Quest The Reclamation of Vel Istra

[Selene Avar]

The beasts hung over them like rats ready to feast. They were waiting, waiting for them to realize that there was no escape.

Selene watched them, could feel the eyes sitting on them even as a tide of the creatures were battered away by her fellow Dreadlords. There seemed to be no end to their foe, no end to the demons that poured from every wall and crevice.

Was this some sort of hell?

Had Vel Istra been brought to another plain and they'd stepped into it.

Fingers tightened and a lance of fire exploded out from her index. It shot through the air and sliced one of the beings in two, cutting through it's core before it suddenly turned and cut into another. To her left the statue pounded on the door, splintering and breaking it piece by piece.

She heard a scream as one of the lower apprentices was grabbed and dragged into the sky, his skull torn from his body in one quick snap of a jaw. A curse echoed out from her lips, but she quickly turned back towards the statue.

The Dreadlord raised her hand, and then snapped her fingers.

Suddenly the statue burst into flame, it's marble skin erupting with black and red. Fists smashed into the wood, catching it in a torrential inferno that seemed to grow in an instant. Within seconds the wooden gate fell into shambles, crashing in on itself and clearing away.

"GO!" Selene shouted to the others as she moved through the fires and passed into the Keep where they would find nothing but eerie silence.

 

[Florinthe Othal]

Florinthe held her position at the flank of the group, drawing the ire of several guards as the group progressed through towards the Keep. Despite her best efforts the creatures and demons grew and swelled in numbers and she watched as several of her comrades and apprentices were slain and maimed.

She shuddered, casting her hand across the pack of abominations that moved to swarm her. Almost immediately a whooshing sound was heard and a grey arc flew towards the creatures. An emptiness, an unnatural peculiarity suddenly materialised in the world and the void swept over the beasts. It would be wrong to say the vacuum cut the figures in half, instead the force of the arc sucked in and stripped the beasts of flesh and caused the collision points to collapse and implode on themselves. The creatures fell, their bodies even more grotesque and contorted than when they had first arisen.

Florinthe felt the air escape her longs, breathlessness overcame her. Dizziness and lightheadedness followed, and it wasn't until Selene's shout rose above the noise of battle that she returned to a reasonable state. She gasped, inhaling as much air as was physically possible, and sprinted into the newly opened keep.

 

[Zana]

I wonder if Ashur will let me go try out those new springs after this...

Zana hurled a Dreadlord up by the scruff of his neck where he had fallen to another of the creatures and set him on his feet. He looked at her with a look of disgust but there was a hint there of begrudging gratitude. Mud and grime coated her shining armour and she spat out some blood from where she had bitten the inside of her cheek during her latest vision.

When the gate came crashing down the pieces didn't fall into those standing beneath, instead they hovered in the air and Zana guided them away like she might brush snow off a windows ledge.

The keep inside was exactly like her visions had predicted. There was nothing but quiet and the strange green mist roved about the floor obscuring it from view. Such as the silence that she could actually hear people try and catch their breaths. It was probably the polar opposite to what many people were expecting after the horrors of the outside but Zana was not fooled and she was urgent in seeking out Flor amongst the group that still remained. She gripped the girls shoulder when she found her and gave it a slight squeeze.

"The worst is yet to come, hope you haven't run out of wind yet."

It was almost as if on cue the ground beneath their feet began to shake with the vibrations of large footsteps and a dark laugh rolled out around the keep...

 

[Ania]

The apprentice that Ania had aided up moved onward without much else to say. That was good, the pale warrior wasn't going to stand around to chitchat. She proceeded forward, slaying a few hellish beasts on her path towards the keep, until the statue they were trailing found itself alight from an intense blaze. It took a moment to register that the fire had been started by Selene and that the wooden barricade had been breached.

Arm covering her face she trekked through the flames and into the keep. Seeing the dreadlords of Luana come in just behind her, watching others flood in, it was obvious to anyone that their numbers had thinned. Despite the rustling of footsteps, the exasperated breaths of combatants, one sound permeated the air above all else.

Silence.

Moments prior the fields had been filled with the hellish sounds of imps, abominations, and flying skeletal creatures. Now, within this great keep there was nothingness. A fog of viridian that seemed to snake its way through every crevice and gap between the veterans of Vel Anir. But all of the foes they had encountered were strangely absent. What was it about this keep that kept even the demonic entities they'd encountered from being too scared to enter?

Sweat began to form just above Ania's brow. Whatever this place was it was evil. This was only confirmed by the shaking of the ground, a laughter of evil, and the pit that formed in her stomach. For the first time since the academy Ania felt something... strange. Something distant. Something she was more accustomed to making others feel.

Fear.

 

[Drederick]

The Stone Giant pushed itself through the gates, releasing pieces to be listlessly swept aside by Zana's magic. And it proceeded forward, four more thundering steps before it came to a halt in the center of the courtyard - and remained. It stood perfectly still, but was yet animate. The spell would persist until Drederick released it, but unless it was given unto further it would do no more.

He decided to wait, for the moment.

He made his way in, coming to a halt a few paces away from the gargantuan, and looked around - relishing in the quiet discomfort of this place. He sheathed his sword, glanced at his comrades, and pondered.

As much as he enjoyed the aesthetic of this place, the curious absence of monsters, and the cold...

As he took in a deep breath, analyzing the surround, he began to feel somewhat less comforted.

He took a step closer to the statue, leaning toward replenishing its demand immediately, with his own essence if need be.

Yes, he certainly felt, uncomfortable.

 

[Selene Avar]

Fog fell from her breath, coldness touching the false flesh that clung to her. Fingers tightened, and a frown touched her lips.

"It's not real." Selene's comment was too quiet for everyone to hear, though a few would no doubt have the words ring in her ears. The Dreadlord knew that it had to be an illusion, knew that the cold was not possible.

She had stood atop the mountains of the Spine, and even there there had been no cold for her.

"Well aren't you a clever little thing."​

A voice larger than life erupted within the hall, and then suddenly the doors behind them reformed and slammed shut in a thunderous roar. The Keep flashed with light, the darkness breaking and within an instant the Dreadlords found themselves standing upon a platform within the middle of a dancing abyss.

Fire instantly erupted around Selene, flames dancing around her palms and consuming the flesh held around them.

"Too bad none of you were clever enough."​

The voice resounded once more, and the platform suddenly began to break and shatter into dozens of different pieces. Anyone who fell between them would see only darkness.

 

[Drederick]

The dark dreariness that came had hidden itself from him - the vague warning of his discomfort lacking the urgency to alert him to the imminent danger. Then - far too late to react, he felt it. He whirled around even before the way was made shut, and nearly cursed until the sound ofba voice rang out through the air. Then in a blink, their place had changed.

He looked up and around into the swirling dark abyss, his mouth nearly dropping as he beheld it's magnificence.

First dread washed over him, draining his already fair features. But then, and excitement like none he had ever felt before ran through his body, invigorating his limbs and forcing a rather startling laugh from his lungs. He grabbed up his knife, slicing it down his palm and as a light poured out from the incision he stepped forward and slammed his hand against his mountainous minion. As he laughed, white, wispy smoke evaporated from his form and enveloped the statue.

It crumbled, and shook, and became almost as dust. Then, almost as thin as paper the remains took the shape of a long flat disc of great size. As the ground crumbled underfoot his laugh only grew, and it rang out as he stepped atop his design, leaving the others to their own devices or to likewise climb aboard creation at their own discretion.

He drew his sword, and continued to laugh mockingly out into the dark. In his mind, he was unstoppable. But surely it was likely more true that he was quite thoroughly insane.

 

[Ademar Acero]

The emotion of fear was something unfamiliar to Ademar. He had felt it many times in the Academy during his younger days. Naturally he learned to conquer it or at least resist it taking influence in his mind. With his physique and magic, he was arrogant to believe he was invincible and could vanquish legions of soldiers.

He felt like that when he easily killed the undead and other foul creatures coming into Vel Istra. However, that confidence would become lesser and lesser with the absurd numbers of abominations he and his companions faced.

And then it was decimated when facing something unnatural such as this...superstition force. Fear of not knowing what he faced or how to kill it. A power that turned the floor into a raging abyss with only an island of stone to stand on, one that was crumbling away. Where else could they go? Was this why so many Dreadlords did not return? Overwhelmed by the monsters outside the Keep, or by this fiend?

Perhaps this wouldn’t be the end of them as one of the Apprentices created some sort of device from the stone statue. A flat disc of some sort. They had nowhere else to go to step on, so this was their only space. They could only hope this would save them from the abyss below. Naturally, Ademar went for the disc to land on, having a firm feet on the disc as it was stable.

They bought some time to live by. No doubt there would be another attack from this evil they faced.

 

[Florinthe Othal]

Florinthe breathed deeply. Inhale, exhale, pause, repeat. She lived with fear, she lived with anxiety and insecurity. Currently, she stood atop a gaping, endless, maw against a foe of unknown ability and power. Yet alongside her stood the strongest battlemages within Arethil. She reminded herself this, while she hated her comrades - especially the monkey man from Virak - as a unit everyone here was worth three college mages - at least.

When the platform shattered beneath them Florinthe didn't hesitate. She inhaled and suddenly a thin translucent platform shot out from underneath her feet. It extended out in all directions and provided a respite from falling - and solid ground - for herself, Zana and a few other dreadlords and apprentices that were fortunate enough to be near to Florinthe at the time.

She breathed, reaching for her satchel and withdrawing a small ration. Magic had the consequence of making her ravenous and she was confident that a lot more magic would be required from her before they managed to make their way free from this hell.

She watched with an arched brow as the apprentice cut his palm, suddenly a platform materialised in thin air. She would keep an eye on him, blood magic - or anything of the sort - always sent shivers through her. Carefully, and with a gentle waft of her hand, she ushered her platform - and those caught by it - onto the apprentice's and let it gently dematerialise.

Florinthe breathed again and closed her eyes. She ignored the noises, the calls and the screams of those unfortunate enough to have fallen into the abyss. Instead, she focused on the wind currents within this strange place. Gentle ripples spread out across its entirety, every action, every sound, every movement caused a stir in the atmosphere and, with great care, she began setting aside those from her allies.

"There's something huge hanging above us, he's where the voice is coming from... Also... There are a few more of those flying creatures except... Except a lot bigger." Her voice cracked as she spoke, but she steadied herself. Once she finished, her hands raised in several directions, singling out - roughly - where she felt the enemy.

 

[Zana]

For a moment there was a sensation she was about to fall as the ground was swept out from beneath her feet, but then instead there was wind. The only hint she had felt the difference was a slight stumble as she got used to the new platform. She flashed Flor a small smile of gratitude before turning her attention to the surroundings. More possible futures fell away, narrowing down more and more. Her head was throbbing with them. Despite it all she tried to focus on what Flor was telling them all, pointing out the rough directions these monsters were lurking in.

A bloody tear rolled down her cheek and she smeared it away. Soon she would be reaching her limits.

"Alright," she threw her shield back down and it hovered again allowing Zana to step on to it. She took a breath, sheathed her sword and drew her bow and arrows instead this time. "Cover me?" a glance to her friend, waited for her nod before the shield and she were off like a shot. She knocked an arrow and as the shield got higher and she saw the creatures she let loose. Then knocked. Then loose. Then knocked. Then loose. Three arrows as she shot past the different creatures. With the added push of her telekenisis they dove in one eye socket, through the creatures head and then out through the other eye.

Their screams began to fill the air.

 

[Selene Avar]

Selene felt the ground crumble out from beneath her, and then suddenly her feet touching solid air.

Out of reaction she looked down, seeing odd current beneath her boots. The Dreadlords head whipped around, and then spotted one of the others focusing on something. Her gaze jerked back in front of her, watching the darkness ahead.

Screeches began to echo out within the Abyss, arrows finding purchase as greater versions of the flying beasts began to appear. Balls of flame burst into her hands, and with quick succession Selene threw them towards the monster.

Explosions erupted, bones cracking and flesh incinerating as the flames overwhelmed and consumed one of the creatures.

Two more quickly appeared in it's stead, crashing onto the platform of Air that @Florinthe had created. They roared, one leaping forward and snapping it's massive jaws at Ademar Acero. Selene whirled to the left, her hand blooming with another ball of fire.

She was about to launch it when suddenly something whipped out of the darkness with incredible speed.

An arm the size of a falling tower lashed out, it's claw smashing into her and sending her flying across the platform and over it's edge. A figure bloomed within the Abyss, larger than a Cathedral and looming with an infernal laugh.

 

[Ania]

Everything they had seen in Vel Istra up until that moment was mere child's play. Including the abyss beneath them and the various platforms.

The behemoth that arose out of the depths of the hellscape it came from was massive. In the blink of an eye its mighty claw assaulted Selene and threw her off the platform that Ania had been bracing herself against. A quick duck was the only thing that had saved the pale woman from the same fate as the dreadlord's leader. There wasn't much time to think but she was confident of one thing, this entire operation had been a mistake. There was no denying it now.

Vel Anir was a mighty force that could stand up to anything living or dead on Arethil. But this... thing was neither living nor dead. How could they hope to best it?

The freckled woman knew of but one way to combat this aspect of doom. She couldn't be certain if it would work but perhaps if she used her magic, made the thing feel pain. Experience a false reality. Perhaps then it would be weakened enough to allow another dreadlord an opportunity to strike. Maybe then it would become vulnerable to someone else's magic.

She glared at the hellspawn with pure rage as she attempted to bond with it. That was the first step to using her ability, forming a bond with the very soul of her target. Only, once the bond was formed and she attempted to exert a perception shift something unusual happened. A voice boomed outwardly from deep within Ania's chest. Only it wasn't her words... it was the words of this creature.

The shout was so loud it cause her eardrums to rupture, ring, and bleed. Any near the epicenter of Ania would likely feel a similar pain. It called out, "Thank you for this vessel, foolish girl."

She lost her ability to move, her ability to vocalize, and she became a passenger of her own body. A prisoner within her own mind forced to watch as her blade was driven through a level three from Virak, ending the young man's life. Another group of dreadlords on a far off platform were forced into a delirium of so vile that it even caused Ania's skin to crawl... if she were able to feel her own skin.

The servant of Weiroon had her magic backfire on her and now the possessed woman was attempting to place the entirety of the group under a shared delusion. A delusion of their days back before all of this. A vision of life at the dreadlord academy.

 

[Evangeline]

Everything thus far had been dire, but doable. Facing down an army of fiends was par for the course. A difficult, desperate struggle that only a number of incredible feats of skill and magic, along with the combined and strenuous effort of so many Dreadlords had made possible. Evangeline knew that the epicenter of this disaster of a mission would be the zenith of all that had made their suicidal assault difficult...but this...this was not what she had anticipated.

An assault on the mind, that booming voice which shook her to her very core, and this horrible abyss which whirled about them like a storm of death...and then the absolute chaos that erupted afterwards. Evangeline did what she did best: she struck quickly and precisely at any of the greater demons that dared strike at her and her comrades, but was losing ground with every passing second Every finger she lopped from one of the monsters was immediately replaced by a dozen, wickedly clawed more. Each one slashed and ripped at her, and some were quick and lucky enough to gain purchase in her, tearing through her armor like tissue paper and spilling crimson out in sharp contrast to the abyss around them.

Somehow, things only got worse. Evangeline watched in horror as Selene unleashed a torrent of flame, only to be cast aside like a ragdoll by what could only be some sort of archdevil. If she hadn't been moving on pure instinct, she might have let the once-human fall. Not this day. Pirian's Pride was at the ledge of the platform in an instant, and she dove to catch Selene before she was out of reach. She thrust her arm over the ledge and grabbed for something, anything, and screamed when she caught all of Selene's wait by the wrist, nearly dislocating her arm in the process.

"I've got you! Don't let--"

"Thank you for this vessel, foolish girl."

Nails. It was like nails were being driven into Evangeline's skull. She wanted to scream, to let Selene fall and bring her hands to clutch her head in agony. It was all she could do to resist the flood of images pouring into her mind. But she didn't drop the First Level. To let her fall was to let every Dreadlord in the room die. She summoned every ounce of willpower she could to focus...but time was running out.

 

[Drederick]

It was all so very sweet to him. The whirling dark, the seeping cold. It clung to him, and he revelled. He spread his arms wide, and spun around almost weightlessly as he laughed with the joy he felt in this misery. He swung his sword, and fell one beast. He whirled around and fell yet another. Lightning shot out from his body and grasped at three of the fiends that sought to pounce on him as one - and they were broken and left smoldering around him.

He heard the shouting of his comrades. The cries of their fear. He fed off it.

He stretched up his palm again, the light still beaming from it, the magic still roiling within him, his sacrifice still pouring out.

The platform of stone he'd formed beneath them began to spin, but while it grounded those other Dreadlords like he, it would disorient their foes who dared to touch down upon it. But then... ahhh.

The great beast rose from the depths, its dreadful confidence oozing from its image. Its laugh taunted him, but he returned it in kind - even as its great claw swept across and smashed into Selene. He did not react - trusting the others to.

He stepped toward it, gazing up at it. He heard the voice behind.

"Thank you for this vessel, foolish girl."

He dropped his shield. He dropped his sword. His laugh had now grown silent, but his smile was from ear to ear. His eyes, sparkling with a terrible joy. An enveloping ecstasy. The whispers that flooded into his mind... the terrors of the academy... even further back, his mother, a skinned husk in front of him - a product of his own rage. His own... pleasure. He enjoyed causing pain. No... he loved it. And what was more? He loved to feel pain.

"You... are nothing!"

His arms shot up, and a darkness wrapped itself around him.

"I created the dark! I am your better, and you. Will. Kneel!"

Insanity.

But then... the darkness that swirled around them... it too drew upon him. And he took to gathering it, for himself. To steal it from this creature, to mock its very being with but only his presence. And it returned.

That laugh.

 

[Zana]

Zana hadn't been paying much attention to what was happening below her. It was taking all of her focus to keep the shield moving form one patch of darkness to another. There would be a scream and then another of the beasts would begin to fall from the sky either injured or already dead. She had hit The Wall as her hold trainers had called it, when you were tired and worn out but then you began to push through it with single minded bitter focus to a pool of energy before. As such her attention was focused on the task at hand; jaw set, eyes narrows. Arrow after arrow. If they didn't break they swirled back to her quiver and it was beginning to get to a point her leather gloves slipped on the shafts as she tried to knock her bow.

Her legs faltered as the pain and memories from Ania suddenly spiralled out from her in a wave of magic. A soft gasp. Her bow fell into the abyss below and her shield was faltering in its movement too. Zana had a few seconds before what she knew was coming happened to hit the platform hard. Blood began to pour from her ears and she cried red tears, fighting it hard. Until...

A long dark corridor. A set of heavy oak doors...

She knew in one part of her mind it wasn't a vision for it was the past but it was just as bad. The memories of the torture under the docks.

 

[Selene Avar]

Pain lanced through Selene's mind.

Agony like a wracking wave consumed her mind, body, and very soul. She could feel Ania...no, she could feel the demon that had gripped her fellow Dreadlords soul worm its way into her mind. Memories flooded into her eyes, glimpses of beatings, imprisonment.

Selene saw the murders she had done, watched as the friends she had slaughtered appeared and clawed at her flesh. Ghosts of the past grasped and pulled at her, ripping into flesh and tearing at her being. Slowly their claws dug in, and slowly she could see her own skin peel away.

Fire sprouted from beneath the flesh, ethos of flames even as her fingers desperately clung to Evangeline's grasp. Her eyes opened wide. Horror dawned on her face as Vella, a girl that she had befriended in her class at the Academy stood just above the Dreadlord that clung to her.

Vella's face was a contorted mess, her throat still cut from where Selene had laid the knife. "Let go!"

Selene yelled at Evangaline. Her fingers unfurling as Vell reached down. Her hand peeling at the Virak Dreadlord's flesh.

As the skin ripped away it was replaced by fire, peeling away as slowly more and more of her true self was revealed.

"LET GO!" Selene screamed at the top of her lungs as she attempted to rip herself from Evangaline's grasp.

 

[Ademar Acero]

If hell could exist in this plain of existence, then this would be the perfect layout for it and make it worse than it already is. Actual purgatory would be worse as they’d suffer tenfold than this forsaken place. One of the beasts, a larger version than its uncle he had encountered previously, was on the platform and focused on Ademar. Great jaws, strength twice more than an average hippopotamus, trying to bite at Ademar. His claymore sword swung at it while place a safe distance between him and it, his blade causing minor damage at its head. An opportunity presented itself and the Dreadlord thrusted his sword into the creature’s mouth, a wailing cry and yelp coming from its pain.

Its death would come swift, so that he could help the others.

But then he stopped.

Something crept in his mind, a foreign presence he never once felt before. More fear, more pain. His eyes closed for a brief moment before opening them to see an injured bull taking up as an illusion as the monster he just momentarily attacked. He remembered this bull before. One he was forced to fight in the Academy in his youthful days.

“Not again,” he said in horror, realizing everything was repeating itself again. In pity and sorrow he fought with the animal, his protests falling on deaf ears. Pleasing eyes gazed at him, causing him to lower his guard. He wanted to help and not kill it like before.

The illusion was too good that it allowed the beast to recoup itself and tackle Ademar, leaving him on his back with the beast on top of him. What was real and what wasn’t?

 

[Evangeline]

The burning sensation against Evangeline's skin was instantly unbearable. Selene hadn't needed to scream. Evangeline cried out in pain and released her grip wrenching her eyes shut. She brought her fingers to her mouth to put pressure on them, but they felt...unusually small. She opened her eyes and was greeted with the sight of a proctor holding a ruler. She looked around to the vision of other students staring at her, shocked that she would defy their teacher.

"No...not here..."

It was difficult enough standing up for her convictions in the face of the proctor the first time. Facing the beatings that came afterwards. She had endured the horrors of the Academy once, and despite her desire to change that horrid place, going back was not something she had ever anticipated doing. Then the vision jerked starkly, as though something had violently ripped it into another memory.

Evangeline was being dragged down a dark hallway. Muscular fists were clamped around her lithe, adolescent arms.

"Delinquents get to spend time in the Cloister." One of the men dragging her declared. She knew where she was going. Oh Gods, did she know. Her heart started to pound. Not there. Anywhere but there. Not again.

She felt herself be heaved forwards, saw what little light was left close into a tight circle in the center of her vision. That, in turn, was blocked out by the men standing at the door to the cell.
"Three days. That's the time you have to consider your actions this time."

She tried to run for the door. It was slammed in her face. She clawed at it, desperate. She screamed through the mask that had been locked over her mouth, muffled as it was. She felt her nails shear off, her fingers bleed as she futilely tried to escape the darkness and silence of the Cloister. She accelerated herself into the walls like a pinball, seeking any possible way to get out, until she had dislocated both her arms. She cried hysterically as the madness of isolation set in. Then she slept, and dreamt of the outside.

 

[Drederick]

Twisting shadows, frigid dark.

Silence.​

It crept over him as the blackness whirled itself around him, standing there with his arms stretched wide. A creature lunged to attack, and was ensnared by the stone platform below, of which a portion evaporated into dust, encircled the creature, and then forcefully condensed into a ball no bigger than an eye around it. Then it once again dispersed, leaving the tightly crushed beast to fall beneath the platform before it became whole again.

Then, he reached out to strike out at the great demon with the collection of his dark magics.

"My son, please!"
​

He froze, his eyes widening. That was his mother's voice... her very last words. He'd almost forgotten that she'd ever said them.

Then, his sight beheld a tall man, standing over him. With shadows cast over his eyes, he looked down, his gaze trained upon Drederick - oh so young as he was back then.

The Dreadlord initiative had been anything but kind to him, he and all the others. He still carried the scars across his body from the flesh that was torn under lash and rod. He still remembered the pain he had learned to love, and enjoy, and even feed and thrive from. The hate of everything he had done and had been done to him, everything he had become and everything he was not - fuel. Life.

"you will do as you are commanded.

you have no will.

you are nothing but a tool, a weapon.

you belong to us.

you belong to me."

no... I do not...​