Death Of The Masters

[ArlEammon]

Death Of The Masters (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlHmGy4Aq_g&list=FLOrwLWeEmlBon3dgg6C0G6g&index=68)
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The Tower Of Mastery
The day had come. The disciples had until Mid-night, tonight. It was technically mid-night already, but they had until the next mid-night to make their goodbyes to their Masters. The Prophecy had come to be fulfilled. Nothing was out of the ordinary. It seemed like the night of any other night. Merlin scanned his future, there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary for the next 24 hours, except of course, their impending deaths. He could find no enemies. How would it happen?

[al'Lan Mandrag]

Nyaria sat alone in the Forgotten Tower, stirring a pool of darkness. She liked to come here to think, away from her mistress and Agraval. The first was intimidating, the second, well, sometimes he just grated on her. She was used to men who lied and concealed, but he just seemed so fake. He wasn't good at hiding that, that was his problem.

But if he was fake, what was truth? The midnight darkness in the bowl before her spun and she muttered a few more arcane words to maintain it. She looked deep into he pool and watched her brother sleeping. A man in his middle years, he was now the duke, and had no time for her, bu she watched over him, thinking back to simpler times, when she did not have to consider cosmic balance and how to shape the universe to her will.

Not really sure where we are starting, just thought I'd put a few plot points out there.

[Elricaltovilla]

Agraval entered Babayaga's room in the Forgotten Tower.

"My lady Babayaga. Must you truly leave us? The orphans, they will miss you terribly. We will all miss you terribly." Agraval clutched his staff close, it had been a gift from Babyaga when she took Agraval on as her apprentice. The chicken foot that topped the staff wiggled slightly. "Have you decided yet which of us will take your place after you depart this world?"

[ArlEammon]

"You will and so will Nayaria." Babayaga said. "There's much of the nature of the Masters you don't know. There are two of you for a reason. The others possess one of you rather than two for a reason. " She stated. "It is strange." She said as her mind wandered. "I can find no one in my scrying crystal that presents themselves as a threat, and yet Odin has consulted the head of Mimir, we have all found that our fates remain unchanged."

[Elricaltovilla]

"You are still unsure of how your passing will come?" The words disturbed Agraval a little. The masters were fountains of magical power orders of magnitude beyond his own. And yet even they could be destroyed by the callous hand of fate. "I wish you would be less cryptic with your explanations Lady Babayaga. If there is something about the Masters I do not understand, then please try to explain it to me."

[ArlEammon]

Babayaga shrugged. "The tides of fate, tell us that it is still our fate to die. We have no idea how we can stop it. So. . . we have managed to make arrangements of our property, wills and testaments for when our time comes. We have until Midnight, many hours from now, until we expire."

[Elricaltovilla]

"The world will suffer greatly without the presence of the masters to guide and protect it. I do not think any of us are ready to take your places... I would do anything in my power to change the tides of fate if I could my lady." Agraval's vow was oddly sincere for the usually guarded young man. He bowed stiffly to his master. "I am certain some of the other orphans will wish to bid you farewell also, would you like me to bring them up here to see you?"

[ArlEammon]

"I've seen them all." Babayaga responded truthfully. "We have to devote our entire last day before our passing to making preperations and, when the time comes, we must tell you one final secret before you are to make your way on your own."

[Elricaltovilla]

"Then I shall take my leave." Agraval bowed one more time before leaving the room.

He descended down the tower, until he came to one of the pools near the bottom. He dipped his finger into the water and sent his will down into the clear liquid. He drew it upwards and imbued it with frost, forming a string of tiny pearls of ice, one for each of the orphans that Babayaga had cared for over the years. He took each pearl and wound it in on itself, filling it with the magic of the memories of the children and a single drop of blood from each of them which he had collected in secret. Finally he took the gems and set them into a necklace, a final gift for his master. With it she would be able to follow each of the children as they grew up by holding their individual pearl. If the masters were to leave the earth bodily, he would offer it to her so that she could always watch over them. If only their souls departed, he would have the necklace buried with her, so that a piece of each child would go with Lady Babayaga wherever her soul departed to. He still needed one more drop of blood though, from his fellow disciple Nyaria. So he set off to go look for her.

I'm not sure how to do the magic exactly, but its a combination of Water, Ice, Spatial (scrying), Will (to combine effects) and Phantasmal magic.

I'll come back and edit this post however I need to once we get the magic system figured out.

[al'Lan Mandrag]

Nyaria's thoughts drifted from the home she had abandoned to the home she had discovered. She was hiding here to avoid Agraval and her mistress, whose presences now would remind her of what was coming. She feared to lose her mentpr, but a persistent voice in jer head asked whether it was be the mantle of responsobility that she feared. She'd run from it before, would she run again?

The questions unsettled her and she rose and draped a shawl around her shoulders, determining to take a walk throuigh the tower to clear her head.

[Elricaltovilla]

"Nyaria? Nyaria where are you?" Perhaps it was a bit uncouth to break the sacred hush that surrounded the forgotten tower like this, but Agraval wasn't really concerned with it at this time. He knew Nyaria didn't like him much, and it was better that she heard him coming rather than find him sneaking up on her and risking one of her overreactions. "Nyaria, I need to speak with you. Would you please make your presence known?"

[al'Lan Mandrag]

Nyaria's period ofvsilent introspection was broken by Agraval's unctuous tones. Therexwas no need to be so polite. She stopped and called out to him, letting him know where she was. She was half tempted tovhex him as he came up the stairs, but she would be a Master soon, and was too old for that sort of behaviour.

[Elricaltovilla]

"Nyaria, I'm so glad I was able to locate you. I need some of your blood for a gift for Lady Babayaga." Agraval's teeth smiled, but his eyes didn't. "I hope to give it to her before the masters depart this world."

[ArlEammon]

Agraval had discovered that using his power and strength of will, blood, and magical power to enchant such a powerful artifact as he did left him a little weakly. But he was otherwise unharmed.

[al'Lan Mandrag]

Nyaria was sceptical. "What purpose could you have for my blood. We both know that it is not a substance to give lightly." She was annoyed that Agraval would make such a ridiculous request, as though it were the most natural thing in the world. He may as well have said "Hand me your soul, I'm putting it into a paper box and giving it to an unknown evil." it was ridiculous!

[white rider]

Naran shoved the unfortunate passerby off his sword. Such a pity that the man just happened to fall onto it- a good thing that Naran had shrouded himself and his surroundings in illusion.
As Naran strode away, he noticed that the man's wallet was in his hand. Opening it, he found some coins, a few love letters (good for blackmail, that), and it.
It was an amulet, stamped with strange symbols. To most, looking at the writing would mean death, to the lucky, or horrible insanity, to the less fortunate, but Naran deciphered the message without thinking.
The mistress is going to die? And with her finally out of the way...
Humming a soft tune to himself, Naran stepped into the shade of an alleyway and vanished.
Half a nation away, the Disciple of the Lady of Shadow stepped from a doorway, before turning and swiftly walking toward the place stamped on the amulet.
Today was going to be a good day.
OOC: WIFI!

[Elricaltovilla]

"As I've said. It is to make a gift for Lady Babayaga. A necklace, with a bead containing the blood of each of her orphans, so that she may look on us wherever she departs to." Agraval took the necklace out and showed it to Nyaria. "I mean no harm to anyone. Just a hope that we might maintain a feeble connection to the Lady who raised us."

[al'Lan Mandrag]

Good intentions, but not thinking where they would take him. Like a child, or a puppy. Still, Nyaria felt a vengeful desire to kick him just because she could.

Quelling her animosity she raised her palms and looked upwards as she whispered a few arcane words. A droplet of blood pushed its way out past her right eye ball and floated before her. She blinked a couple of times to clear her vision before passing the object to Agraval. "Be careful, and make sure that there are safeguards. That should not fall into enemy hands." SHe would make her own safeguards as well, a severing spell, and a warding on herself? If she set alarm spells she would know if anyone tried to use her blood against her.

[ArlEammon]

The Hours Pass

As the hours pass by, a growing sense of unease grows thicker like an intense fog of horrid certainty over the Island. Things were done for the Masters, so they would be remembered, the Masters were done with their final arrangements. The hour had come. The students were teleported out of the Ceremonial Chambers and the Tower's Summit, with the Master's Sealing the massive double doors to their Chamber's with their immensely powerful magic. They knew they would have to fight, and then die within the Chambers within moments that had yet to come.

Then, without warning IT came. Merlin fought with his mighty will, restraining back it's full strength for the battle, Lilith had attempted to cast horrid curses on it's soul, but that only served to make it stronger. Xiwang Mu fired blasts of chi energy, which was only an annoyance. As the Masters fought bravely to delay their inevitable fate, IT was growing stronger.

A red light emanated from the doors to the Double Chambers to the Ceremonial rooms. The battle was legendary. Babayaga's power over the winter was gret, she fired her bolts of ice and spears of ice like they were hail stones on IT. IT sneered at the attempt to slow it down, tentacles formed from IT and speared Babayaga through her chest, sucking the life force from her body, as it slumped to the ground.

Meanwhile, the attacks and offensive powers of the others poured down. Chernabog had conjured Death to defeat the enemy, it's scythe rained down sharpened blows on IT. IT sneered at Death, Death knew IT, Death had seen IT before.

The one from before the creation of the universe. Evil in it's purest form. The Demiurge remembered. . . He cast fire from his mouth, attempting to consume the Devil from before the making of the world with pure heat. A laugh escaped from the mouth of Karmoth, The Pre-Existant.

Wise Odin had closed in on Karmoth, doing battle with the Grim Reaper, hoping to end the threat of The Devil, but it was not to be. Karmoth's head transformed into that of a wolf, and with it's supernatural speed the wolf's fangs closed around Odin's neck.

The battle had continued for hours, though no spell could break the barrier between the doors and the Ceremonial Chambers. Finally, after six long hours, the battle came to an abrupt end. The seal on the Chambers had faded.

[al'Lan Mandrag]

Nyaria's visions of the battle had been distorted, and twice the sheet of ice she had imbued with her scrying spell shattered under the strain of the magics it was witnessing. She had seen her mistress die, seen each of the Masters in turn broken by that creature, their powers never even leaving a mark on it.
Her rage and fear manifested in a dramatic drop in temperature, and the orphans she stood with shivered as frost coated the walls. She released that impromptu magic and instead hurried to find Agraval. Once he was located she blurted out what she had seen.

"It is done, they are all dead, some thing has come, and each of the Masters has died. It wasn't foreseen but it is here now. I don't know how to fight it, but it is so strong I fear that if we don't it will destroy the whole world."

[Elricaltovilla]

Agraval slumped at the news. He had seen the vision too, but he held some small hope that it had just been his fears getting to him. "She told me she would die, and I did not believe her. I thought that there was something I could still do. The necklace..." He took the icy necklace and wound its beads around his left forearm, they gleamed in the dim light. "We must go into the chamber. If we must give our lives, I will give mine freely."

Agraval got up and grabbed hold of his staff. Cold wind whipped around his body and frost licked each of his footsteps as he ran up the stairs to the chamber doors.

[ArlEammon]

Something was strange. Merlin and Babayaga was still there. They could feel as if the rest of the Masters were there, and yet Merlin and Babayaga were the only ones who were in sight. Could it be they survived? But when, what was with the vision of the Devil?

[The_Admiral]

Lee ran into the room shouting, "Master!? Master?! Are you okay?!" using his chi to warm his body.

[ArlEammon]

Babayaga found herself unable to speak after the horrible battle. Merlin leaned heavily on his staff and was against one of the pillars in the chambers. "She's gone, Lee." He muttered in a weakly, venerable voice. "Even Babayaga and I are gone." He said, seemingly nonsensibly. "The Ancient Evil has dealt the universe and the balance a fatal blow."

[al'Lan Mandrag]

Nyaria strode into the hall, leaving Agraval to follow her. She muttered a few words and a staff of crystalized ice appeared in her hand, glowing with a harsh radiance. She found the weakened pair of Masters and hurried to Babayaga's side.
"Mistress, are you all right? I saw some of what happened, what was that creature?"

[ArlEammon]

Babayaga, unable to speak, simply pointed to Merlin, standed on his staff, barely. "It, the Pre-existant evil from before the beginning of the universe, has been made from all the future evils from it's time before the Making. Despite the destruction of it's corporeal avatar by the First Ones, the First Masters, and it was Sealed away from the universe forever, or so it was thought. Nothing can break the Seal, so someone must have Summoned it. How this has happened, I do not know."

[al'Lan Mandrag]

That was a lot to take in for just a few sentences and Nyaria marvelled at Merlin's words so that there was a strange pause. A creature made of all the evils there would ever be? But it was bound- some good news, except fo rthe rather obvious realisation that it was not bound completely.

"Master," she spoke straight to Merlin now, "This Seal, can it be made whole? Or stop the summoning? If this creature is summoned again before the two of you recover then the world will end." It did not cross Nyaria's mind that the two would not recover.

[ArlEammon]

Merlin was sad. He smiled grandfatherly, likewise Babayaga also smiled in the same fashion. "My dear Nyaria . . . we will recover. But things will never be the same. We are still Masters, but we are walking ghosts." He said metaphorically. "It is impossible for the Balance to be restored with us in this condition. I am no longer the same as I was before The Devil had come. Babayaga, is no longer the same. She cannot even speak with her tongue. Likewise, all of us are still here, even those that have fallen, but only because we must be." He paused for breathe. "As for The Seal . .. The Seal is the mystery that clouded our visions and powers."

[The_Admiral]

"Does that mean she's alive?" Lee replies, a glint of hope in his eyes.

[ArlEammon]

Merlin didn't know exactly what to say. "We shall soon pass from this mortal coil towards another plane." He said in response. "I suppose you could say so. Soon, we too shall fade out of sight and senses from you, our students. Xiwang Mu, and all us Masters will be a part of all of you forever now, but I think the proper thing to say is that we are all, for all intensive purposes, spirits."

[Elricaltovilla]

"We are too late then?" Agraval asked as the biting winds died down around him. Agraval's chickenfoot staff wiggled in his hands. "Lady Babayaga, before you leave us... a present for you, so that you may watch over the orphans still." He extended the necklace of icy pearls to his master.

[ArlEammon]

She smiled and accepted, taking the necklace wordlessly. "Soon our two bodies will fade, and eventually we will all fade, into your very beings. We will always be your Masters, but we will not be THE Masters of the Balance we once were." Merlin responded. "For now, I think we shall rest. It would be a good idea for us to make a few arrangements for our departure. Why we were left in this condition and the others were obliterated, I'm not sure."

[Elricaltovilla]

To Agraval the answer of why Babayaga and Merlin were the only masters left seemed obvious. They were the strongest, the ones with the most reason to stay. But just because they were the only masters that still made their presence known, that didn't mean that they were the only ones still around. Chernabog was known for being decietful, and Babayaga had regailed a young Agraval with stories of the Masters long conflict with Lilith. But he kept these thoughts to himself and merely extended a hand to his Master, offering to take her to her chambers.

[ArlEammon]

"Ah, what am I chopped liver?" Merlin joked as he took Babayaga's hand. "I still have some power left." He said as he disappeared into his chambers, lower in the Tower. His voice lingered. "Come see us while we're still around. You will all be given your Titles before your leave."

[stanleyindraven]

Gregory entered the room, seemingly oblivious to the great sorrow that was present. His long black hair waved in the wind as he passed across the floor, a gentle tap with every step from his cane. A slender shaft of bone, too long to be human and too thin to be giant, topped with a large red ruby and capped in silver laid with runes. He cast a look over the ghostly beings and then around at the remaining students. "Such sorrow that Chernabog has passed, but much work is to be done. Tears will not help the masters. Death comes to us all at some time, do not forget that. I longed for my Master to pass on the mantle, as should an apprentice, not looking forward to his death as I cannot impress him anymore." He seemed to be speaking to himself, except he was staring at the others. He paused for a moment as Merlin spoke. "Titles, that seems fitting."

He reached out and spoke a few soft words, and a chair made from ivory formed at his fingertips. As the chair solidified and covered with a crimson cushion, he sat.

[al'Lan Mandrag]

Titles? They would become the next Masters, but Nyaria felt far from confident that she was ready for such a role.

"If we are to take up our Masters' mantles then we must be ready to face this monster ourselves. Perhaps we should arrange a meeting? All of the pupils and Merlin and Babayaga, and then we can decide what should be done." Nyaria easily fell into this role, organising the pupils as she would the orphans; with methodical precision.

[The_Admiral]

"Titles? Hold on, take up our master's mantles?"

[Elricaltovilla]

"Even if I were offered it, I would not take on my master's title. Lady Babayaga did not raise us to follow so closely in her footsteps. No one will ever replace her or the other masters if there is anything I can do to prevent it." This was unacceptable, how could anyone think of replacing the Masters, when they were still right here?

"This is a new world, without our masters. And we should have new titles to represent that."

[stanleyindraven]

"What did you think was going to happen when the Masters died? Were we merely training for nothing, to become common folk once more. They trained us for a reason," Gregory seemed almost annoyed that one of the new 'Masters' would be so naive. "We were always meant to this fate. They knew this would come. Chernabog never doubted that he would pass, as Death takes all in due time."

Gregory shifted in the seat and he leaned forward, staring into the gem on his cane. "Oh Master, I will see you again." He then flicked his vision up to the others again and sat back in the chair.

[Elricaltovilla]

A bland and emotionless smile crossed Agraval's face. "I never said I was opposed to becoming a master myself. I always intended that goal. But I will not replace the current masters. I will not take their titles and their glories from them. I will make my own. But if you're perfectly willing to ride on the coattails of Chernabog forever, then please, be my guest."

[al'Lan Mandrag]

"This is not what we need right now!" Nyaria cries, her fists clenching and her face stoney. "We can well plan our names and ranks at some other time, but we shall not be divided by words. Our work is too important for that."

[stanleyindraven]

"I do not wish his name, only his Mantle. I already understand his powers as he was a great teacher. A title only means something after you give it a story, and mine is ready to write. Besides, you should take Lady Agraval, it seems very distinguished," Gregory smiled a coy and boyish grin. He relaxed his hands into his lap and let his cane rest against the arm of the chair.

"I agree with Nyaria completely, no time for squabbles. I meant no offense to your Highness of the Ice." His eyes cast upon Agraval with a sign of apology.

[ArlEammon]

The Ceremony
Babayaga and Merlin stood in the Chambers, awaiting the disciples of the Masters. "We are no longer the Cosmis Masters Of Power." Merlin and Babayaga stated. "Our Titles now pass onto you. It is time to take the mantle as the Masters. We who remain have the authority to bestow upon you the Mantle of those who are no longer with us."

[stanleyindraven]

"I wonder what that will truly mean for us," Gregory says as he stands and walks closer to the ghostly beings. He picked up his cane and carried it this time.

[Elricaltovilla]

Agraval fell back into his typical hollow smile. "No offense taken, of course. Lord Merlin, I await your decrees."

[ArlEammon]

The old man smiled and sighed. "Then we hereby decree your authority, strength and power as worthy of Defending the Cosmos and the balance of the universe." Leaning on his staff, he waved his right hand, . . . Babayaga hence did the same, and all of the Master's disciples gained strength in mind and body. They felt a strength they haven't felt in them before

(+5 to any stat other than your Master's Stat).

[al'Lan Mandrag]

Char sheet updated. Wind +5 (to 45)

Nyaria's powers hummed within her and she felt slightly unsteady. It passed quickly, and in the silence Nyaria turned to Babayaga: "My lady, I must ask, who is to take up your mantle? Or will there me one more master in this age of the world?"

[ArlEammon]

"You will be counted by the Universe as one and the same Master. It's quite complicated, but that is all we have to say about that."

[stanleyindraven]

"Is that all. Now I am Master Hempshed, or Master Gregory. Well that was anticlimactic," he lets out with a hint of annoyance.

[Elricaltovilla]

"So I am to share the title and duties of my Master with Nyaria. How fortunate." Agraval's expression didn't change at the news, but wheels started turning in his head. He needed to understand more about the masters if his plans were to come to fruition. Some divining would go a long way towards that. "If there is no further need of my presence, I believe I will take my leave. I feel I will have much to prepare for in the coming days."

After leaving the chamber, Agraval headed down to one of the reflecting pools at the bottom of the tower. This one was specially made by Agraval, six feet in diameter and six feet deep exactly, it was his own personal hydromancy pool.

The art of divining the future or past by reading the ripples in the surface of a pool of water after throwing specially prepared stones into it was an art that Agraval had learned from Odin, who often performed such acts with Mimir's Well. Agraval had added his own twist to the divining art though. After throwing six pebbles into the water and waiting six seconds for their ripples to merge, he froze the water, leaving the ripples as raised edges on a sheet of flat ice. It was less dynamic than typical hydromancy, but with more time to study the ripples Agraval would be able to provide more accurate answers to his questions. In theory at least.

Ice(60)+Water(50)+Space(55) magic to divine more information about the nature and role of the Masters in the world.

The specific question is something like: What differentiates a Master from just a really powerful wizard?

[al'Lan Mandrag]

Nyaria was deep in thought when Agraval promptly left. She almost essayed a dramatic "No!" but realised now was not the time for melodrama.
"We need to find out what has happened. We all have our own methods, so I suggest that we reconvene in a day's time with all the knowledge we can gather? I thank you Babayagam for all you have given me, and it would help me if you could notify Agraval of this appointment."

She left in a swirling of robes, wondering how she could divine their next move. The others would look to magic, but there were other avenues of knowledge.

She wove the winds into a cyclone of air that spun about her and made it heavy with air which she then froze, giving it mass and the strength to lift her, allowing her to float upwards. She sought the Forgotten Tower, and there sat in contemplation for a time.

[stanleyindraven]

"Babayaga, Lady of Frost, you do know how to pick them," Gregory said as he shook his head. He then set to walking out, leisurely as his cane tapped the ground in rhythm. He headed for his room at the base of the tower, now was the time to consult the dead.