Far Blue and distant,
The Cold Flames burn,
In the darkness of the Abyss.
The cosmic radiance,
Revealed at long last,
As foretold by Eons past.
A herald of the beginning,
Or a bringer of the end?

“I see a new Star appear in the depth of the heavens. Its brilliance blinds me! The colours are wrapt in a pale blue light, an omen of things to come. I see it shining at us, at long last its light has reached us. I see it over…”

“Is this what you see? I hear the whispers of the cosmos, this star will mark a new age of champions… The Gods are with us.”

“…”

The Three Oracles announced in their chamber. In the Grand Sanctum of the Order of the White Moth, the Triad of Oracles dwelled amidst the guardians of universal secrets. The most attuned of all mortals to the fickle whims of fate, they gave prophesies to be recorded by the Monks and organized into great libraries. A few times did they hold audience to Kings and Sorcerers, People chosen by the gods, and even a General commanding his armies, but hid themselves away inside a box such that none may see them. They had given themselves up to the art of Divination, to scry into the tides of fate, and in exchange for such power, gave up some of themselves in tribute to the God of Secrets.

The first was deaf, and only could see the prophetic visions and describe what he saw.
The second was blind, and only listen to the whispers of the world and she would announce the will of the gods.
But the third, was mute, and knew the truth of both vision and mandate, and kept it secret.
This was the way it was, as X had made it such that mortals knew not the truth of the future.
There are no guarantees save for the existence of uncertainty…

---
The Oracles were not the only ones to see the new star appear in the night sky. Lesser seers and anyone with an interest in the heavens would have found its light reaching down at last. Rumors of a new search for champions circulated through the community. The dawn of a new age they said as great men arrived outside of the Grand sanctum to receive the word in truth. Who was it that was chosen? Who amongst them would become a champion?

By the high path of the noon sun, the crowd had gathered. Altars dedicated to the gods laid with offerings, foolish mortals thinking that fate could be bribed. Food and sport surrounded the remote temple grounds as the ever stoic White Moths kept the populace outside of the walls. Who shall the gods find worthy of representing them here upon this realm?

---
And within the dark realms and bright heavens, the Gods themselves converged in conclave. Off their thrones would they greet each other, making conversation between what choice of offerings the mortals gave and comparing them to other offerings. It was merely a farce for them, but more pressingly was the arrival of X who drifted into the realm from his secret residence. It was X who called them here, with a whisper of things to come and the need for champions. Few dared to question the cryptic messages of the God of Secrets, what knowledge had he that they of omniscience did not know? Knowledge was power beyond the gods it would see.

With a finger to his lips he spoke not.
With a gesture of his hand he bid them watch.
A challenge or test perhaps to pick out their champions.
Fate would bind them all, Gods and Man twisted together by the twinkle of the new Star.
A new page.

Deep within the Darkness of the underworld, The Dark Lord, Darko, Lord of the Underworld, sat on his throne pondering, his generals stood or floated nearby, then a new fresh soul fell into his throne room of his dark citadel beheaded, Darko knew this soul was killed by execution for murder, Darko got up after he took care of the soul and walked over to a pool of blood in the middle of his throne room and he waved his hand over it, and a image of the mortals gathering for offering the gods and goddesses, and he smiled through his cowl, "Generals, you know what to do, ready the army, I head up to the mortal world, its time the Gods knew of return of the dark ones" he snarled as he raised his hands summoning his Night Mares, "Send messages to the Other Gods of the Darkness, Its time" He raised his hands and vanished in a dark cloud of smoke and stood atop a mountain looking over the festival of mortals "Mortals, they not yet know of the dangers that await them" with that said he waved his hands and a black book made of bone and spiked appeared and opened to a specific page, and he slowly raised his arms and chanted in the Forbidden language "Malantro Baskorn..." his voice seemed to echo in the window "Savnor Grul Masfra..." the sky started to fill with clouds and blot out the sunlight "Norfra Sancra Morstra..." It started to thunder "Norstran Frinchalorn" a skull appeared in the sky "MENORCA BRACELOR!!!" Souls started to fly from the ground into the open maw of the skull in the sky and dark corrupt souls fell from the sockets like tears and the dead rose from their graves "Rise my Undead servants, rise and march to the plagued forest" a army of the Dead climbed out of the ground and marched straight to the Plagued Forest.

Balsamon stood in the high heavens, leaning forwards on his hammer wedged between his two hands while he watched over the several mortal planes, he should have been paying attention to the whispers of the other gods for they had recieved a "message" from X, the god of secrets, however Balsamon personally cared not about X's cryptic and illusive messages for they were usually too obscure to decode until after the event occured, which by then would no longer be helpful. So instead he watched the mortals scatter about with their fleeting lives, watching as they beg for his aid in trivial affiars he had no buissness in for it seemed they had forgot he was the bringer of justice not the mender of unfortunante events. He was watching when he felt a disruption in the air, like something was stiring, more specifically a foul darkness that he had not sensed since the Clash as all the gods of darkness had been locked away for eternity.

Balsamon turned around and studied X for a few brief moments before turning to the others gods and said "Im sorry to interupt your whispers and mutterings everyone but I must ask you all present 'Have my senses fooled me or is there some sort of foul darkness brewing in another realm?'"

Tyrwin looked among the gods. "The Arch Mage has been dreaming of dire portents for the past three years." Tyrwin stated to the gods. "Hawke's connection to the gods of knowledge, and his consumption of the Primordial Potion of power has made him the best sorcerer the mortal world has ever known. He is asking me to give him direction, and I have felt the Great Three, who have given themselves over to the portents of Fate, are hearing, seeing, or feeling somewhat the same prophecies, augur, and omens. Hawke needs to reach the Great Three, and perhaps the connection the mortal realm has will converge with our Heavenly Realm, thus solving the mystery we now all face".

Schattenspiel didn't consider herself as good or evil. She was the goodess of shadows so she was a little both. In her mindthat gave her an advantage. She could be in either world. She liked Making her own rules. She had her own standards and morals. She didn't pick sides often.she didn't see the point of doing so. The world was a pleasant mix of good and bad. You couldn't have one without the other.

He spoke not.
Ever silent, Mystic.
But when he did,
they would listen.

"The Untold Prophecy, a return." But a barely audible whisper seemed to escape those unmoving lips, "The Dark Ones gather under the same omen. Champions will clash but only One could walk the Earth." No one else knew of the Fallen One, only X and the God of Gods knew, oh and of course the Fallen One himself. This was a secret well kept by X, who had purged all traces of the Fallen One from the memory of reality. Not even the universe itself would have remembered him, or known him, or even consider his existence as a God. The Ledger proved it so, but men of ambition made their own histories... So too would Gods.

Then he turned to Dar'Tyrwin, or perhaps rotated as his form flitted in and out of this plane and his own hidden dimension. "Dar'Tyrwin, bearer of incense... The White Moths shall come to a lit flame."

After raising the Dead and sending them to his Plagued Forest and causing a massive panic in the mortal world with his storm, he then heard chanting in the forbidden language, "Ah, My cult" he then vanished and appeared in the dark as his cult had three blindfolded mortals on their knees and the Head of the cult spoke "To our dark Lord, we sacrifice these three," the mans Blindfold was removed, "the Judge, Master Duncan," the womans blindfold was removed, "his wife, Mistress Corvell" then the children's blindfold "and their Brats" the judge spoke muffled words "TO Our Dark Lord, we send you these sacrifices" a lever was pulled and the pit in the floor opened up and the snarls of ghouls could be heard in the pit, which made the Dark Lord smiles at his Ghouls in the pit, starving, the cultists walked up behind the four and shoved them in the pit and their muffled screams as they were eaten alive in the pit and their souls came up and the dark lord inhaled and sucked them into his mouth and swallowed them their screaming as they were sucked in "Mmmmmmm" he looked down at the cultists "I power your weapons with poison" their weapons glowed and he vanished back to the mortal world to a major city, and smiled and clapped his hands and The Death Shroud appeared "Make some Chaos Malantius" The Death Shroud laughed and looked at Darko "With Pleasure" he flew to the City with a army of wraiths

"Yes..." Jimunu turned away from the other gods and looked down upon the earth, with the sound of bitterness in his voice he said "There is no mistaking it, corruption has risen from the pits of hell to inflict its injustice upon the mortals once again" he turned back to gods and said "I beg your pardon brothers and sisters but I cannot stand and let this perversion be overlooked..."

Without saying anything else Jimunu vanished from the high heavens and the company of friends and reappeared in the mortal world, but this was no ordinary part of the ordnary world, no this was a land full of blight and plague, unfit for any natural life to spawn. Jimunu saw a figure close by and he then immediantly knew why he had detected such a strong surge of darkness and why this land was blackened and dead "Darko... I should have guessed" Jimunu spat at the other gods feet for he had no love for him "Once again you have acted against the rules of the Creator and against the creatures of the life giver. I demand you release the souls of those you stole"

"I'll do more than demand and give our honor back to the gods!" Dar'Tyrwin stated. "Darko, it is time to leave these consecrated chambers. I'm going to make you wish your name was less derivative and easily targetable for a joke. Darko, Dark God of the Dark, we're going to fight and I"m ending you!" Tyrwin brought out his mystic staff and pounded it on the ground, making the sound of an entire thunderstorm in one clashing sound against the stone grounds.

"Get out"! He demanded. "Then I will destroy you!"

"Hahaha fool killing or destroying me would grant the mortals immortality. Only gods can be immortal. You know nothing of the meaning of life. And as Far as chambers what chambers we are out in the wilderness while my wraithes cause a massive panic." Darkos cloak and hood flowed in the winds. His armor didn't even shine with the light hit it. A book hanging on his side, "and as far as returning these souls to their rightful place. I will be doing that in the underworld my home. My domain." A scythe appeared. A dreaded weapon feared by both god and mortal alike. Even the dead feared it. It was bound to darko. The dreaded weapon glowed with amazing power "and as far as fighting goes don't worry. A fight will be happening. But the god of Champions is my fight. Not the god of magic play things." The scythe rippled with power as the souls of the family he consumed the souls of flowed into it. He lifted the dreaded weapon and swung it and ripped open the fabric of the world and revealed the underworld. "Wraithes return home. The mortal world knows a blight is on this land. And my lands are still to be feared." A horde of wraithes flew into the underworld "have fun gods of light hahahahahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!" He walked into the underworld and the torn fabric entrance vanished.

"Coward. He argues and then disappears like a scorned bully. We would have seen who the more powerful among us was, and I would have destroyed him utterly with my spells."

"How dare he mess with the souls of mortals like they are food. Doesn't he know they are mortals, not morsels!?"
"Well, nevertheless, now that the mongrel dog is gone, it seems there's more we have to deal with than just the god of death. I'm still not sure what. It smells worse even than the canine who barked and ran away".

Jimunu frowned at Tyrwin for his agression against Darko made the god of death flee back into his domain, a place no gods but those who rule it may enter. However Jimunu knew that he himself was going to act very similar towards Darko and so he could not be too angry with Tyrwin, but a part of him could not help it.

"Yes" Jimunu stated "There is a small horde of Darkos minions causing havoc across the land..." Jimunu closed his eyes and used his third eye to look over the land, and he saw it then, a ghastly sight of death in its most pure form destroying the good and the just "They have reached a small village, and they are acting against the innocent. We must hurry Tyrwin, if we still want to save thise who are left"

@ActRaiserTheReturned

A realm between.
The gap by the gate.
Hidden yet threaded upon.

But the Death God would not find himself at home as he stepped through the tear in the planes. Rather he would find himself in a dark hallway, stretching back seemingly without end as the walls echoed down beyond sight. A pocket dimension created as the warp between the mortal world and the underworld was elongated into infinity. Here the walls kept their secret, concealing from the gods that which happened in-between.

As he entered, the realm would greet him, alive to an extent, but not alive to another. The walls spoke, their vibrations uttering words as Darko would hear a familiar voice. "Death is not the End. But all kings die, but a throne is not lost. What will the Dead do to Dust?" X delivered his message to Darko, a warning perhaps or taunt. No one ever really knew what X spoke of until it was too late, only the other Gods possibly considered the Gods of Knowledge would have a chance to decipher his riddle-like truths. And they were half-truths at best, useless without the rest of the information withheld by the God of Secrets. Only omens did he speak, yet heeding the advice of one who knew what one did not was...

Upon closer inspection the halls were made not of stone or brick or wood or steel... But rather of moths. Thousands upon Thousands of black moths, fluttering their wings in vibrations to produce the voice Darko heard, all as X floated in the heavens.

The grand assembly of the gods. Truly a sight to behold. It was not since darker times that Meeod did see such a gathering of the Creators children. Within the heavens, her form twisted into existence, even as the other gods whispered amongst themselves and gazed unto the revelry upon the mortal world. The summons of the god of knowledge had disrupted her sleep, and slow to wake as she was, this conclave had come into session without her.

She could see it. Events had already played themselves out before her arrival. Such was evident as the faces of many gave away an anger. To what, Meeod cared little. The gods in attendance, and whatever petty matter had caught their attention this time was of no concern to her. She was here to make assembly with the god of knowledge, and to view the happenings of the material world.

So did the Grand Sanctum come under her gaze. The festivities, the praise and worship, the life of mortals and all else unfolded before her. It never did her any good to look upon such things. Watching men throw themselves onto the grand altars arranged to them did little but depress her. Of them, there was no such place to offer praise to the goddess of the soul. Ancient as they were, these altars have long existed before Meeod had ever made her mark upon the world. Perhaps if she pressed the matter, she too could join the others and have a grand monument made in her name. That would never happen though. She did not wish for it, and she suspected few others did as well.

It did not matter in the end. Even her own worshipers mingled through the crowds on this joyous day. Such a celebration was to be enjoyed after all. Perhaps they will make something of this event. They have already killed for her, but maybe even they would not make too much of themselves on a day like this.

It seems that perhaps Meeod wasn't so late to this assembly after all. While the gods were concerning themselves with their own matters, little has actually happened as of yet. There wasn't much to do other than waiting to be addressed. She wasn't about to start up conversation with any of her peers either.

"A group of wizards loyal to me have entered the village. We are attempting to offer hiding places and magical support. Children are already being hid throughout the land to other parents until a time comes for the children to be safe again." Dar'Tyrwin said. "We can't enter the village ourselves. This is against the Cosmic rules of the universe."

"Very well" Jimunu replied to Tywrin "I too will summon shall summon my Valkyires and despense the law upon those who would abuse it, and there is much of that happening at the village during this time". Jimunu turned away from Tywrin and loked at where Darko's portal once stood mere mintues ago "He must pay for his crimes that is certain, but he is unlikely to step outside his domain for some time yet, do you have any ideas of how we can catch him Tyrwin?"

@ActRaiserTheReturned

"Summoning is also a path of the Wizard. I am the most powerful mage of them all, seeing as I am their deity."
"However he is the god of Death. His stranglehold over the realm of darkness is strong, trying to summon him would be like taking a magnificent fortress of war in a siege, the glorious reward would be staggering but the cost in effort would be quite high. I would need aid from the Goddess of Souls to force him out of his fortress, but it can be done. Then we can both destroy him together. If the Cosmic balance would be disrupted by his death, we can take his soul apart and grant it to the Goddess of Souls, she might know what to do, and balance would be restored".

"X god of secrets. You know your abilities don't scare me. The prophecy for told a dark gods return. Plus I vowed to return. So I have when it was time." He waved away the moths and turned the world around him to his realm. "Pety threats and such are dust in the air." He released the souls he had taken and sent them to their rightful place in the underworld "X I know you can hear me. You and the other gods and goddesses shunned me for my abilities. The death god, the one charged to bring the end to the suffering and pain of death. The creator even shunned me. But the pointless threats of others is all that pointless." He waved his hand over the pool of blood revealing the mortals above. Look at them. Mortals scurrying about the world. Each one dying. Needing me to end their pain." I used to go up to the mortals to collect them personally.

Schattenspiel walked through the shadows watching the gods and goddesses. Some of them could see her if they wanted to but most of them would pay her little mind. She didn't play a big role in the world. Not because she had less power then the others. She was just as powerful as they were. She simply didn't have any interest in politics. She was curious about this meeting though. She had heard lots of rumors about why all powers that be were meeting. She wanted to find out the truth.

Bones of Martyr ground to fine dust,
In perfect geometry of circles and triangles laid,
Marked in the circle within circles,
as the fire burned the incense sweet,
And the brazier burnt the scroll.

The Volume of Exalted Paragons detailed how to summon them, the servitors of the good gods, as the sacred book was Kept in the Grand Temple of the White Moths. It was a relic of X, their patron god, whom they devote their order to his philosophy. They keep the secrets of the world, tucked away upon shelves as the organization collects them for safekeeping. Thus they are keepers of dangerous knowledge, and as such must develop means to defend themselves from would be seekers of knowledge. One such was granted by the Volume of Exalted Paragons, discovered inside the Temple before it was built, yet it seemed it that the temple was always there. Quite a secret as to who placed the Forbidden Book there, certainly not X.

Called in by the mystic conjuration, a host of Valkyries of Jimunu the Law-Father would be drawn down from the heavens, called into the magic circles as they were called to earth. They appeared with wings outstretched their radiant skin like alabaster, armed with sword and armor, swift justice upon the unworthy.

"Oh servants of the Law-Father, we of the White Moth beseech upon you to judge those worthy to enter our Inner Sanctum. Do away with those unworthy and disperse them from our grounds. Divine to us the will of the Gods, mark their champions chosen as the Prophecy foretells!"

---

But they only knew half the prophecy.
For X had only let Half be known.
That is not dead which can eternal lie,
and with strange aeons even death may die.

The Return of the dark Gods did mark for the cataclysm which champions were needed, yet it was not the Dark Gods which would be the bringer of the end. No, these dark Gods would become the saviors of humanity, but they did not know it yet. No one knew it yet, not the humans, not the lights gods, not the them, and certainly not the one to return.

"Meeod, Saint of The Faithless. Stirred from your Dreams of Paradise, a Tainted Soul lost but bitter. Do you belong here?" Not even the gods could conceal anything from X, for he saw all, and as Darko pointed out, heard all, but more importantly Knew all. The secret feelings and desires, motivations if one will were not unknown to X, even the goddess of shadows could try her hardest to hide away a mortal in the darkest of her darkness such that no light could ever reveal him, but since the universe he existed, so too could X gaze past the abyss. For Truth cuts like a sharp blade, penetrating and piercing before the coup-de-grace.

"A war is coming. Where do you stand? By your Souls or your Souls, by their Gods?" The others would hear this conversation not, for X had kept it a secret between the Souls and Secrets. Even as they stood in the assembly of the other gods, only Meeod would even know X was speaking to her as he floated about untethered to the realm. "Oblivion Comes at a Price."