"They say there is a fine line between genius and insanity and I crossed it silently, like the K in knowledge." CBerserker shouted back before turning to raise his hand at the stone monster, his hand ready to intercept the coming lance. Berserker had been pretty here and there most of the time, but the moment he saw something sharp and pointy coming towards him, the memory of a similar event triggered something.
"Berserker cannot be fooled twice!" Claudia shouted while laughing. "We, He and Me, we remember. And through that nature speaks to us." She jumped out of the way to avoid the throwing knives. Damien was closing the gap and William had flanked her, his sword also at the ready. Claudia reached into her pocket and quickly threw a handful of seeds on the ground. The exploded with great force, five giant American redwoods started to grow from the ground, Claudia grabbed one of the growing branches and she was quickly carried upwards away from the battle on the ground.
The two sisters jumped back to WCaster, "We need big sister." The second sister said. "And sister and sister." The first sister chimed. WCaster sighed "Ok, we cannot let the boys have all the fun. Wcaster flexed her fingers forwards and spoke. "Three, Four and Five, we summon you." And there were 3 more sisters standing there. Sister Three was pretty much normal, she was about 6foot tall, a fierce face and proportioned body, holding in her hand a club the size of a rudimentary cricket bat. But sister four was long and lanky, she was about 7foot tall, with a long body and long limbs, holding in her hand a long thin tree trunk, long, thin and bendy like a sapling. But Sister five was even stranger, she was larger still than sister four, she was about 8 foot tall, but more normally proportioned apart from the fact she was thick with muscle that made her slouch as if she was always in fighting position, in her hand she held a club also, but this was one of a dead dry tree, its trunk having a hand grip carved into it, but its dead roots, all twisted, dry and deadly sharp adorned one side of the club, on the other it had been carved into a pike, making it some sort of large looking carrot shaped Stake. One and Two ran to their sisters and the five of them, all happy to see one another quickly lined up and looked to WCaster.
Caster pointed upwards. "After her." She said. Sisters One and two started to jump and climb up the tree as if they were used to this terrain. Sister Three, began to climb upwards at a steady rate. Sister four made large reaches and pulled herself up the tree making good use of her long thin frame. Sister Five focused and jumped upwards and continued to jump up her tree. Her large muscles carrying her upwards easily, bound after the bound.
At the Gentlemans Party.
The Gentleman rose up and clinked his glass, to get the attention of the crowd.
Although his face was still always just out of lights reach, his voice carried. "Thank you all for coming."
Infront of him he had five bronze buckets.
"As you know House Tia maintains the Wood Gate, this is called so because there is magic in all life, wood, trees and plants share this magic with us."
Four of the buckets were empty he raised and showed everyone as if it was a magic trick, because it was. The fifth was filled with ash.
"Magic ash, made from burnt magic paper, that was used to make your magical invites that were all opened by you, thus all having coming into contact with you and tasting your mana." The gentleman raised his hands. "but don't worry none of that is nefarious, it simply is a marker for this lottery. In Tia we have been the eternal stoic, very much like nature. Very much like the people of the old world. One this day of the dead, we remember the blood of the house of Tia and how it has been spilled and how it can be moved forward, if you choose to be with us, and if Tia in return chooses you. So let us remember the dead, the blood of those whose footsteps you may follow in, the Harbringers, the outsider brought the end for the world for many ancestors, those who died without children the broken branch in a bloodline that started at the start of life. And with the Apocalypse the Harbringers brought it all, and we today remember the Harbringers were the soliders who brought our ancestors to the other world, and as all livings things must, we know about and respect nothingness that we fear when it all ends. But we can use these vessels as a container not only of the pain they brought us but the prospect of rising higher on the backs of them, like riders on horseback. Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional. He threw up in the air the bucket containing the ash and it became a thick cloud, before the clouds of ash began to twirl and eventually 4 strands could be clearly seen, going into one of the four buckets respectively. Eventually the ash had all been separated.
The Gentleman walked up to the first bucket of ash. "Nature as the harbringers can have a duality." He said raising his hand over the first bucket, in his glass was just water. He poured the water, and muttered to himself, and then to the group. "Water the the liquid of life can also represent the tenacity of those wishing to conquer, after all does life not try to conquer all." He placed his hand in the bowl and pulled out an ornate crown and placed it infront of the bucket.
He moved over to the second bucket, placed his hands on either side of it and a small flame erupted out of the bucket. "Fire, the passion the energy of life, is the tool of war, firepower is killing power. But does life not kill out the weak in order for the strong to flourish, we are always at war, with each other or with ourselves, Fire is War, and War is fire." Out of the bucket he pulled out a long sword made of polished copper and bronze that it looked almost red, and he placed it infront of the bucket, a sword, solid fire.
Then he moved of the third bucket. "The earth feeds us, and we should feed it. But instead we destroy it, we take from the earth faster than we can give it back, we have been gluttonous in our gorging. And for every moment of gluttony there must be equal measures temperance and fasting. A famine will spread, life cannot be completely sustained of the worlds resources are going around in a way that one communities wastage would be enough to save anothers lives, children and legacy. Life will gorge and life will fast, life loves life but knows the end is coming. Life like, energy and matter, will rotate but always balance will prevail." And he said this he was swirling his finger within the bucket of ash, and then he dropped a small stone coloured or maybe even stone shaped to look like a seed in the bucket and slowly pulled it out as it grew, forming a set of balance scales, living as it grew yet still dead as cold stone. He placed the scales in front of the bucket, before moving on.
Then he moved on to bucket number four. "Death. What more can I say but death, the emotions and words it brings to mind as so plentiful anything I could say is already in your head somewhere. Thats the true of death, we all know it so well, because we know he is waiting for us. Electricity is the element of death, formed in the heart of a storm, natures travelling troupe of death and destruction. But it is also life, as all energy is. It runs through out body providing us we responses and thoughts otherwise incapable. The storm is life and the storm is death. After all for newer life to flourish the death must first take hold." As he said that, lightning burst through the ceiling and into the bucket, so he slowly reached in and pulled out a small skull, adorned with patterns, and he placed it infront of the buckets.
"These are incredible totems, and they seek their partners, people here tonight. Come and step up." The Gentleman said and stepped back allowing people to now go up and inspect the totems he made.