Empire 6: The Blessed Isle

[TheDarkDM]

As the Nocter and Noctrix readied their dynasty to assume the great responsibility of the Truthseers, it was their heir Pina-Mak they tasked with the final challenge. Descending from the city of her birth to the banks of the mighty Yvaon, she found the shallow ferry of the Truthseers awaiting her, its white planks kissed by a mist that defied the season. Stepping onto the deck of the strange vessel, Pina-Mak felt it bob gently in the waves, but little else. That is, until she blinked, and at the edge of vision something began to glow. Instinctively, she willed herself to see, and in response the ferry slipped its moorings and began to drift into a bank of fog that rose like a dream from the river.

Pina-Mak passed beyond time, the northern breezes of Dannu-Gaon swallowed by the fog and replaced by a gentle whisper that echoed from everywhere and nowhere. Tableaus of light and shadow lived a lifetime before her eyes, before vanishing in the eddying roil of the ferry’s passage. The young woman’s heartbeat thundered in her ears, and in that isolation she felt the whole of herself more keenly than she ever had before. Or, indeed, than she ever would again. The white fog before her intensified with every breath of her lungs, until she could not be sure if it had become a wall of glittering snow or if she had simply been stricken blind.

Until, with a sigh, the fog parted.

Pina-Mak saw at once she was on no river touched by living beings, the waters flowing in tides that moved against each other even as they came together in intricate harmonies. Beneath the water, shadows both wondrous and terrible darted just out of sight, and all around her the fading fog reached out with spectral hands to caress her parting. But none of this compared to what stood before her in the sparkling water - an island of tall mountains and ancient forests, the colors more vivid and true than anything touched by mortality. Waves crashed against beaches of cream-colored sand, sending gushes of spray to caress fruits in such profusion as to sate the most voracious glutton’s hunger. Unseen birds filled the air with music, and beneath the boughs of the trees wildflowers bloomed their perfume upon the wind. The ferry slid easily onto the beach, and as Pina-Mak’s feet touched the sand she heard a voice from the mountains above her.

“Welcome, Pina-Mak of the Dannu-Gaon. Long have I awaited one such as you.”

[BladeofObliviom]

The mountains called.

Pina slipped her boot off, to rest her foot for one moment upon the warmth of the sand, to feel it with her skin as she could feel it in her heart. She had never seen a beach in all her life, and certainly no place so wonderfully sun-kissed. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath of unfamiliar air, and loosened her cloak as she replaced her footwear. The birdsong too was like nothing she'd before heard, certainly nothing like the baleful sounds of circling scavengers, and she thought back to her lessons. She centered herself, she considered the spirits that must reside in each and every speck of sand beneath her, and tried not to grow dizzy from it all. She uncapped a container of perfumed oil she'd brought with her, of a scent she found pleasing, and though it paled to the riotous sensory display around her its purpose was to remind her who she was and where she'd come from. Her mother had used this particular scent a dozen times to bathe her when she was small, and it kept some deep nostalgic part of her occupied as she felt her way forward from the beach, guided by instinct over any particular aim.

Only a moment had passed, in all of that.

"Hello?" She replied to the voice, unsure how even to respond. Introducing herself would be mad, given she'd been addressed, and asking if there were someone there would be inane. The initial confusion gave way to impulse, trusting the instincts that had got her this far. "Who speaks, and from where? Where is here at all? And why 'one such as I'?"

[TheDarkDM]

Several long heartbeats followed Pina's question, her only answer the harmony of riotous life. Or at least, so it seemed. Her senses slowly acclimating to the chorus, Pina realized with a start that the sound of life was growing louder. And as it rose from the forest, the perfume of Dannu Gaon rose to meet it, the scent of the oil intensifying until it threated to drown Pina in a wave of memories. Light dazzled in her eyes, a kaleidoscope of visions that she realized with a start were only half a trick of the heady vapors. Standing at a break in the tree line was a luminous creature, a spirit as bright as the sun but glowing with every color imagined by mortal eyes. Its form wavered beneath Pina's scrutiny, as if unsure of itself for all its glory, until the light dimmed and the hard lines of a body came into focus. Four legged and hooved, it tread so lightly that not even the grass bent beneath its weight, yet it stood tall enough at the shoulder to tower over Pina. Its coat was no color at all, changing from one moment to the next like a mirror sheen, proud neck rising to an equine head of singular grace crowned with a spike of opalescent light.

“I speak, Pina. I have known you since you first stirred in your mother's womb. Since you drew breath for your first cry. I have walked beside you as you have grown, exulted in your triumphs, wept at your misfortunes. As I have with all who walk free in the world of mortals. The Truthseers know me as the Phoenix, but my vigil began long before they had words to speak of me. I am Life, the Dream eternal of parents, lovers, and children, and the farthest bastion against the darkness.”

The spirit stepped closer, its hooves trackless on the sand, and lowered its shimmering horn towards Pina's heart.

“When the cataclysm threatened to devour them, the sisters of Nemoikriosus used all their strength to flee here. I could not reproach their desperation or their contrition, and so accepted their request. To safeguard their holiest relics until such time as a true Ruler emerged to claim them.”

[BladeofObliviom]

Where does one even begin to express one's wonder at such a thing? Divinity in its purest form, a large and fundamental piece of all the World-Soul working in place, that countless smaller pieces could not function without. This would be a moment she could never forget, surely, the glory seared into her mind's eye as surely as the horn seemed poised to pierce her heart. And yet, she could not imagine spirit that called itself Life taking hers, and fear did not touch her.

"You're beautiful," she muttered lamely, the word seeming perfect and yet lacking, for no single word could fully encompass the feelings that rolled through her. But that passed, condensed in a moment of worry for appearances. She was making a fool of herself at a critical moment and so she brought her will to bear, to ground herself once more from the riot of Life surrounding her. "Where is here, exactly?", she asked in a bid to try to retain some control of her thoughts, to follow a path rather than meandering. "Is this the quintessence within the Blue Star, flying high above the Earth, or are we..." She reached for a word, searching through a catalog of esoterica stored in the depths of her memory. "...Outside?" It once again seemed like the perfect word, and yet lacking. A Dream was what the Phoenix had called itself, but this was outside the scope of mere dreaming. More substantial, somehow, and physical things, relics of power and danger could be stored here. She did not have time to meditate upon this, but her mind buzzed with enough questions to ponder on for the rest of her mortal life.

[TheDarkDM]

The vaguely equine face should not have been able to smile, but somehow Pina felt a wave of maternal pride wash over her in answer to her question. The kaleidoscopic blade of light crowning the creature's head moved upwards, and in its wake the sky split open. Below stretched the vast expanse of the entire world, places Pina knew and those she had only heard of in stories laid out in perfect detail. And in the center of all, a pillar of terrible darkness.

"You walk the firmament, child. The realm made real by belief that feeds belief in turn. We are outside the world and yet within the soul of every creature that venerates Life in all its myriad forms. The Blue Star is my herald and my eye, opened once more after two centuries of blindness and pain."

[BladeofObliviom]

Made real by belief and feeding belief in turn, outside the world and within every soul. Love, she realized, Love like that between Eauden and Earth was this bond, or at least the expression of a multifaceted connection with all things she best understood the name of. She beamed back, allowing herself to just once more the childish pride of having asked the right question. If even the slimmest shred of this wonder and Love she could only now name filtered its way into all spirits, perhaps it might do some good; all the more reason to consider carefully what she did, and maintain control. If belief was the currency of this place, then it would do her well to take care just what she named.

And then the world opened before her. It struck her for a moment that with all the world she knew in sight above her from a view she would have imagined looking down toward, that she must be standing upon the heavens inverted, and yet she held firm. The sand did not rise into the sky - or fall to the Earth, as it were. Perhaps this was what Life meant by belief, that her confidence that down was at her feet kept her rooted here. She stood firm, and examined further the Daezirn Islands daubing so far west, the shores of mysterious Mamut yet farther, other lands to the south she knew even less well twinkling with mysteries, and at the Center of a great ocean there lay - for all that, she'd come so close to ignoring the rule she'd just set. Life had described itself as only now not blinded, and she settled on describing what it was by what it was not - a Blindness, where the Blue Star's sight remained blotted. Blindness where Life cannot see and no doubt Life cannot prosper, as in the dark days. Mayhap the Center - for this projection had a Center, and naming it so could only hold the four corners together - was key.

Pain. Life had described pain. Pina was unsure she could comprehend what such an entity would name Pain, as a defining characteristic of a span ten times the whole of her life. "I am sorry. Such pain must be terrible beyond description." Her eyes flit again to the center. "Is that lingering Blindness the ancient seat of Nemoikriosus, then? Or whatever remains of it, after so many seasons."

[TheDarkDM]

The spirit's smile wavered, and like clouds passing before the sun a wave of incalculable sadness swept over Pina. One swiftly banished by a shimmer of opalescent hide.

"You had no part in causing it, child. But you mend my heart even so. Yes, that is the elder isle, once the seat of an imperial power that held the world in its grip. Now the grave of something half-dead, drawn from beyond the furthest reaches of the firmament and held here against its will. What lurks there is hunger, anger, confusion, and despair."

[BladeofObliviom]

A thing, half-dead, from Outside of Outside, or perhaps Outside Betwixt might better name its origin. "Half-dead and not belonging, then? Bound. What could..." She searched for a word to avoid carelessly naming anything new she did not wish to. "...mend the Blindness? What justice or mercy or exile?"

[TheDarkDM]

Once more, the serenity of the spirit wavered, but this time to a sensation so wholly alien that the entire isle seemed to shudder with it - anger.

"That question, Pina-Mak, is beyond my ken. I and all like me are children of the World Soul. Brought into being by the eddy and flow of the world and all its spirits. But the Empire of Nemoikriosus delved deeper mysteries still, and their undoing was the greatest act of High Sorcery ever attempted. Their Emperor sought to seize their Phoenix, to seize me, and bind me to his will. Can you imagine? The Dream of Life, enslaved to a tyrant? It was an act of monstrous hubris and monstrous power, and I fear to undo even its failure would require knowledge better left forgotten."

[BladeofObliviom]

Perhaps Pina should have anticipated that Life could not see a Solution to its own Blind Spot. But the answer still contained so much, even as the alien primal anger of the island threatened to break her composure and send her scattering in primal terror, and Curiosity kept her going. High Sorcery was the phrase Life used, and she dared not ask of it - she certainly did not wish to repeat the incident that had caused such pain to this wonderful creature and all the world, and though it seemed to Know her Heart it had still just implied it might be best left forgotten.

But was that truly so? If this was Bound at least partly in the Firmament and all there is fed by Belief, then perhaps the Belief that it was best left a wound was itself part of what impeded a Mending? Something new to ponder on; regardless not a thing to be engaged carelessly. Sensing that this was a topic best not pried into without much more consideration, she asked another burning question: "The sisters spoke of another, that they say sparked this madness. What role did it play?" She felt a little proud of herself for remembering not to name it outright, while making it clear just what she was referring to.

[TheDarkDM]

Anger turns to sadness, as the great spirit's attention drifts out towards the swirling clouds of the firmament.

"You speak of my twin, Destruction. Known to the sisters as the Wyrm. We were both wounded by the Trespasser's arrival, but Destruction bore the brunt of it. Its Dream was bound to the Trespasser through the dying eyes of millions, though the summoning was beyond either of us. Long have they languished in a crumbling realm, and only recently have I felt some stirring of their old power. But there is something different about it. Before the cataclysm, Destruction was but a facet of the cycle, the inevitable end that came to all without malice. But now, there is an edge of desperation and despair to my twin, a vitality born of spite. I fear Destruction will rear its head soon, and all shall suffer for its scars."

[BladeofObliviom]

A strange thought, of grief for the very concept she thought of as Death, and of horrific implications for what lay in wait. What a cruel irony to those who followed those savage Ancient Ways with their veneration of such, with the cycle they spoke of so fundamentally broken. But then no less broken was the cycle for those who danced in Eauden's light, she supposed, even if their eyes were not so firmly fixed on it. Pina-Mak bent down, placing one hand on the still-warm sands beneath her to maintain her balance as she sat, gazing too into those swirling clouds, just wondering what this Teacher she'd always known deep down was pondering. Loss, she supposed. If Love was what held the cosmos together, the loss of a loved one in such a cruel manner was surely Pain on a level she could scarcely imagine.

"This is hard to process. I can hardly imagine what would bring Him to such...madness, I suppose, though that feels too weak a word to describe it. Hubris? Lust for power? What reason could have justified this, even in the most twisted mind, or had reason left him wholly?" She sighed. "The Truthseers told me that the Wyrm - your twin Destruction - inspired the madness in Artavazd that caused him to seek what he sought and do what he did. But that rings hollow, knowing more; it would be madness itself to seek to inspire the brokenness of the cycle one is part of, no matter the Name of of the part. Isn't it?" She wasn't sure, suddenly, and she stopped herself from speculating further.

"You spoke of a Trespasser.", she said, shuddering at the Name involuntarily - she gazed at what she'd called the Blindness and understood in a moment that her efforts to avoid naming what lay within were of little use now. "Is..." she paused, fearing to ask the question, before resolving herself to do so - if she asked one hard question, it would be an important one. "Is that how it has concealed itself behind a Blindness from you? By exploiting the Love and the Pain?"

[TheDarkDM]

Moving to where Pina sat in the sand, the spirit lays its iridescent horn gently at the nape of her neck. At once, tension is banished from her, replaced by a warm comfort that at least rejuvenates her body.

"Power is too often poison to reason, Pina-Mak. But you speak wisely - the veiled sisters' judge the world through the lens are taught, and through it my sibling is perhaps cast in too malevolent a light. But at the height of the old kingdom, when their mastery was undisputed and they doled out death to those that defied them with an eager hand, Destruction grew close to them. So close, they may have been blind to the ultimate goal of the despoiler."

The horn rises, and the sand shifts under Pina's hands into an intricate mosaic of an enormous city atop a proud plateau.

"I still remember Nemoikriosus from those living eyes that saw it at its height.
But the Trespasser comes from Beyond, alien even to we beings who exist in the Firmament. No life birthed from the World Soul still walks the old kingdom, and so we here are blind to what occurs in the Trespasser's grave."

[BladeofObliviom]

Succor like a heavy wine, but free of intoxication rode through her veins, and Pina exhaled softly. "Thank you", she muttered as the scent she'd brought with her filled her mind again. Still, she spent a long moment mulling over what she'd just heard about the Truthseers, even as her eyes lingered on the model of a city, gone in the sands but the image burned in her mind. She wondered if Danneta-Yvaon would one day be so vast and grand as the real thing, but scoured that thought from her mind; for all its greatness, Nemoikroisus was not to be emulated without great care. She paused once more, catching up in her mind as helpful echoes brought the words to her ears.

"Birthed from the World-Soul. That qualifier...you speak of the Blight, don't you?" Traditional Eaudenite thinking considered the Blight something akin to a tumor, part of the world but against its correct functioning. But...that wasn't written down anywhere in the old scripts. What if... "This is the truth of the Blight, isn't it? Of the Trespasser from Beyond the Firmament, truly anathema. Coopted Death and Destruction, drawn in to feed its alien growth." She hopped to her feet, spry, eyes wide with what she was sure was the understanding she needed, the reason she was here. "I am no longer certain of the degree to which I can trust the Sisters, but I was sent to claim one of their artifacts. They told me its name, Actinais, and that it was the Jewel of the North Wind, but I know not truly what that means. It belonged to the Despoiler and those before him, and was used to call forth this Trespasser, but for what purpose would they wish to return it to the world? Can it be used to heal as well? What are the Four Winds, truly?"

She almost asked if it could be used to send the thing back from whence it came, before remembering that she'd already asked a similar question once.

[TheDarkDM]

Pina felt, more than she discerned, the smile from the great spirit of Life before her. As she leaps to her feet, she feels a sudden weight in her right hand. Opening it to the light, she beholds a gem larger than a quail's egg, its pure white exterior darkening to a sky blue near the star blazing at its center. Its facets defy counting, clearly the work of artisans far beyond even those of Danneta-Yvaon, and a warmth spreads from it into her hand, an echo of the touch of Life itself.

"You must not think to harshly of the sisters - they see the world through the eyes of their ancestors, like all mortals. Their progenitors stole this gem and its like away from Artavazd the day before his grand transgression, an act of bravery few can truly comprehend. But it was one that perhaps saved us all. Armed with the power of the Four Winds, Artavazd might seen his wish fulfilled instead of crumbling to ash. The Four Winds are, as they have ever been, lenses through which my power might touch the mortal world. They are tools of Power, yes, but their nature is to build, not to destroy."

The horn hovers over Acinais, and the gem glows like a star.

"A great trust is placed in you, Pina-Mak, and a great burden. But it is one I believe you worthy of shouldering."

[BladeofObliviom]

Words to think about. The Jewel itself in her palm was something hard to tear her eyes from, like the heavens swirling in the Deep Lake. A tool of power, of building, of one of Life's greatest connections to the greater World-Soul. What she held in her palm humbled her, a treasure beyond treasures. And yet, she had been chosen to wield it. It was a tool, and it now belonged to her and her future daughters, and not the other way around. A tangible link between Life in her body and Life in the Firmament.

"I hope - " No. That wasn't what she needed to say. This was a place where belief shaped reality. No slippery words, hedging, or indecision had any place in this task; doubt now would only betray her later. " - I will endeavor every day to justify your confidence in me, to bring Hope and Healing where I tread the Earth, to protect what is Good and banish what is not. When I cannot, I shall guide others to do the same. This I vow." She could swear the Jewel's piercing glow only intensified, but with great effort Pina-Mak tore her eyes from it to look upon Life once more, smiling.

"Thank you for all that you have taught me today, Great Spirit. I do not know what the future brings, but ever shall I be your Faithful Student."

[TheDarkDM]

Though separated by trackless miles, as Sultan Zidan and Night Queen Kylisa boarded the ferry to the Blessed Isle, both rulers passed beyond the reach of time. Surrounded by shimmering grey mist and the sound of waves, the Regents of West and South slowly became aware of another presence in the fog, near enough to touch yet incalculably far. Eyes straining for clarity in the voluminous abyss, the echo of a voice half-heard reached them, followed by a blooming kaleidoscope of color overlaid over the mist. Both rulers watched as a young woman piloted a boat identical to theirs to a verdant beach, and heard as she spoke with a presence of pure rainbow brilliance. Lost in the reverie, neither ruler noticed the mist clearing until, with a blink, the memory of the Blessed Isle became the Isle in truth. Jungles and mountains beyond the touch of death or decay loomed over them, casting soothing shadows across a warm beach of purest white. The ferry boat rocked gently to rest in the surf, and as Kylisa and Zidan took their first step onto their promised destination the warmth that flowed up from the ground was the selfsame embrace of the womb, warmth and safety comingling with breathtaking nostalgia. It was an intensely personal experience, yet when their vision cleared each monarch beheld the other, separated on the beach by scarcely more than ten feet and with footprints in the sand leading back to the same craft. Before either could question the other, however, a soft voice emerged from the jungle gloom.

"Zidan of the Ashir and Kylisa of the Alqar. You are the second and third, come to claim a mighty legacy."

Stepping from the forest was a shimmering figure, vaguely equine in shape, yet larger than any horse reared by the Ashir. Even Zahir Al-Rahan was not so majestic, but as the figure came closer Zidan realized it was no horse. A spike of opalescent light rose from a face softer and more expressive than any equine, and where its hooves touched there was no impression, save the rise of new growth.

"You are welcome on the Blessed Isle, the Dream of Life."

[Nefarion Xid]

"Be at peace." Zidan bowed first to the creature of light, then to Kylisa. Contrary to some accounts, the sultan was not immune to the march of time. He had a straight back and broad shoulders with thick arms, but it was now clear he had seen well over fifty winters. He had begun to wrinkle across the brow and at the corners of his eyes. Gray had set into his hair, especially about the temples and all through his short beard. The Ashir were said to be clean shaven as a tradition, but vanities were unimportant over a week of fasting and meditation. He had not darkened his eyes with kohl either, and is long hair was unbound. An indigo keffiyeh was worn about his neck and a similar sash tied an open black robe with gold threaded trim around his waist. His leather sandals were quite simple, and he had no jewelry or weapons.

It was odd to tell an obviously beneficent spirit to 'be at peace', but that was the literal translation of their traditional greeting.

"My first time on a boat, you know!" he laughed. "I think I did well, but I would have preferred to ride."

[TheDarkDM]

Their audience with the Spirit of Life at an end, Zidan and Kylisa depart the Blessed Isle with stars blazing upon their brow. The ruby Noxpelios shines its golden-red light upon Zidan, while Kylisa bathes in the blue aurora of the sapphire Mesiron. The light lingers even as it departs the Isle, rising to join the dancing aurora that wreathes the island's sky.

These shadows out of time pass Usuukhusaa as she slides through the twinkling expanse of the Firmament, until at last the mist parts and she behold the Isle of the Blessed with her own eyes. It is as it has always been, a land of dreams pregnant with eternal vigor, ever color richer and every scent sharper than could be experienced by mortal senses. Despite the warmth of the air, the dhraan queen feels herself somehow refreshed, as though she walked at once through open sky and in the cool depths of the Sur itself. Fine sand pushes up between her clawed feet, sparkling like stars upon her scales as a flock of impossibly kaleidoscopic songbirds burst from the tree line. The soft shadows lengthen as Usuukhusaa stands in a momentary stupor, drawn out by the dazzling light that approaches from the heart of the forest.

"Usuukhusaa, mother of the dhraan. You are the fourth Chosen to step foot on these shores. Be welcome."

The light slowly resolves into the equine form of Life itself, opalescent light streaming from its forehead in a spike of radiant energy. Floating just beyond the zenith of the light, a green gem that churns with all the infinite shades of deep water and seething jungle.

[Rolepgeek]

Deep in her gut, Usuukhusaa could feel the rightness of this place. Of the entity before her. It was not merely the ease with which she stepped - an experience she had never before been granted, feeling neither the resistance of the riverwater nor the usual strain of carrying her bulk on dry land, which she had scarcely noticed until now - she was still uncertain when that burden had lifted, on her journey.

Usuukhusaa spoke slowly at first, strangely unsure of herself in a way she had not experienced for some time. But she was sure of who stood before her, who called themselves Life.

"First Mother...it brings me great honor...and- and joy, to meet you. Many of the questions I might ask I fear have been asked already by another, but a few stand out to me. I must ask your pardon when I ask: what is the High Sorcery of which you and Pina-Mak spoke?"

She did have other questions, burning in her mind, but Usuukhusaa could feel that time here did not flow as it did in the realms of dhraan and elf. There would be time.

[TheDarkDM]

Usuukhusaa

Though the light radiating from Life never dims, its joyful energy wavers at Usuukhusaa's question. Radiant hooves work their way in a circle that blooms with wildflowers, leaving an oasis of pure sand at the center of the profusion.

"It is an art born of an earlier time, from the ambitions and ease of the young and powerful. The Nemoi were, for many centuries, the uncontested masters of the world that was. Bereft of martial or material challenges, they turned their attentions inward. A spark of the World Soul resides in all living things, expressed out through a mortal's beliefs and convictions as one voice in a celestial choir. Join enough voices in the same melody, and the harmony grows powerful enough to shape the face of the World Soul in turn."

The circle of flowers left in Life's wake begins to sway to a silent rhythm, but as she watches Usuukhusaa begins to feel more than hear a sonorous tapestry of harmony and dissonance, creation and destruction, rising and falling like waves on the ocean yet somehow cohering into a great and beautiful whole. Then, from the central expanse of sand, a single flower blooms, its purple blossoms lush and proud.

"The art of High Sorcery disdains this natural balance. The lords and princes of the Nemoi had little interest in swaying the lands beyond to their beliefs, yet they feared the power that lay dormant in every tribe they subdued. They sought a way to challenge the small gods of their slaves, and they succeeded."

At once, the singular purple flower erupts to enormous size, its leaves twisting into vines that strangle the ring of flowers around it, choking out the chorus.

"High Sorcery channels the will within a single spark, building an echo of belief that layers over itself until one voice has become a chorus. It was a dangerous pursuit, and many of impure conviction were destroyed by the influx of power. But a proper practitioner of High Sorcery could subvert the voices of thousands in the symphony of the World Soul. Their great masters, tens of thousands. And Artavazd was the greatest sorcerer to ever live."

[TheDarkDM]

King Oniyellīs

As Oniyellis boards the simple craft seemingly conjured by the Truthseers, the river and riverbank of his home is soon lost in a grey fog. The sounds of the jungle grow fainter and fainter in the distance, until all is silent save the lapping of the water. Then, even the water grows silent. The Paramount Chief of Limdimon floats breathlessly in a field of glossy silver, the clouds as ephemeral as morning mist . From a great distance, an unfamiliar sound reaches his ear, a voice in the tongue of Danneta-Yvaon that somehow is as comprehensible to his ear as his father's. Then an Ashirian. An Arrakhi. And a Dhraan. The curtain of mist begins to part, revealing brilliant images of the past caught in the endless memory of the Firmament, spinning past dizzying speed yet all caught by his aging eye. There is a gust of suddenly-warm air, and like that the veil is lifted as though it had never been there. Oniyellis floats on a calm sea of azure water, speeding towards an island that defies description. Peaks and valleys of a dozen different stones shine out from behind the boughs of trees from across the world, palm forests meeting and comingling with evergreen and oak as naturally as neighbors might converse in a busy street. The petals of flowers float on every breeze, the colors so bright and untouched by time they are burned forever into his memory. The small boat comes to rest on a beach of sand that shines like crushed pearl, and from the nearby woods a light approaches that is at once every color and none.

"I had wondered if others would board the ship of the penitent sisters, to brave the mist in search of the Isle. You are welcome, Oniyellis, champion of your people."

The creature that strides from the shade of the trees does not seem to touch the ground, its radiant hooves instead alighting on the air at the uttermost edge of contact. In its wake, life in all its forms erupts in profusion, flowers rising to eternal bloom while brightly colored songbirds take wing to add to the melody of the isle.

"The power I shepherded has returned to the world. But in this place, you might present yourself to the peers you seek. The sisters learned long ago the dangers of absolute rule - the Four Winds will answer the will of the Regents."