AC2:Announcements - 2003/10 - Revolt
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October Episode: "Revolt"
The bitter, cold wind roared down the jagged peaks of the mountains surrounding the entrance to the Mage Academy. As that wind violently whipped the edges of Aerfalle's gown, she paused, listening to what it had to say. The screaming wind told of bare rock and pristine, untouched ice. It spoke of beautiful, unchanging cold. Once again, she saw why he had built the Academy here. The location seemed similar to one where his original Mage Academy had been built.
"It's beautiful," her companion said.
"Indeed," Aerfalle said in agreement. While nothing could compare to the beauty of Gelid, there were hints of that land's beauty here and there. If she still breathed, she would have inhaled deeply of the crisp air. If her flesh was still alive, she would have felt the wind stinging her skin. She felt none of this, of course. Eternal life did call for some sacrifices, she thought. She smiled at her unintended pun as she and her companion passed through the entrance portal.
As they materialized in the Academy, a surprised sound escaped Aerfalle's companion. While the girl had always been prone to overreacting, Aerfalle too was surprised by the disorder that greeted her eyes. Things had changed quite a bit since her last visit. The last time she was here had been for a small celebration Rytheran hosted to commemorate the completion of the new Academy. That construction started soon after the Firstborn used those so-called Nemesis races to drive the mortal races from Dereth. Rytheran went before Geraine and asked for permission to use the Gurog to build his new academy underneath this mountain. While her love simply could have summoned Golems for the construction, he told her it had seemed so much more appropriate to command mortals to do it. And truly, that had been the Firstborn's goal—bending the will of more malleable creatures to their own and adding new subjects to their Kingdom. After an absence of over 10,000 years, the Kingdom of the Dericost ruled once more.
While most Undead followed the lead of the Firstborn and kept their displays of emotion to a minimum, the celebration at the Academy had been a joyous one. Even Geraine, followed by a contingent of loyal Sand Kings, seemed to enjoy the occasion in his own way. All of the Firstborn's enemies had been defeated: The Hopeslayer was gone forever, that whelp Asheron had disappeared and the Virin'di's Dominion was leaderless. All at a cost of a few hundred Gurog, Burun and Drudge lives—a very small price to pay. Now the Firstborn would rest for a few hundred years and then begin cleansing the world of the Olthoi.
It was at that celebration that Geraine had congratulated Saelar, Hahnain and Renselm for their efforts and named them his Archons of the Way. Those three had discovered the location of the Book and brought it before him. With the Book once more in his hands, Geraine had judiciously used its knowledge against their enemies and led them to victory. As the festivities drew to a close, Aerfalle made her way over to her love, to bid him goodbye before their rest. Before they parted, Rytheran spoke of his surprise at Saelar's reaction to Geraine's congratulation. The two had known each other for millennia, being from the same province and had been life-long friends. Rytheran had approached Saelar to add his congratulations to those he had already received and was surprised at his friend's anger. Saelar spoke of Geraine's patronizing gift, nothing more than a title, when Saelar knew that he and his companions had been the ones responsible for their victory. Rytheran tried to persuade his friend that he had been truly honored, but eventually Saelar stopped speaking on the matter and soon left. Aerfalle had chided her love for forgetting what the politics of the court were like; surely, bruised egos were an everyday occurrence.
Now, seeing what had happened to the Academy while she had rested, Aerfalle saw how wrong she had been. As Aerfalle and her companion entered the great hall, they saw one of their kind standing near a Gurog at the other end. The Undead stood idly, mumbling to himself, while the Gurog grunted in laughter and busied itself with picking flakes of flesh off the Undead's form. As they approached closer, the Gurog took notice of them, raised its axe and bellowed, "Halt!"
Aerfalle paused for a moment, taken aback that this creature had dared to speak to her at all, let alone the tone in which it did so, then waved her hand, flinging the creature against a nearby wall. A satisfying crack followed, and the creature slid down to the floor. The two now approached the mumbling Undead.
"What happened here?" she asked him, yet the Undead seemed to take no notice of her and continued mumbling to himself.
"Something is dulling their minds," she said to her companion. "Can you sense the magics at work here, Garaena?"
"Yes mistress," the girl nodded. "But they are very subtle. I would not have noticed their presence had you not said so."
"I took no notice of them either, child. It was only on seeing the state of this poor one's mind that I expanded my senses and noticed their presence."
"We should make haste, mistress," Garaena said, a concerned note entering her voice. "I must see what has become of Master Rytheran."
"Yes, we should, child."
After navigating the halls of the Academy, the two passed through the portal leading to Rytheran's Sanctum. After materializing, they were met with another surprise—mortals. A small party of the creatures stood there, casting magics on themselves in preparation for the battles to come.
Aerfalle and Garaena were not alone in their surprise—many in the mortals' party cried out at seeing them appear. A Human sorcerer quickly recovered from the shock and cast a fire bolt at Aerfalle. With a simple gesture of her hand she deflected the bolt, sending it toward the ceiling of the chamber. While the sorcerer uttered a curse, a Tumerok wielding a blazing weapon rushed toward her. Aerfalle raised another hand, her fingers splayed, and the creature froze, motionless. She then quickly brought her fingers in, forming a fist, and a resounding crack was heard. The creature fell dead. The sorcerer uttered another curse, and began making the motions necessary to escape into portalspace, while the others in his party rushed the two Undead. As the mortals approached, Aerfalle quickly brought her arms inward, crossing them over her chest. She threw them out and released a wave of fire in all directions. The wave struck the creatures, who screamed, then fell dead.
As she stepped over the smoking corpses, Aerfalle said to her companion, "I can see some things haven't changed."
"Mistress, there seems to be something odd about this creature's weapon," Garaena said, stooping by the blazing weapon still clutched in the dead Tumerok's hand. "It seems to be imbued with magics that further confuse our minds."
"Their betrayal has been truly profound," she said to the girl. "Let us press on."
As they walked into Rytheran's chamber, she saw him standing stooped over, mumbling to himself. She approached him, weaving an intricate pattern with her hands.
"Rytheran," she whispered.
Rytheran stopped his mumbling as the magics took hold and looked at her in surprise, "Aerfalle? My lady, what are you doing here? What has happened?"
"You have been the victim of a betrayal, my love," Aerfalle said as she placed a hand against his cheek, her voice still a whisper. "We all have. Come with me now, for I will need your strength in the days to come."
"Yes, yes, of course," he said, the cloud leaving his mind. "But what of the Academy?"
"We haven't time to dispel the magics that have been cast against this place," Aerfalle continued. "Nor have we the time to purge those Gurog loyal to our betrayers, but Garaena will remain behind in your place. She will watch over these halls and do what she can."
Straightening himself and pulling away from Aerfalle's hand, Rytheran looked at his one-time student and said, "It is good to see you one more, Adept Garaena. I entrust the care of my Academy to you. Perhaps you will have more success here than I have. I am ready to leave, my love."
"Good, then let us do so," Aerfalle said, as she raised her hands to summon a portal. "We have a revolt to put down."
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