- Messages
- 86
- Character Biography
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A black horse bearing a rider clad in a loose, flowing black robe with a pointed witch's hat approached the small, unassuming village of Loring in the Allirian Reach. The heat was unbearable, especially for those used to more temperate climes, as crops were beginning to wilt and wither, and the townsfolk hid in their homes to escape the scorching heat. It felt like a desert, and the heat threatened to slowly sap the life away from all in the area unfortunate enough to be trapped beneath the blistering sun. Elle wiped sweat off her brow for what must have been the 20th time in the last hour, but she spurred her diligent mount onward, for she knew that the source of the crisis must be in the village, lurking somewhere like a shadow in the mist.
She hated to admit it, for she knew what it meant that such heat had arrived--her death was nearing, at least in a theoretical sense. She remembered the prophecy, the words of her mother that spoke of impending disaster for the whole world when the spirit of the Moon finally decided to swallow her up on her 40th birthday, causing the final disaster, only... Elle was still only 22 years-old, childless and unable to continue the cycle of sacrifice, and at the moment, confused and terrified at the drought not only for the imminent risk to her life, but for the dire implications it held otherwise.
Elle remembered the first line of the prophecy, which was unmistakable in the ambient temperature of the air:
"First heat, fire, and drought there will be, when lunar spirit beseeches thee..."
The recitation came to Elle in her mother's voice, an almost occult incantation that Elle tried to get out of her head, and thankfully could thanks to the mental fog that was beginning to cloud her judgment due to the heat. Her horse trundled slowly into the streets of the little hamlet, where no inhabitants were to be found, but Elle could still feel the pull of whatever entity was behind this anomalous event, drawing her to the town's center with an almost gravitational pull. What she would find there between the homes of straw and timber, she knew not, nor did she know what other unfortunate souls she would find caught up in the disaster, but for now, she pressed onward, her outline contrasting starkly against the bright green of the fields and the white and brown of the homes around her, as if the sun itself were nearing closer and closer to the earth, threatening to set the entire world ablaze...
Yet she knew she must at least try to stop it; she hated her lot in life, and yet she could not bear the guilt of watching the world be swallowed up by the spirit which had claimed her. And so, she would find whatever magic was radiating from the center of the town, and bring an end to it, whatever the cost to her own health and safety. After all, she was going to die anyway... right?
She hated to admit it, for she knew what it meant that such heat had arrived--her death was nearing, at least in a theoretical sense. She remembered the prophecy, the words of her mother that spoke of impending disaster for the whole world when the spirit of the Moon finally decided to swallow her up on her 40th birthday, causing the final disaster, only... Elle was still only 22 years-old, childless and unable to continue the cycle of sacrifice, and at the moment, confused and terrified at the drought not only for the imminent risk to her life, but for the dire implications it held otherwise.
Elle remembered the first line of the prophecy, which was unmistakable in the ambient temperature of the air:
"First heat, fire, and drought there will be, when lunar spirit beseeches thee..."
The recitation came to Elle in her mother's voice, an almost occult incantation that Elle tried to get out of her head, and thankfully could thanks to the mental fog that was beginning to cloud her judgment due to the heat. Her horse trundled slowly into the streets of the little hamlet, where no inhabitants were to be found, but Elle could still feel the pull of whatever entity was behind this anomalous event, drawing her to the town's center with an almost gravitational pull. What she would find there between the homes of straw and timber, she knew not, nor did she know what other unfortunate souls she would find caught up in the disaster, but for now, she pressed onward, her outline contrasting starkly against the bright green of the fields and the white and brown of the homes around her, as if the sun itself were nearing closer and closer to the earth, threatening to set the entire world ablaze...
Yet she knew she must at least try to stop it; she hated her lot in life, and yet she could not bear the guilt of watching the world be swallowed up by the spirit which had claimed her. And so, she would find whatever magic was radiating from the center of the town, and bring an end to it, whatever the cost to her own health and safety. After all, she was going to die anyway... right?