The mage's respect for the Querist was growing even more when he heard about his accomplishments. The more the priest talked, the more Elvin started to like him.
"He's intelligent... He would be a fine addition to the Shadowstar... Maybe I'll ask him, I need more experienced people!"
The sorcerer's train of thoughts was abruptly interrupted when Barrett mentioned the War of the One and he jumped from the bed: "WHAT? Dominicus is trying to do WHAT? The last couple of weeks have been too hectic and dangerous for me to gather a lot of information. This is of utmost importance!"
"To whole world is going to the Nether... Before we do something about this, we must first destroy the more apparant source of malice."
"The Rosestone..." the Adhiel looked at Barret with even more respect, "I have heard of it."
"We're running out of time... I have no choice. I'll have to take the risk and trust these two."
The Mentor stood up and looked at the two men: "Both of you are men that have faced the Nether before. Both of you seem to be trustworthy," the Adhiel sighed, " I'll have to take a chance. There's no longer any time left to calmly sort out your allegiances. For now I ask you to give me an oath, by your soul, your honour, your life and your god that you will never repeat or speak of what I'll show you. If you are unwilling to accept such an oath, you're free to leave now. If you do and I find out you broke it," a fire sprang up in his eyes, "I WILL hunt you down. I'll share a few personal things with you, as well as some very dangerous knowledge... Furthermore, I'ld like to ask of you to be open and truly honest. If you know something, anything how trivial it may seem, about what is going on or about the things you'll see then talk about it! After I've shown you these things I'll ask you another question... A very important one."
OOC:
I'll assume that the both of you swear the oath. If you don't, just leave the thread. I'll write out what happens next to speed this up
IC:
"Do not try to expel me from your mind. You'll begin to see, and feel, some of the things I have experienced. If you struggle the connection will be lost, I am not going to force my will upon you. The images can't hurt you..."
The sorcerer closed his eyes and sent out his will towards the two.
"Hear me... Close your eyes and relax... Steady your breathing..."
Elvin floated in his own mind, his mind opened to the energies around him. He could see Barrett and Ulder on the Aetherical level.
"Time to begin... It has been a while but it shouldn't be too hard..." The Adhiel had done this trick before and now he intended to do it again: tro project images into the minds of the other two.
He reached with his mind and touched the minds of the others lightly. "Relax and watch..."
They were looking at an industrial city that loomed over them... ~World's Mouth~ it echoed in their minds. The scenery changed and in a rapid succession the two saw how bystanders shouted insults to them. It was at that point that they realized that they were an Adhiel. ~Racism... The intolerance of the people here is astounding...~
Again the scenery shifted. The Adhiel stood motionless in a forest and his mind floated high above, on the energies. An army of Orcs approached and the sorcerer was desperately guiding another group of magic users to destroy the leaders. A powerful Netheric entity suddenly appeared and they felt how their lifeforce was leeched from their body. Tremendous pain followed, a thunder of Orc-feet could be heard, growing louder and louder and...
The images shifted. The Adhiel stood on a road, aching from several wounds and he was inspecting a strange magical portal on the road. He stepped through and landed in a swamp. An old portal, inscribed with runes stood there, connected to the newer magical construction by powerful dark magic. They could feel through the sorcerer's mind that a lot of people had died here to empower the magic. Time flowed past quickly and they saw how the sorcerer stood in front of the portal triumphantically. As he activated it the Nether construction collapsed by the spell he wove. ~That is how I ended up here... Now...~
They stood in the Temple of Pan, the Adhiel's arms rose up in a complicated gesture and suddenly he rose into the air, a construction around him lighting up the temple.
Images came in rapid succession now. Flying down a corridor into a spider's lair built upon an Alter of Pan's Blood. Burning a giant spider and freeing a Panling from the spider's coccoons. Rushing past giant ants into a room...
Pure darkness spiraled from an object in the wrecked room. Sickening energies wracked their stomachs. They saw how the darkness spiraled towards an ant's nest and how the creatures began to grow.
A blast of fire from their hands dealt with the ants. Now they focussed upon the book. Aether, pure and bright, was skillfully woven into a net around the darkness and the mage pulled.
Pain exploded in their minds as the darkness fought back, images of hopelesness, promises of death when the Nether ruled, it all rolled by. They had the feeling that they were perceiving these images and emotions through a filter that dampened their power. ~No need to drain your energy...~
Power coursed through their veins as they poured more and more magic into the net. Frantically the Adhiel struggled, his mind locked in a battle that he could not afford to lose. After all, his friends were outside...
Then suddenly, the net snapped tout and disappeared into the book, taking the darkness with it. The sorcerer took the book, wrapped it in rags and left.
The scenery shifted again. Now they stood in a room that was covered by ward upon ward. The sheer power of the construction whirling around them. And in front of them... The book. They could feel power building in their body, some sort of spell to raise the shroud of the past and divine the book. They felt their body brace for the struggle that would inevitable follow for seeing into the past was difficult. The images came easily however...
There was an artistry to lashing someone. Any thug could simply grab a whip and strike a man on the back repeatedly. A true artist took his time. The whip lashed out once and cut into the prisoner's back. First there was searing pain and then the slow lingering burn. The victim must be given time to savor that burn else each stroke merely blurs into the other. It is not the same at all.
The weilders of these whips were the grand artists of their craft. They did not even cut the skin. It simply raised a painful welt, a thin strip of agony that slowly grew across the man's back one whip breadth at a time. When their task was done all that remained was five quick slices of a sharp knife and the square of human skin saturated with agony was ready to begin its journey to becoming a page of the book.
If the whipmaster were truly on form, the skin of the back would heal without blemish and the process would begin again. If not, there was always a demand by the inkmakers for more blood.
This scene played out before the Adhiel's eyes for each and every of the book's pages. Men, women, and children were all dragged screaming before the whips. The lucky ones died of their wounds or a sharp cut of the knife across the throat. The unfortunate faced the whips again and again betrayed by their own endurance and ability to heal to feed the seemingly endless need for parchment fit to contain the words written in blood.
The images faded as they came back to reality. Barrett, and Barrett alone, heard Elvin whisper in his mind. ~I, Khar-Naahrn! That is the only thing on the first page of that book that can be understood. Do you recognize it, priest?~
"- and so's Mister Motricé." Becca smiled wryly. "He's probably going to go - he's not set anything on fire for a few months, so he's got to be going through withdrawal by now." ~ Becca Acerbi
Avatar by LC, modified by me