The Sundered Earth (A Death Gate Cycle Rp) IC

THE NEXUS

Vast tree lined streets all meticulously groomed and orderly awaited the arrival of the only occupants to the huge city. An old looking man held onto a younger man, not out of weariness or lack of strength, it was in fact the younger man who clung unsteadily to the older man for much needed support. If one was to look closer they would have seen that both men were covered in strange looking markings. Tattooed to their skin were runes of power, protection, strength and healing, amongst other runes that these Patryn had tattooed on themselves over the years, the dull outline of the tattoos were no longer glowing, as they did when there was danger nearby. Here in the Nexus, the Patryn could finally relax. Not completely of course, no Patryn ever found the time to be fully relaxed, if they let their guard down in the place many of them had grown up, they died.

The older man stopped, having reached a dwelling place that was cold and univiting, but solidly built and reinforced with runes he himself had etched into the stone surface. He let the younger man down to the floor softly then straightened his back to the task at hand. Swiftly forming sigla in the air he breathed life into the rune structure he had created with a precisely spoken word. The effect was startling, the once solid wall in front of him melted, taking on the consistency of a thick but viscous porridge. Having secured the opening, the man turned to his young charge and bent to help him stand. The young man weakly pushed the hand away and struggled to his feet, the older man watched with cold eyes, he knew that the man was close to death yet understood the deep pride that swelled within his own breast. He let the younger man take a few faltering steps and was ready to grab him if needed.

Inside the building a small orange glow emanated from the only piece of furniture in the room, at least what could be seen by the naked eye. The old man waved his hands briefly and spoke a short phrase. Out of the floor sprang two chairs, one on either side of the orange glow, the glow itself came from a strange coral like substance that appeared to be floating in mid-air, but was in fact growing out of the floor on a slender trunk. As he guided the younger man to the seat th eolder man waved a hand behind him and the hole in the wall disappeared, replaced by a wall that was whole and undamaged.

"We may speak freely here my son, I know you need rest and believe me when I say that it is in both our interests that you form your healing circle as soon as possible, I am loathe however, to leave unspoken the words you muttered to me when I found you at the final gate."

The younger man, clinging to consciousness but sheer force of will, fluttered his eyelids and managed to mumble a word passed cracked and parched lips.

"I apologise, I have not had others cater for in a while and in my haste forgot the manners of hospitality, if you will wait but a moment I will rectify this slight."

He waved his hands near the orange glow, a slight hissing noise escaped the plant and a small trickle of fluid dripped into cup that appeared underneath it.
He passed the cup to the man and waited for the youngster to take it, unfortunately the effort seemed to much and the old man was forced to hold the cup up to the cracked lips. When he was sure that the cup had been drained, the old man placed it on the floor and returned to his own seat. The young man seemed a little more at ease and was breathing a lot quieter than before. His body is young, the magic strong, it already fights the poisons without the aid of healing
The old man was impressed despite his own advanced age and powers.

"I am called Xar, the first Patryn to have escaped the Labrynth, you are in the Nexus, a place that our Sartan jailers left for us after our "rehabilitation". I found you near the final gate, I believe that two Chaodyn had almost stopped you from escaping. Unfortunately even though you slayed both, one managed to infect you and that is where I found you, however you did not just give up and die, you fought, as you are still doing now. I was impressed with this and decided to bring you here, so that you could see the place the Patryns were supposed to live in, under Sartan rule obviously, but that is a discussion for when you are better."

The younger man, aware of his surroundings, and alerted to the power this man wielded, almost choked on a sob of relief, if this man was Xar, the Xar who risked life and limb every time he went back into the Labrynth to rescue their people then the young man wanted to know how he could help in any way.

"I am called Kalas, and I am in you debt, command me and I will do what you say without question."

He passed out then, secure for once in his life that he was safe, if he had seen the look in Xar's eyes however he might have thought twice.

[Sahar, Arianus, Kilken Island]

Arianus. A world of floating land. A beautiful place to live in, if you had wings, magic or some kind of transportation device to let you move around and find a land with enough water and food. Such a place was a small island in the High Realm of Arianus. Completely untouched by the various Mensh and Native sentient species, it only housed a sanctuary in the center of its forest.

It was just a group of chambers connected to each other and a few beautiful gardens, if any looked at it from the outside, but if some sentient being tried to actually approach and enter the place, they'd find that an invisible barrier denied them any entrance. It had been this way for fifty years. The forest lived on peacefully, animals were born, matured, bred and died, same with plants.

Suddenly, the peace in the forest was interrupted. The previously invisible barrier lit up to a blinding white for a few seconds before exploding outwards in a silent shock wave of energy. Everything fell silent for minutes, until normal, if slightly faster chirping came from the trees and the sounds of the forest resumed. The barrier slowly dissolved from the top down into nothingness, leaving the Sanctuary open to the world of Arianus once more and allowing a better sight of the chambers.

Their outer walls were a pure white in colour, with clear crystal pillars surrounding the small buildings. Inside, the walls took on a more earthly tone. A sand-like colour for the walls and a deep golden brown for the floor. The ceiling was strangely transparent, allowing anyone inside to glance at the sky while others outside couldn't look into the chamber. There were a dozen crystal pillars circling around a big table, each pillar held a creature, apparently humans at first sight. One such pillar lit up in a similar way as the magical barrier, and, slowly but surely, it began dissolving into thin air.

A dozen minutes later, the light stopped, and a tall female could be seen kneeling down where the pillar used to be. She had pure white hair with brown tips, the hair curled slightly at the tips and it went down all the way to her waist. She had her eyes closed and just breathed in and out for a few long moments, until she stood up, the long white dress she was wearing fluttering a bit at the movement. She opened her eyes, revealing them to be an amethyst violet in colour and looked around, a grin slowly forming on her smooth face.

"Brothers and sisters-" She began, looking at the other pillars with a calm and soothing expression. "It's time to rise." She said as she stretched. Being enclosed in a crystal pillar for fifty years did a number on your muscles and joints. She felt like a statue.

She waited on her spot for what seemed like hours to her, before she spoke again. "Brothers, why aren't you leaving your sleep?" With a tilt of her head in confusion, she walked over to the nearest pillar and put her ear against it, frowning as she failed to hear anything. She knocked on the pillar a few times as well, failing to receive an answer.

That's when she remembered- 'Right! if I sing this note, they'll be able to reply to me.' She thought to herself before taking a few deep breaths, then coughing a bit to clear her throat.

She stepped away from the pillar as she opened her mouth and began singing the same note in various soft tones. She kept doing it for easily a dozen minutes without getting an answer. 'W... Why isn't it working? They told me that this was a way I could contact them if I woke up sooner! Maybe... Maybe they're... Dead?' She thought, putting a hand up to cover her mouth before looking at the other pillars.

They should have heard her singing as well and replied. Why didn't they? She couldn't hear any heartbeat, but that was normal. But for them to not be connected to her in any way? The only thing that could do that was death. She felt the corners of her lips quivering as she lost control of her emotions and ran out of the chamber towards the main garden in the Sanctuary. As soon as she reached the garden, she looked around frantically, trying to spot any other being of her species around. She couldn't see anyone else.

She blinked as she felt a tear starting to leak from her right eye, and quickly sniffled, wiping away the tear. "No! Maybe... Maybe you woke sooner, Asiyah. Yeah, it should be that! Just... Let's just get a head start... They'll appreciate it once they wake up." She told herself in a successful attempt at reassurance.

It was then that she instantly and barefooted decided to walk out into the forest, leaving behind the Sanctuary to surely return one day in the future. Maybe if she could find another Sartan... She could have her questions answered, and maybe make the others wake up. They had promised each other that if someone didn't wake up, they wouldn't force them to do it. It's not like they could do it, anyway. Not without having the knowledge, and only one or two Sartans had it.

[I'm guessing actually, that because Frettzo stated that a barrier shattered, that it is possible to reach at least a 'part' of the high realms now, please, correct me if I'm wrong about something in the post, I'm a little ill right now]

The Skies of the mid-realm, not often a safe place to be, unless one has grown used to the pattern of settlements that may fire upon something passing through their air-space, an odd path of flight that was no already comfortable, but necessary to pass between different Aruvi nests. Regardless, Lakarian fully enjoyed the act of flight, whether the path was smooth or weaving, the wind blasting through the large feathers that decorated his body in this world, and the delightful scents of the morning meals that the humans and elves cooked for themselves, though he never really ate any as he was unwilling to 'raid' simply over the smell of food, it still made him feel quite hungry, even though there was no room to stop and hunt in this land.

Some time passed before he soared past the final Settlement of fleshy hostiles and took to the higher skies beyond the edges of the islands, relaxing suddenly and allowing the wind to guide him along for a time, waiting to encounter the sight of a familiar Mass of Wind Stone, to which he glided to land and released a wary crooning sound. An answer came quickly as several aruvi, similar in shape but not color, emerged to greet him, upon which time he greeted them in return and dropped his 'delivery', a rather large collection of meat and herbs that had been gathered in another settlement, perhaps sent by relatives of the little group calling this rock home. He never minded making deliveries no matter the distance, There was little else to do many days as few interesting things happened for Aruvi in this world, at least, by his definition that is, though on this day it quickly seemed that fate had other ideas in mind.


Their attention was quickly drawn to something far in the distance, well above where most are willing or capable of traveling, and far from any form of settlement that he knew of, a light so bright appeared that it could be seen from this distance, though only for a few seconds. One of the others suddenly spoke up "Hey, I've checked out the places up there before, or, tried, I looked around but I could never actually find a place to land, some magic thing was always blocking it off, maybe something happened up there?....wu...guuhuhu." A shiver suddenly ran through all of them, something suddenly had disturbed the air over a great distance, causing a slight sickly feeling in those like Aruvi who were quite sensitive to the wind, though it faded after a few seconds more, however Lakarian's face held a large Grin as he stared at the point where the light had come from before it faded. "I'm going to go take a look, maybe that thing you mentioned is gone now... I've always been curious about what's up there."

He actually let out a slightly maddened chuckle before leaping from the edge of floating cave like rock, waving a little fare-well to his acquaintances, and taking to the wind, wobbling for a moment as the wind felt a bit different, if only for a few seconds longer, easily stabilized by a little magic use, and lead himself high on self-made wind currents. It wasn't long before the floating island came into view and his smile widdened as he saw the 'structures' in the center, though he slowed and cautiously approached, a paw out-stretched as he flapped his way closer bit by bit, determined to safely approach incase he should collide with a barrier, yet he managed to find nothing in his way, and ultimately glided in for a soft landing.


He was very cautious as he landed on this island, Certain that there was no small reason for a barrier to have protected the entire island in the past, and not keen on tromping in carelessly, but progressing steadily farther into the forest, taking in the sounds of a foreign island and the was the forest reacted to his presence, speaking softly to himself "Hmmm, I can hear animals, but they are a good distance away, anything nearby seems to see me as a predator and has gone silent... oh how exciting, an un-explored island and I actually get to be the first to land on it.... What's this?" He paused suddenly as he heard a quiet rustle, shifting calmly to look towards a bush nearby, gently lowering his head and waiting a short while before a small animal of some kind peeked out, and inched out a little bit to sniff at him before a large paw lifted quickly to gently pat over it's head. "Astounding... It's a completely natural paradise of some sort...The animals don't seem to fear the approach of strangers as much as those below do thanks to the Humans and Elves slaughtering them for food... Ah, how lovely."

The forest slowly but surely to 'reviving' with the sounds of ambient animal life as it became seen that he wasn't behaving hostile, though he was still a frightful, large, and foreign creature, though his age and experience seemed to have an effect on the wild-life, giving them a sense that he meant no harm. This was more or less deliberate actually, he may well be the oldest living thing on this island now, aside from plants obviously which could live for centuries sometimes, and he was quite capable of displaying himself as a peaceful entity to simple wild-life. He continued to progress farther through the forest, occasionally startling smaller animals that were caught off guard by his deceptively quiet movement despite his size, though calmed quickly as he simply continued to pass by.

Before long he came near enough to lay eyes on the 'sanctuary' in the center of the forest, though he refrained from approaching, for the time being content to wait and observe the area, he knew nothing of this place and was wary enough of unexplored places that it may be 'defended' from uninvited visitors, and he was certainly uninvited as far a she knew. That, and of course he caught an unusual scent, one that he had not smelled even a remnant of in ages, not since he'd once been present in the nexus when he was younger, and he was non too keen to risk angering the source of the scent if it was anything near what his memory suspected it may be. Of course, he wasn't very camouflaged, so it would not be hard at all to spot him from a distance in the forest, he stood out drastically from the normal greens and browns.

Sahar had been getting herself acquainted with the forest. It had been a lot of time since she last saw it, and nature was always changing. Thankfully most of the species in the forest had stayed the same, and she had counted them and most of them were there. It just took her a few minutes to round up a little crowd of animals to just sit down quietly with them in the middle of a clearing, but in the instant she smiled and move to sit down against a tree, every animal perked up and hid in nearby bushes. Not being one foreign to animal instincts, she kept as silent as possible as she stood up and made her way back towards the Sanctuary.

But just as she saw the Sanctuary, she also noticed a creature staring at it- A big creature. It had characteristics of one of the native sentient species in this world, but... Some things were off. She wasn't sure which ones, as her mind hadn't kicked awake fully yet, but she was sure there was something different about it. At first she felt alarmed at such a sight, thinking that maybe it was looking to do harm to the Sanctuary, but her knowledge kicked in afterwards and she checked its body language, knowing right then that it wasn't angry, or looking for trouble. With a quiet sigh of relief, that she wasn't sure if the creature heard, she walked towards it, just a mere three meters away from it as she spoke.

"Hello. May I ask what you're doing here? If you need food, I'm afraid to say that our tables are empty at the moment. I can help you if it is an injury that's bothering you, but you don't seem specially wounded, so then again... What is a creature like you doing here? Isn't this land especially hard for your kind to get to? What's motivating you to come here?" She asked calmly but surely, her long dress flowing in a sudden gust of wind. Being asleep in a crystal pillar for fifty years or maybe even more took a toll on your thought capability. She would have changed into a more average set of clothes if she knew a sentient being would visit the Sanctuary... Then again, if this one hadn't met a Sartan before, she could probably tell him that she was actually one of the Mysteriarch... Even though it felt funny to her that she'd hide who she was... 'Sigh... Well Sahar, what do you know..? It's always been like that. The Sartan aren't allowed to fully show themselves to the Mensch. The would ask or even try to force them to help them in their petty little conflicts.'

Staring at the creature, she expected it to give her an answer and state his business in the Sanctuary. She might have not been so straight forward if it wasn't that her brothers and sisters were sleeping in the Sanctuary. She couldn't have anyone go in and disturb their sleep.

Lakarian was still staring with some fascination and curiosity at this sanctuary, though he was oblivious to the approach of the woman until he caught that scent growing stronger from proximity, though he quite calmly rotated in place and plopped to sit on his haunches and look her over just as she came close enough to be seen clearly. He stared down at her with an expression of both curiosity and wariness, listening closely to what she said before seeming to relax quickly with a quiet chuckle before replying. "Quite the contrary actually, I'm well fed and in perfect health. It wasn't hard to get here at all really, though I 'heard' about the barrier on this island, It appears to have vanished, or perhaps shattered, prior to my arrival. It was the brilliant flash of light that originally attracted my attention, it also put out quite the disturbance in the wind, My magic made it much more possible for me to approach without losing control, Though it shall likely calm down soon, and you may have to worry about more 'visitors'. I certainly couldn't have been the 'only' one to notice... Then, someone may have mistaken it for the sun."


He had only then realized he'd broken into rambling with a complete stranger and shook his head suddenly, ceasing the babble and returning 'the point' "I am Lakarian Vendal, Though, Lakar would suffice... And If my guess is correct, you are no human." He paused then, leaning only a slight bit closer and takeing a much more deliberate sniff of her scent before he grew a playful grin on his muzzle. "Aha, I 'am' right, No human could mimic that scent."

In the next moment his body suddenly twisted in on itself, not in a grotesque fashion of course, more like fluid, The dauntingly large Feral form quickly taking on a much more Bipedal shape with an outfit that could be considered equally as out of place as the woman's, though in a completely different way. The sudden shift was a bit of a test actually, He knew of the sartan, though he didn't know a 'lot' about them, he wanted to see how she'd react to this as shape shifters weren't all too common, she'd have to have encountered his kind before 'most likely' though having been out cold in a pillar for decades on end, it's possible that she never has, not that he knew that of course. "You, little miss, Are a Sartan, are you not? It's been quite a while since I'd even 'heard' of the Sartan

It was a great relief to her when the creature relaxed- It meant he wasn't about to do any harm to the Sanctuary or the creatures there, and that was enough to settle her present worries. She noticeably stiffened lightly when told that the Sanctuary might have other visitors soon... 'Maybe I can hide the chambers... My brothers and sisters can't have their sleep disturbed or the sacred nature of the Sanctuary's Chambers violated. I have to do something about this.' She thought quickly, sparing a short glance over to the center of the five only buildings in the whole land. The center of the Sanctuary, where a small garden was located.

She then looked back at the creature just to notice it was now sniffing her, taking in her scent. For some reason, this amused her, making her smile warmly, as it reminded her of little animals and some kinds of pets.

It was a surprise, though, when he suddenly told her that he knew she was no human. What could she say to him then? She was sure it wasn't a good idea to tell anyone she was a Sartan, but then again... Any kind of shabby cover she might have been able to say had just been blown. It was an even bigger surprise when the creature's body twisted in on itself, leaving him in a much more... Humanoid, if it could be called that, shape. She had raised both her eyebrows and stared in silence at the male, noticing that the wings were the things that kept on being the same, even after the huge change. 'Why are those the only things that did not change? I had not met shape shifters before... My Father told me about them a couple times before, but I never really took them into account.' She thought.

With a sigh, she started walking, going past him and slowly making her way towards the central garden. "You can call me Sahar, Lakarian Vendal." She said simply, choosing to ignore his questions, or more like affirmations, about her being a Sartan. As she walked, she started to kick around some of the dirt, leaving a few distinct markings on the ground where she walked. She had decided that if this one knew she was a Sartan, there was no reason to not get to working already and hide the Sanctuary Chambers already.