! I was afraid for you and worried it would happen," pouted the leaf faery, an entity that had been called Tseh. "Well, you need not dwell upon the world of mortals anymore, little sister! Pan is here, and all your brothers and sisters are here as well. Have no more fears, for that world is left behind..."<hr>Father Eric didn't manage to scream as he died. He would have screamed...oh, how desperately he wanted to scream...but in the end he had come to know peace and fortitude in the face of what would be his death. It was a testament to his faith that he could show so much courage in the face of his utter annihilation, for his was a soul protected, and the beast could not claim him or force him into anything. It was left with no alternative but to kill him, a task it enjoyed perhaps too well...an enjoyment that only heightened with the sheer terror of it's victims.
It had come from the shadows, and Father Eric had chased it into the shadows. He had overcome it's domination of him, but he could not overcome it's wanton cruelty and evil intent, having been forced to retreat to his rooms where he had fallen into it's trap. A web, so very complete, and when it arrived, a form so horrifying, so terrible, so familiar, he might have screamed just to warn the others...but it's spinnerets instantly lanced out to wrap him into a cocoon of thick, sour silk, a cocoon that held him fast and made him helpless against it. He remembered when it but into him, it's two massive fangs plunging into his body, filling him with it's toxic fluid, and draining everything within him, his blood, his body, his life, but not my soul! Even as the dark, horrible form clung to it's web near him and ended his life, he knew peace and no pain at all. It is now...<hr>"...my time."
Instantly Father Eric stood in the meadow just near Tseh and Celestine. He had a comfortable, lethargic, almost relaxed look upon his face. Glancing around, he spotted Tseh, a look of curious confusion upon his face, and then he spotted Celestine. "Oh, my dear, it got to you as well?" he said sympathetically, his hand reaching out to her to comfort her. "I'm so sorry. I thought I had eliminated the risk...I thought I had controlled it...but I was so very wrong. I'm so sorry," he offered.
Even then, Celestine knew that unlike her, Father Eric was dead, having just arrived to his eternal home among the other fallen Panlings of the world.
"Halloooooo..." came back the distant replay, a tiny voice from a tiny girl in the distance. Pushing away from the tree...she was only between two and three feet in height, with a slender, miniature frame to match...she bounced forward, moving with spry exhilaration towards Celestine. Nothing in her movements seemed hostile at all, though she seemed to have some trouble navigating the lush meadow. After all, the growth might not have been overly high, but to a little girl of her height, it was cumbersome at best.
"It's you!" she twinkled, her voice suddenly familiar to Celestine...a voice that came from under her bed, within her bed, trapped in a sheet, and then charging back to Vanir and Finodborn...just in time to disappear forever. Or at least what Finodborn had believed to be forever...and yet here she stood, clearly the same faery that had spoken to her before. "Should you be here?" she asked, her tiny, child-like face twisted in great concern.
"Oh!" She gasped, staring at Celestine with sudden understanding. "You're...you're dead! I was afraid for you and worried it would happen," pouted the leaf faery, an entity that had been called Tseh. "Well, you need not dwell upon the world of mortals anymore, little sister! Pan is here, and all your brothers and sisters are here as well. Have no more fears, for that world is left behind..."<hr>Father Eric didn't manage to scream as he died. He would have screamed...oh, how desperately he wanted to scream...but in the end he had come to know peace and fortitude in the face of what would be his death. It was a testament to his faith that he could show so much courage in the face of his utter annihilation, for his was a soul protected, and the beast could not claim him or force him into anything. It was left with no alternative but to kill him, a task it enjoyed perhaps too well...an enjoyment that only heightened with the sheer terror of it's victims.
It had come from the shadows, and Father Eric had chased it into the shadows. He had overcome it's domination of him, but he could not overcome it's wanton cruelty and evil intent, having been forced to retreat to his rooms where he had fallen into it's trap. A web, so very complete, and when it arrived, a form so horrifying, so terrible, so familiar, he might have screamed just to warn the others...but it's spinnerets instantly lanced out to wrap him into a cocoon of thick, sour silk, a cocoon that held him fast and made him helpless against it. He remembered when it but into him, it's two massive fangs plunging into his body, filling him with it's toxic fluid, and draining everything within him, his blood, his body, his life, but not my soul! Even as the dark, horrible form clung to it's web near him and ended his life, he knew peace and no pain at all. It is now...<hr>"...my time."
Instantly Father Eric stood in the meadow just near Tseh and Celestine. He had a comfortable, lethargic, almost relaxed look upon his face. Glancing around, he spotted Tseh, a look of curious confusion upon his face, and then he spotted Celestine. "Oh, my dear, it got to you as well?" he said sympathetically, his hand reaching out to her to comfort her. "I'm so sorry. I thought I had eliminated the risk...I thought I had controlled it...but I was so very wrong. I'm so sorry," he offered.
Even then, Celestine knew that unlike her, Father Eric was dead, having just arrived to his eternal home among the other fallen Panlings of the world.
Maeve: It starts with ambition
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
-
Guest
Celestine had been stunned when she saw Tseh but absolutely floored when she was told she was...dead?!?!?! Her mouth was hanging slack and her violet eyes were huge. Then Father Eric showed up to deliver punch number two. She could only gape soundlessly for several long moments before blinking her eyes back into focus.
"Dead?! IT?!? No! No, I'm not dead! I...I was in the Temple just now, and I felt some horrible wrongness about, so I sealed myself in my cell and freed my mind, to come here to the Aether and seek the guidance of Pan in confronting the wrongness. But now Tseh says I'm dead?!" She looked at both the priest and the leaf fairy with incomprehension on her young adhiel face.
"Dead?! IT?!? No! No, I'm not dead! I...I was in the Temple just now, and I felt some horrible wrongness about, so I sealed myself in my cell and freed my mind, to come here to the Aether and seek the guidance of Pan in confronting the wrongness. But now Tseh says I'm dead?!" She looked at both the priest and the leaf fairy with incomprehension on her young adhiel face.
Father Eric....no, he was only Eric now, his service upon the Tether complete...exchanged a curious glance with Tseh. "This...this is the place of Pan, Celestine...and I'm on my way to the Meadow. I won't ever be back, my dear. Ah...if you're visiting from the waking world, perhaps you...shouldn't be? Celestine, your door won't hold it out for long. It will break through, and it will take you, too. Perhaps you should not return to the waking world? Come with me, and leave it behind," offered Eric, smiling to her and motioning towards a crest in the meadow around them. That he was dead seemed of little concern to him...it was as if he were discussing some song he had heard or some meal he had eaten. His face held none of the anxiety, concern, or stress he had known in the waking world, and his movements were firm and steady, unlike the battered priest Celestine had known in the real world.
"You know, I was very attracted to you in life? Almost unbearably so. Oh, and in the usual way, of course...sexually as well as emotionally. It is curious that we can worship Pan all our lives, and still feel some uncertainty about each other when it comes to matters of the heart? Thankfully, such matters are lost here where we all come together as one. I hope Noland, Tricia, Rhianna and Vanir survive the creature...it was most horrifying when it bit into me. We'll know soon enough, I suppose," he chattered, speaking of love, his death, and hope for those that survive him with an almost casual, abstract passing, like he might discuss the weather.
Tseh did not move to join Eric, of course...she was not mortal, and death was as much a part of her life as the sunrise. Leaf faeries always died in the Autumn, and they were always reborn in the Spring....that was the nature of life and the pattern of her existence. Watching the pair, she considered how ineffectual her warning had been...she had been distracted and her words were incomplete...and now at least one of them had died. At least she'll be happier here, thought Tseh, her head cocking to one side. She did not respect the difference between alive or dead in truth, so it mattered very little to her.
"You know, I was very attracted to you in life? Almost unbearably so. Oh, and in the usual way, of course...sexually as well as emotionally. It is curious that we can worship Pan all our lives, and still feel some uncertainty about each other when it comes to matters of the heart? Thankfully, such matters are lost here where we all come together as one. I hope Noland, Tricia, Rhianna and Vanir survive the creature...it was most horrifying when it bit into me. We'll know soon enough, I suppose," he chattered, speaking of love, his death, and hope for those that survive him with an almost casual, abstract passing, like he might discuss the weather.
Tseh did not move to join Eric, of course...she was not mortal, and death was as much a part of her life as the sunrise. Leaf faeries always died in the Autumn, and they were always reborn in the Spring....that was the nature of life and the pattern of her existence. Watching the pair, she considered how ineffectual her warning had been...she had been distracted and her words were incomplete...and now at least one of them had died. At least she'll be happier here, thought Tseh, her head cocking to one side. She did not respect the difference between alive or dead in truth, so it mattered very little to her.
Maeve: It starts with ambition
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
-
Guest
Celestine looked at Eric in shock. It wasn't the confession of attraction to her that had her so stunned (though admittedly, she was surprised). She couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Father Eric! If this creature is still running around loose then I have to do something! I can't let it just devour the other priests and priestesses, not after all the kindness you and the Temple showed me in my time of need! And what if it escapes from the Temple into the Citadel proper? Thousands will be in danger! I have to do something!" She looked about the clearing wildly, as if hunting for some magic or weapon that could destroy or bind the creature.
After a moment, breathing rapidly as if from panic or exertion, she looked back at the older priest and the leaf fairy. "Is Pan here? In the Meadow? Is there some way I can contact him?"
"Father Eric! If this creature is still running around loose then I have to do something! I can't let it just devour the other priests and priestesses, not after all the kindness you and the Temple showed me in my time of need! And what if it escapes from the Temple into the Citadel proper? Thousands will be in danger! I have to do something!" She looked about the clearing wildly, as if hunting for some magic or weapon that could destroy or bind the creature.
After a moment, breathing rapidly as if from panic or exertion, she looked back at the older priest and the leaf fairy. "Is Pan here? In the Meadow? Is there some way I can contact him?"
Eric glanced upwards a moment, a perfectly pious smile spreading over his face. ""Still clinging to life, are you, Celestine? You know, every moment you are here is one moment close to your death. Go find him, if you wish...I'm sure he's through there..." Eric pointed into the woods, where a very rough game trail could be seen "...pacing before the low red moon. By the time you reach him, you will no longer live in the Tether, and you will come and join us over there..." Eric pointed over the crest of the meadow, where all the fallen Panlings went after death "...directly. Now I beg your pardon, Celestine, but I have no further contact with the world, so I must say goodbye."
"Oh..." he paused, turning to consider her carefully. "There is one more thing...something I learned while I was still alive, and something you must remember. The world belongs to you, Celestine...to the races of man. Your hands and all the hands that live in it make it what it is. Don't look to the Gods to change the world. Look to them to change you...to make you bold, to make you confident, to make you strong...but don't to them to change the world. That can only be done by you."
A series of distant figures rose up upon the distant crest, all of them naked and all of them beckoning for Eric to move on. And he did, waving at Celestine, "Until your time comes, my dear!" before he raced of towards them, leaving into the afterlife that awaited all Panlings. This left celestine alone with Tseh. The tiny faery merely shrugged and offered nothing whatsoever.
"Oh..." he paused, turning to consider her carefully. "There is one more thing...something I learned while I was still alive, and something you must remember. The world belongs to you, Celestine...to the races of man. Your hands and all the hands that live in it make it what it is. Don't look to the Gods to change the world. Look to them to change you...to make you bold, to make you confident, to make you strong...but don't to them to change the world. That can only be done by you."
A series of distant figures rose up upon the distant crest, all of them naked and all of them beckoning for Eric to move on. And he did, waving at Celestine, "Until your time comes, my dear!" before he raced of towards them, leaving into the afterlife that awaited all Panlings. This left celestine alone with Tseh. The tiny faery merely shrugged and offered nothing whatsoever.
Maeve: It starts with ambition
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
-
Guest
Celestine felt the frustration boil up at Eric's cavalier attitude, but what he told her, about mortals shaping the world, did strike a cord. By determination and courage Caesar Anochrim had changed the world, and if Father Eric and Tseh wouldn't help her, then by Pan she'd follow Caesar's example and save as many as she could!
She started out towards the game trail with a determined look on her face, and her violet eyes turning a pale shade of lavender from the stormy expression in them. She'd find Pan, learn what she needed to know to confront this dark monster, then return to the Tether and do so. The Gods might not change the world, but maybe this one could give her a nudge in the right direction towards changing it herself.
She started out towards the game trail with a determined look on her face, and her violet eyes turning a pale shade of lavender from the stormy expression in them. She'd find Pan, learn what she needed to know to confront this dark monster, then return to the Tether and do so. The Gods might not change the world, but maybe this one could give her a nudge in the right direction towards changing it herself.
Watching the young novice dart away towards the forest, Tseh smiled weakly. Stop the changing seasons, stop the moon rising, stop the waves on the beach. Rubbing her tiny, perky, button node, she rose and considered departing. She had remained here in the Aether for some time now...she had to stay away and let Finodborn decide his own fate...and now it would be safe for her to return to the Gardens. Zersa would be happy to see her, of course...but Zersa somehow would know what had happened with Fin, and she would only smile sadly and pray for him.
And who would pray for Celestine? So full of anger and righteousness, and no idea how to use it. She would go to the low red moon and learn something about Pan himself...a truth that had hurt all his worshippers here in the Citadel, a truth that had given them to perhaps resent him and turn away from him. The seasons have changed, the moon has risen, the seas are angry. Heaven and earth burn, and not even the Gods can foresee an end to the coming tide of change.<hr>Racing through the forest, Celestine was to, within, and through the glade in an instant. This was the Aether, and distance meant so very much less. Up ahead, Celestine saw the moon...but the moon was wrong, hanging too low, too large, and too red, an angry, unhappy moon that gazed down upon her like the eyes of an angry parent or God.
And below the moon was a mountain, perfect in it's conical shape, a mountain that had burned. She could tell this due to it's blackened, sickly appearance. The mountain couldn't be real...it stood alone and was far, far too symmetrically perfect to be real...but it stood as something not unlike a headstone for the thousands of corpses around it, a massive landscape filled with broken, reddish glass that had melted into a jagged, lifeless landscape interrupted frequently my coronas of molten glass, some as tall as a man. Within the glass were corpses, most only partially encased, and where they were not encased in glass they were decomposing, picked at by birds and stinking of death though Celestine could hear the faint moans of suffering coming from the grisly scene...a low, permeating hum that might have been nothing more than the wind or a faint note ringing in her ears.
And pacing before the killing field was Pan. But he was not the God of Joy or pleasure...not now, not after this. He had changed, his leonine, supple form stalking pensively back and forth, back and forth...broken glass crunching under large, black hooves...hooves that were once not so large or sinister. In his hand was an axe that no mortal should carry, a large instrument with beaks opposite and a curved, sweeping handle. His hards were large, jutting up from his head much higher than Celestine had ever seen, and his body was more hairy and thicker, as the expanse of his shoulders and the graceful sway of his tail following his movements as he paced before the horrible scene before him.
The hissing crack of glass melting under his hooves could be heard and smelled even from a distance. Pan did not turn to consider Celestine, but it would have been foolish to believe he didn't know she was there. Instead he merely continued t pace, slowly and surely, unchanged until she chose to approach him.
And who would pray for Celestine? So full of anger and righteousness, and no idea how to use it. She would go to the low red moon and learn something about Pan himself...a truth that had hurt all his worshippers here in the Citadel, a truth that had given them to perhaps resent him and turn away from him. The seasons have changed, the moon has risen, the seas are angry. Heaven and earth burn, and not even the Gods can foresee an end to the coming tide of change.<hr>Racing through the forest, Celestine was to, within, and through the glade in an instant. This was the Aether, and distance meant so very much less. Up ahead, Celestine saw the moon...but the moon was wrong, hanging too low, too large, and too red, an angry, unhappy moon that gazed down upon her like the eyes of an angry parent or God.
And below the moon was a mountain, perfect in it's conical shape, a mountain that had burned. She could tell this due to it's blackened, sickly appearance. The mountain couldn't be real...it stood alone and was far, far too symmetrically perfect to be real...but it stood as something not unlike a headstone for the thousands of corpses around it, a massive landscape filled with broken, reddish glass that had melted into a jagged, lifeless landscape interrupted frequently my coronas of molten glass, some as tall as a man. Within the glass were corpses, most only partially encased, and where they were not encased in glass they were decomposing, picked at by birds and stinking of death though Celestine could hear the faint moans of suffering coming from the grisly scene...a low, permeating hum that might have been nothing more than the wind or a faint note ringing in her ears.
And pacing before the killing field was Pan. But he was not the God of Joy or pleasure...not now, not after this. He had changed, his leonine, supple form stalking pensively back and forth, back and forth...broken glass crunching under large, black hooves...hooves that were once not so large or sinister. In his hand was an axe that no mortal should carry, a large instrument with beaks opposite and a curved, sweeping handle. His hards were large, jutting up from his head much higher than Celestine had ever seen, and his body was more hairy and thicker, as the expanse of his shoulders and the graceful sway of his tail following his movements as he paced before the horrible scene before him.
The hissing crack of glass melting under his hooves could be heard and smelled even from a distance. Pan did not turn to consider Celestine, but it would have been foolish to believe he didn't know she was there. Instead he merely continued t pace, slowly and surely, unchanged until she chose to approach him.
Last edited by Grant on Wed Nov 09, 2005 9:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Maeve: It starts with ambition
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
-
Guest
Celestine felt as if someone had punched her in the gut. Her breath came out in a sharp exhalation as she beheld the cemetery and the eerie, wrong moon hovering above it. Her eyes widened and her face went pale at the sight of so much death...and tortured life. She wanted to collapse against a tree, but there were none here to be found.
She almost didn't even notice Pan at first, until the crunching of his hooves on the grass caught her attention. She was again stunned. She didn't recognize the creature at first, so different was he from the gentle young man she'd beheld during her previous visit here. She watched him pace for several long moments before it clicked that this must be Pan, if what Father Eric had said was true. She then swallowed heavily, and internally quailed. How could she speak to him in this state? She wanted to flee, but that very impulse triggered in her a memory of her time in the dungeon, and how Silk had wanted her to break, to give in. She set her jaw and straightened her posture, violet eyes flashing as she remembered the defiance that had preserved her then, and the danger that threatened her and hers now. She stepped forward a few paces, knelt, and spoke.
"Lord Pan. I am your servant Celestine Elessia. Please hear me. I come before you to ask for your assistance in defeating a monster that has desecrated your great Temple in the Citadel of the Seven Isles. I do not ask that you do this for me, only that you give me the strength, the knowledge, and the tools to save your followers there and give them a fighting chance against the Darkness." Her voice was strong, filled with the determination that had brought her from the grove to this place, even as she bowed her head in reverence.
She almost didn't even notice Pan at first, until the crunching of his hooves on the grass caught her attention. She was again stunned. She didn't recognize the creature at first, so different was he from the gentle young man she'd beheld during her previous visit here. She watched him pace for several long moments before it clicked that this must be Pan, if what Father Eric had said was true. She then swallowed heavily, and internally quailed. How could she speak to him in this state? She wanted to flee, but that very impulse triggered in her a memory of her time in the dungeon, and how Silk had wanted her to break, to give in. She set her jaw and straightened her posture, violet eyes flashing as she remembered the defiance that had preserved her then, and the danger that threatened her and hers now. She stepped forward a few paces, knelt, and spoke.
"Lord Pan. I am your servant Celestine Elessia. Please hear me. I come before you to ask for your assistance in defeating a monster that has desecrated your great Temple in the Citadel of the Seven Isles. I do not ask that you do this for me, only that you give me the strength, the knowledge, and the tools to save your followers there and give them a fighting chance against the Darkness." Her voice was strong, filled with the determination that had brought her from the grove to this place, even as she bowed her head in reverence.
Turning upon her sharply such that his shaggy mane waved in the Aether, Pan looked at Celestine sharply and critically. Whatever went on behind his head was lost upon her, of course...no doubt she could not understand...but his look was one of disappointment. "You have always had what you needed to survive your enemies. It lies here..." he reached out one long, clawed finger to brush against her breast, just over her heart.
"Why are you timid? I have seen you suffer, and you bare the scars of your triumph. Why do you fear? Why do you hesitate? Take this..." Pan held out his mighty war axe, a weapon that was easily longer than Celestine's height. Strangely, the weapon was no heavier than a common sword. And it felt good in her hands, like an old friend or a familiar charm, an item that brought with it a sense of power...a sense of reckless, thoughtless, berserker rage. "You have all you need in your heart, but you must unleash it, Daughter! Why are you the mouse when you must be the lion? You are one of my daughters, and so your greatest weapon is the fire that lies within. Remember the fire, Celestine. Remember it, and use it...not just against your enemies, but for ALL that would see the strength of your true passions..."
In the next moment, Pan and his axe were gone, leaving Celestine alone, her hands empty but the sense of rage still coursing through her veins.
"Why are you timid? I have seen you suffer, and you bare the scars of your triumph. Why do you fear? Why do you hesitate? Take this..." Pan held out his mighty war axe, a weapon that was easily longer than Celestine's height. Strangely, the weapon was no heavier than a common sword. And it felt good in her hands, like an old friend or a familiar charm, an item that brought with it a sense of power...a sense of reckless, thoughtless, berserker rage. "You have all you need in your heart, but you must unleash it, Daughter! Why are you the mouse when you must be the lion? You are one of my daughters, and so your greatest weapon is the fire that lies within. Remember the fire, Celestine. Remember it, and use it...not just against your enemies, but for ALL that would see the strength of your true passions..."
In the next moment, Pan and his axe were gone, leaving Celestine alone, her hands empty but the sense of rage still coursing through her veins.
Maeve: It starts with ambition
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
-
Guest
Celestine remained where she knelt for what felt like several long moments, feeling the burning rage of her God running through her. Every nerve ending tingled, her blood felt as if it were aflame, boiling inside her with every breath. Yes. Yes she could fight, and more importantly, she could win! She felt her fears evaporating like dew in the midday sun. She would return and fight this evil, make the Temple safe for her brothers and sisters!
Eyes gleaming with fury, with determination, and with rage that a creature of Darkness would dare strike against her and hers, she began to focus on her terrestial body, seeking to return to her flesh and strike back against the invader of her home.
Eyes gleaming with fury, with determination, and with rage that a creature of Darkness would dare strike against her and hers, she began to focus on her terrestial body, seeking to return to her flesh and strike back against the invader of her home.
The Aether blurred around her eyes, and in moments, Celestine was floating back to her body...though her travel was not so much one of distance as one of awareness. Her return was not as simple as she had hoped, though. She found her body to have been moved, and while that meant very little to her...it did not inhibit her ability to return to her body...it was very chilling proof that something had moved her.
And indeed something had. Gazing around, she found herself in the near darkness of her room once more, but her position had changed, her body high up off the ground and tucked into one of the upper corners of the room in a way that seemed...impossible.
It was then she noticed the web. It filled the upper corner of her room and suspended her from it neatly, it's massive cords of silk fixed upon the stones and upon her, wrapped around her body neatly to cocoon her like any other trapped victim of some spider. Her door was open as well, having been forced, a few shards of the heavy wooden portal littered upon the floor near where it's latch had given way to whatever force had assaulted it.
Where the web touched her clothing, it had adhered as neatly as any glue, the substance already drying and constricting such that it wrapped around her suspended body tightly.
And indeed something had. Gazing around, she found herself in the near darkness of her room once more, but her position had changed, her body high up off the ground and tucked into one of the upper corners of the room in a way that seemed...impossible.
It was then she noticed the web. It filled the upper corner of her room and suspended her from it neatly, it's massive cords of silk fixed upon the stones and upon her, wrapped around her body neatly to cocoon her like any other trapped victim of some spider. Her door was open as well, having been forced, a few shards of the heavy wooden portal littered upon the floor near where it's latch had given way to whatever force had assaulted it.
Where the web touched her clothing, it had adhered as neatly as any glue, the substance already drying and constricting such that it wrapped around her suspended body tightly.
Maeve: It starts with ambition
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant