Nebula Gravis

[LagunaX1]

[OOC= http://www.zerochan.net/1067739 My original appearance link didn't work and the image I used has been deleted or taken down, so here's a new link to my appearance which better work lol Also should I assume a day and half has passed for everyone when I make my next post?]

[MetalRenard]

[OOC - No, you're a day and a half behind on your previous post. Just try and catch up. Remember, since your previous post, people had posted a day and a half's worth of story!]

[ClockworkAngel]

[u][???[/u]]

The white-haired man snapped out of his memories and looked up at the door to the hall he was within. He felt a presence outside. Finally... She had come...


[Lillith - Ciniria City]

Lily looked at the deslote city laying before her. Centuries ago, this was a hub of wealthy people trading all sorts of merchandise. Now it was a dark, ruinous ghost of a city, where only the foul and dark-hearted dwell. She walked it's streets, perfectly aware of those watching her movements, waiting for a chance to strike, however, she felt an unease from them. It was as if they were reluctant to come near her. This feeling increased as she neared the cathedral in the distance.

She finally reached the cathedral door, but rather than enter, she made her way around to the back. She found a tall wall rise up to meet her, but scaled it with little trouble. She landed in a dark cemetary, tombs littered about, many crumbled and worn to dust. She ventured forth to the back of the cemetary, where she found the tomb the Cult of Umbranox had told her of. It's door was open.

She walked in and surveyed the walls, noticing the runic carvings. She made her way over to them and found, to her surprise, that she could read them, but, to her frustration, most of the words were worn away and could not be read.

"-eth. For with this, a new terror shall be born unto the world, of darkness and of ice. And with her the world shall rise or fall, this angel of the netherworld, born of the g-" ... ... "r the name of Lillith, and forever will she walk in the shadows of the w-" ... ... "les of the Sun, and when the Lord of the North obtains a he-" ... ... "s shall be released. Then the fate of the world shall be d-"

"... wonderful." She muttered. She turned and faced a dark staircase decending underground and made her way over to it. She proceeded down the stairs and came to a long hallway. The smell of blood filled her nose and she saw a severed arm, some weeks old, lying nearby. The tattered robe nearby told her it was a member of the Cult. Probably from their first attempt to enter the tomb. She payed it no more heed and continued down the hall. She felt some malevolent, watchfulness as she walked down the hall, but strangely, it felt warm to her. None of it's malevolence aimed at her. This tomb was inviting her in. It wanted her here.

That was when the cold broke in. A freezing sensation as if she had just been submerged in icy water. There was something else here. Something far more powerful than anything she had ever met. Even the creature of shadow in the Shadowed Forest paled in comparison to this. But again, it did not seem to harbour any ill intent towards her. She continued down the passage before coming to a large, open hall. She stepped into the light that radiated throughout the room and saw, standing before her, a tall man with long, flowing, white hair, and golden shackles about his wrists and ankles.

"I've been waiting for you." The man said, a cold, blue gleam in his eyes.
"I know you." Lillith said. "How do I know you? I cannot quite place you."
"No, I didn't think you would. All those years ago, your memory was disturbed by the Goddess of Spring and his mind games. Eruditio Lacus. He thought it better that you wander the world, unaware of who you are. He was afraid it would bring about the end of the world. And if you read the carvings upstairs, you would know he might have been on to something."
"Who are you?" Lillith asked. The man smiled, but it was a cold smile, void of genuine emotion.
"I am the man that needs your help. I believe you hold the key to unlocking the shackles that bind me to this mortal world. With your help, I wish to release them and restore my power and my position in this world. And I am sure you will help me. You owe it to me after all."
"Owe? I wasn't aware I owed anyone anything." Lillith said, staring quite coldly at the man. He smiled that cold smile again.
"Oh, you owe me. I, the one that helped bring you forth into this world? Do you not owe the man that gave you life?"
"..." Lillith fell silent. A surge of information just shot through her head. Memories unlocked, recalled. She gasped loudly as she suddenly remembered a faint trace of her old life.
"... You're... the Deity of Winter... God of Ice and Lightning, Stiria Gelumorsus... You're powers were sealed by the union of the God of Spring, Eruditio and the Goddess of Summer, Procella. Procella bound you in the Sun Shackles, forcing you to live as a mortal and locking your powers away, never to be removed again. You are also..." Lillith stopped. She felt a faint flicker of warm emotions welling up inside her and she hesitated before speaking again.
"Go on." Stiria said.
"... My father." Lillith spoke softly. The white haired man nodded, before walking over to Lillith and placing his hands on her shoulders.
"And with your help, I can free myself of these shackles and regain my position once more. And when I do, there will be a place for you at my side, along with your mother."
"My mother... I don't remember..."
"She protected you once already. She warded of the Dragon of Shadows from the Shadowed Forest when it attempted to hunt you or it's prey. She has been watching over you ever since you entered her realm."
"... Cinis?"" Lillith said, her eyes turning wide. Stiria smiled.
"She has been trying to help me, but alas, she cannot directly interfere with the mortal world that much from her position. She made it known to the Cult of Umbranox, her devout and loyal followers, where the tomb that bore your name lay. She got a message to me that you would be coming here. That was enough. Now that we have met, we can take action. For in my mortal form, there is nothing stopping me from interfering with this world, but I have not the power I had before. Procella once claimed that I would be no more powerful than an average mage with these shackles on, but she underestimated me. I am far stronger than she would believe."
"So... What do we do now?"
"Now, I think the continent of Verviridus should be our port of call. There, we may be able to unlock the rest of your memories. It was Eruditio that sealed them away. Maybe in his realm, we can unlock them. But first... There is a small town, north-east of here, named Itzal. It's people were once great and I enjoyed watching them greatly. In my last correspondance with Cinis, she told me something was going to happen there. I wish to find out what."
"I see. Well then, let's get going Itzal isn't too far away from here after all."
"Indeed." Stiria replied as he walked passed Lillith and left the hall. Lillith watched him leave, then shook her head and followed after him.

[MikeCirka]

[OOC - Okay, here's my characters: my main, and his NPC taveling companion. Also, since no one has woken up Itzal, I think I may go looking for the Ritual of Undran Imprisonment. Will post an actual intro post once I've had time to read over all the previous posts and get caught up with the story.]

Name: Wynn

Content Hidden

Age: 250ish (Appears to be in his mid-20's)

Species: Archon - A solitary race that for the most part live separated from the rest of the world in the highest mountains of Albushiems. They are not immortals, but do have unnaturally long lifespans (living about 10 times longer than a human and aging about ten times slower). Almost the entire race is born with an affinity for winter, and if anyone is born with any other affinity, it is viewed as a dark omen and they are cast out. Though most outsiders are kept away simply by the dangers of Albushiems itself, those brave or stupid enough to traverse the land are killed on sight, should they stumble upon the Archon's civilization.

Appearance: this (without the goggles). Wears this and has white hair with purple eyes and slightly tanned skin.

Personality: Wynn is a no-nonsense type of guy. He is extremely driven and will not let anything get between him and a goal he has set. He will not go out of his way to start or even finish a fight if it does not help or progress his own goals.

* * * * *

Seasonal Affinity: Spring

Content Hidden

Unique Skills:

Shining Sand - Wynn's signature style is a fusion of his two elemental affinities. When using this power, Wynn appears able to summon golden glowing sand from thin-air. The power does not actually involve sand in any way, however. The ability is actually millions of tiny beads of water each refracting and reflecting light, heating and boiling the water and giving it the appearance of sparkling sand. This is Wynn's only unique skill, however, it can be manipulated in three different ways:

(Rise of the Guardian's Trailer - Sandman's power is a visual reference of what Shining Sand looks like.)

Shining Bullet - Wynn focuses water and light into his hand, forming a projectile of Shining Sand. The projectiles vary in size. Smaller ones travel faster, have more penetrating power and cause small explosions on contact with anything. Larger ones take more time to form and travel slower, but their size equates to a bigger blast on contact with anything.

Light Dash - Wynn Transforms his body into Shining Sand in order to teleport to
anywhere within his field of vision. This ability can be freely used
outside of combat, but will be restricted in combat as not to be too
cheap (Say, maybe only be able to use the teleport to dodge once or
twice during the duration of the fight, but otherwise being able to
freely use it to move)(And also, obviously, no teleporting right behind people, etc).

Healing Shroud - While Shining Sand usually merges the most destructive properties of light and water, it can also combine other properties: Holy light mends minor injuries and lessens pain from more severe wounds, while Rejuvenating water gives the target a small boost in energy to recover faster, or continue fighting. The ability can be used on anyone except Wynn himself.

Weapons: Dual short-swords seen in the clothing pic above.

Additional Notes: History for Wynn will be merged with the history for Vena, since they have pretty much the same history.

* * * * *

Starting Location: Nigerautumunus

Name: Vena

Content Hidden

Age: ??? (Appears to be about 12 or 13)

Species:
??? - Vena's race is unknown. She appears no different from a human child, but does not seem to age at all.

Appearance: This - Except she has longer hair, and a hood attacked to her Kimono.

Personality: Regardless of her appearance, Vena is extremely intelligent and very knowledgeable about the world's history. She speaks in a monotone emotionless voice and appears to be painfully bored by just about everything. She loathes stupidity, and is extremely vocal.

* * * * *

Seasonal Affinity: None

Non-Affinity Skills:

Content Hidden

Titan Strength - Despite her appearance, Vena has unnatural physical strength, which allows her to easily wield her massive sword.

Immortal - Though technically, Vena can die, she is unable to remain dead (An ability she is actually extremely angry about). Upon death, Vena's body will begin to rapidly regenerate, causing her to revive shortly after. The time it takes to revive depends entirely on the severity of her death. At minimum it takes 24 hours for her to revive, however upwards of two weeks are needed, should her entire body be destroyed.

Lost Histories - Not a battle related power, Vena's incredible intelligence and knowledgeably about the ancient world are always insightful and sometimes life saving. However, her knowledge is a double edged sword. Deep inside her mind, in places even she can't reach, Vena holds dangerous secrets of old world magic that are better left buried.

Weapons: Titan's Razor - The massive sword seen the appearance pic (Realistically she could not wield it, so I gave up one of my skills for passive strength augmentation, if that's okay.)

* * * * *

Starting Location: Nigerautumunus

Additional Notes: History - Vena recalls nothing prior to being found by Wynn, save for her own name and her uncanny memory of the ancient world. It was 50 years after Wynn had been cast out by his people because of his affinity that he came upon Vena sealed in a sarcophagus deep in ruined tomb in Nigerautumunus. At first, Wynn believed her to be one of the ancient denizens of the now ruined land, but Vena quickly informed him (Without knowing how she knew it herself) that she was not one of the Undran (A race which Wynn had never even heard of before).

Seeing something of himself when he was first cast out, Wynn took Vena under his wing, and they quickly formed a bond not unlike a father and daughter. It also didn't take long for Wynn to discover Vena's dangerous wealth of knowledge. Knowing that in the wrong hands it could cause horrible destruction, and simply because of his own attachment to the girl, Wynn takes great precaution to protect her from those that might learn of and use her power.

For a long time after find her, Wynn helped her look for some clue or lead as to who or what she might be, or where she came from. 100 years of searching found nothing, however, and they have since given up on finding anything.

[OOC - Not sure how they stack up against the other characters. Just let me know if they're OPed and I'll tone em down.]

EDIT: [OOC - Also, feel free should you be interacting with them to take temporary control of Vena as a plot device, should you have some bit of ancient knowledge that you want to hint at or reveal.]

[ClockworkAngel]

[OOC - No, those are fine Cirka. n.n I look forward to your participation~ Try dropping by the IRC sometime too. XD]

[MetalRenard]

[OOC @MikeCirka, I'm about to wake up the Undran. Sorry, I beat you to it. :) ]

[MikeCirka]

{Wynn and Vena - Close to Ciniria City}

Near the fallen capital of Nigerautumnus, two figures emerge from a dark forest. The first to appear was a young girl with a red hood, and the other was a man with white hair.

"Would you please just explain to me why we can't just go somewhere reasonably comfortable for once?" Vena asked, brushing off the remains of some constricting vines that had tempted Wynn's wrath by grabbing her. "Maybe even just a little, teensie bit safe? I mean, you're supposed to be protecting me, aren't you? Wouldn't that be easier in a place where there wasn't so much for you to defend me from? And to be perfectly honest, I'm sick of getting attacked by vines, and giant spiders, and snatched up by those hairy little cretins with the bulbous noses, what are they called again, Wynn?"

"Hobgoblins, V." Wynn answered, taking a swig of water from a large wineskin slung over his shoulder. "Infinite cosmic wisdom, and you still don't know what a hobgoblin is..."

"It's not infinite cosmic wisdom... That sounds stupid." Vena cut-in.

"... Besides, I'm protecting you from people. And that is made easier by there being lots of things out here to strangle, poison, or spirit folks away. I found you out here you know."

"I was there and don't remind me." She scoffed. "This place is horrid. How much longer till we reach the city?"

Wynn thought about it for a moment. It was a little ways still, but probably not much longer than half an hour.

"We're almost there. The place is massive. The capital of a lost empire, and home to scum of the earth. We'll stick out like a needle in a needle stack. May need to beat some sense into the odd forgetful rodent to remind 'em they shouldn't bother us. "

"You better be right about this, Wynn... If I came all the way out here, and one of them still hunts me down again in a week, I'm gonna be angry."

"Don't even talk about 'em V." Wynn said, becoming serious suddenly. "We can't afford to think like that."

"Your right, sorry." Vena said.

They continued on towards the city, silently...

[Zackwell]

Zackwell finally came to shore on Nigerautumnus.
It's still deep in the night. Probably about 3am.
He lifts his head, having drifted to sleep for a short while.
At first, he was worried that he had found himself on a different continent, but there was no mistaking the dark, black sands of Nigerautumnus.
The way the moon played off of the dark waters was eerily beautiful. Or so Zackwell thought.
He turned away from the ocean, and saw a daunting forest before him.

As he made to approach the dark forest that laid before him, something caught his eye.
A silvery light.
A ghostly apparition of a young girl, standing right there before his eyes.
He knew it was not uncommon for ghosts to appear on this continent, given the abundance of demons and graveyards...

But here? So far from any haunting grounds?

"You there! Young ghost!" Zackwell cried out. "What reason have you to linger in this world?"
The girl turned to face him. Or she would have, had she a proper face.
Zackwell winces. It looks as if the girl's face had been torn off brutally and stuck back on.
The girl frolics off to the south. Zackwell's gaze follows her, dumbstruck
"Could this be a demon...?" he says to himself.

Suddenly, something much more chilling meets his eyes. A ship, wrecked upon the shore.
Having no direction of where the nearest city was, Zackwell decided that he could probably get a good view from atop the crows nest, which reaches above the treetops of the surrounding forest.
He draws a deep sigh. "As long as they're only ghosts, I'm not worried."
He starts walking. "If I find anything else I'm not going to be happy."


http://bb.ohsk.net/uploads/The%20Broken%20Ship.mp3 [OOC: Originally for Angel's game by me. Thought it worked here too so I put it here.]
He finally reaches the broken hull of the ship. As he touches it, a foul smell reaches him. "This is Paraffin..." He puzzles.
"How does a boat get covered in Paraffin like this...?"
He shrugs and begins to search around for an opening.
He eventually finds a hole big enough for him to crawl through.

The inside of the ship is extremely dark. Not a hint of light creeps through from the moon.
The inside still stinks of flammable liquids.
Zackwell curses. "Can't use any fire in here. Not unless I want to burn this place to the ground."
He finds himself wondering... "How old must this ship be...? A hundred years old? Maybe two?"
Shaking his head, he remarks to himself "That still doesn't solve the paraffin mystery."

He stumbles around in the dark, knocking several things over before he finds a staircase.
He ascends it before hitting his head on a trap-door.
"@#$&*!"
He gently rubs the top of his head, now quite sore.
He fumbles with the catch, and lifts himself up, out of the darkness.
An unnatural chill... The dread, encroaching.
He raises his head and sees a room full of shapeless blue ghosts.
"Shades..."
Zackwell climbs awkwardly to his feet, a cold sweat falling from his brow.

Shades are nasty creatures. Many people mistake them for normal ghosts, but in fact they're much worse. Normal ghosts are the remnant souls of those who died but had unfinished business.
Shades, however, are merely the remnant negative emotions of those who departed for the afterlife. Shades radiate emotion; they infect the living with their displaced hate and sorrow.
There are three different kinds of shades, all depending on the strongest emotion felt by those who passed on.
Red shades inflict anger on those around them...
Blue shades inflict sorrow...
But worst are the black shades, whose being constitutes of murderous intent.

Zackwell feels the sorrow eminating from the creatures drifting in front of him.
"S-such sadness!" He wrestles with the overwhelming emotion within him.
He reaches to his back and pulls out something of a golden hatchet His hands shake violently as tears stream from his eyes.
"F-fine, I'll release you from your torment."
In a flash, the handle of the axe extends into a magnificent halberd, which he swings in an arc above his head, slicing through the shades, which scream in anguish.
The shades turn to dust, which settles on the ground.

Zackwell mops the sweat from his brow and the tears from his eyes before climbing to the deck of the ship.
Another swarm of blue shades wait for him; but this time, he is prepared. He cuts them all down with his halberd.
As he breaths a sigh of relief, he treads in a dark puddle.
"Eugh... More paraffin...?" He touches the puddle.
The hairs stand up on the back of his neck.
"Blood...?"
He shivers. "This is getting more and more interesting."

Suddenly the ship judders violently and inexplicably.
"Wh-what the?!"
The ship comes unstuck from the beach, and begins to drift away from the coast.
"Aw Dammit!" Zackwell curses, looking out over the port side of the boat.
He runs to the ship's wheel and attempts to turn it back into the beach, but the wheel is stuck fast.

"YER GOIN' NOWHERE!" a booming voice cries. The sheer volume of it is enough to make Zackwell dizzy.

He falls to the ground, his head swimming.
"The hell was that?" he gasps, as he begins to regain his composure.
The voice seemed to be coming from nowhere. And such hatred in it's words...
"It can't be a shade... Shades can't speak..."
He picks himself up.
"This must be an incredibly powerful undead to retain such will..."
He looks at the sword on his belt.
"If I can't use fire... this is going to be a very difficult fight indeed."

The moonlight isolates the ship amidst the deep black waves. Impermeable black fog surrounds the ship, preventing Zackwell from seeing anything.
Perhaps the sentiments of the blue shades was lingering, but he couldn't help but feel a certain sadness from the lonely ship.
He descended into the captain's cabin. He wagered that such a powerful undead would surely make that his abode.

He shields his eyes as he opens the door. Several balls of bright blue flame sit either side of the corridor.
"Will-o-wisps...?"
He steps carefully past them.
"Intriguing. The church would certainly have enjoyed sending this place to hell."
Looking back, Zackwell narrowly misses a door which swings open before him.
He leaps backwards in shock before he starts laughing. "Oh this is getting fun."

Stepping through the door, he sees a figure sat in a chair.
"You." Zackwell points at him. "You must be the captain of this wayward vessel."

The figure stands. "Aye... That I be. And you... You be a maledictor, here to taunt me?"
His body burts into a crimson flame.
Zackwell raises an eyebrow. "No, I'm not here to taunt you..."
"Then you have come to deliver me from this torment?"
The flame turns blue.

Zackwell sighs. "I see... You've become a hybrid shade."
His eyes begin to glow through the dark as he readies his halberd.
"I am here, to release you from your suffering..."

The shade falls to it's knees. "Then give me... Give me life! The life that was taken from me!"
Zackwell stares at the pitiful creature on the ground before him.
"I can do no such thing." he shakes his head.
The undead leaps into the air, it's flames turning a dark crimson. Flames spread around the room as the paraffin catches alight. Suddenly Zackwell could see everything. On the floor were piles of corpses. Men women and children alike. He grimaces.

"IF YOU ARE NOT MY SALVATION THEN YOU SHALL DIE!" The shade-captain cries.
Zackwell brushes his hair from his face.
"The only salvation you will find is death!"

Zackwell brandishes his halberd and makes a swinging motion towards the shade.
It is blocked with a resonating clang, as the shade draws it's own sword, engulfed in crimson flames.
A battle ensues in the burning captain's quarters.
He draws his halberd into the air and into an over-arc, knocking the captain through the ceiling and onto the top deck. Zackwell vaults through after the captain. The entire ship is aflame.

"I guess there's no point in holding back now." Zackwell says as he clips his halberd to his back once more. He draws his sword, whose blade flickers in the light of the fire.
He leaps forwards towards the shade, releasing an unrelenting chain of slashes.
He narrowly avoids a swift thrust from the captain before shattering blade of his rapier.
The captain tries to flee; but too little too late, as Zackwell's blade tears through his chest.
A burst of energy shoots from the glowing wound. The light grows more and more intense, shearing through the black fog. Then suddenly, the light was gone.

Zackwell rubs his eyes, blinded by the bright light. It had been a long time since he had seen that kind of purification.

"Ngh..."
A shimmering light is the first thing Zackwell can see as his vision returns.
Where there was a malevolent spirit, there now hovers a silvery being, which Zackwell knows is a true ghost. He pulls his blade from the spirit's chest, who falls to the ground, resting against the burning mast of the ship. Light leaks like blood from the wound in it's chest.
Another shining spirit joins the wounded one. Zackwell recognises it as the girl from the beach.

"I... I must thank you..." says the spirit with a voice that is only just noticable.
"You killed the demon that took my soul and body for it's own..." He coughs as light drips from his mouth, nose and eyes.
"Surely... you are a blessed man, to be able to do such things..."
Zackwell says nothing, as he looks into the ghost's empty eyes.
"I see... You are... A man of little words..."
The young ghost seems to be trying to tend to the captain's wounds.
"No, Mina... You can't help like this..." he pushes the young ghost away.

"Tell me..." says Zackwell "What happened here...?"
The captain coughs again, splattering the ground with glowing drips of light.
"It was... A routine journey... From Port Rayne to Port Fen. We had an important traveller aboard, a noble or something of the sort..." The captain had a shameful look on his face. "I was intoxicated...

And this noble girl was so beautiful, it was nigh unimaginable."
Zackwell draws another deep sigh.
"I... shamefully tried to take advantage of her..."
Zackwell shakes his head. "Confessing to me wont absolve your sins. I'm no priest."
The captain looks down. "Of course, I apologise..."
"Continue" Zackwell urges.

"She stabbed me through my heart. A fate I no-doubt deserved..."
He sighs "I was afraid of death, as many men are... So I made a pact with a demon, to give me back my life. It then made me take the lives of my crew... And my daughter... No, Mina!"
He pushes away the young ghost as it tries to treat his wounds once more.
"Please, if I were to make a final request of you... Please deliver my daughter unto heaven..."
Zackwell shifts uncomfortably. So the young girl with the disfigured face is his daughter...
"I..." Zackwell begins.
"I did not give my daughter... The life she deserved. Please, if you do one thing for me before I am doomed to the abyss... Send her to heaven..."

Zackwell sighs. He'll catch hell from the church for doing this, but his humanity can't allow him to ignore the wishes of a dead man like this.
"Very well," says Zackwell. "C'mere, you."
Silvery flames wrap around Zackwell's hand, as he graps the young ghost's arm. He takes a small vial of water from one of the various pouches about his waist. He splashes it on the ground and onto his hand, with which he draws a symbol on the forehead of the ghost.
"Take her." Zackwell says, facing the sky. He closes his eyes tightly, as a bright flash of light snatches the ghost away into the sky.

Turning back to the captain, dying on the floor, he says:
"If I ever find myself in hell, you owe me, big time." Zackwell stretches. The boat is going down any second now.
"I've gotta go." He climbs onto the railing at the edge of the ship and dives down into the water.

[OOC: 2064 words. My current record for a single post.]

[MetalRenard]

- Reynard - Itzal Castle

The air crackled with lightning around him and the shard exploded in his hand, burning away the top few layers of skin on his hand, removing his fingerprints too. A low rumble. Dust began to fly as the wind picked up. Then small pebbles joined the dust and the ground began to shake. Reynard fell onto his back, unable to stand, as did everyone within the city walls. Larger rocks began to lift up, soaring high into the clouds that had gathered above. They came crashing down, reforming walls, roofs, stone floors and the spires. The castle was rebuilding itself! Reynard was gently lifted from the floor and began to fly upwards towards the energised clouds, narrowly missing other falling chunks of stone.

Below him the castle took shape, now almost fully reconstructed. It was magnificent. Massive spires, gold encrusted decorations, a hall big enough to hold a thousand guests.The wind began to settle and Reynard was gradually lowered once again. He landed softly on his feet. The wind had stopped now and he glanced across the courtyard where there appeared to be a sundial on a short pillar. When he got closer he realised its point had a shadow, yet, when he looked up, there was no sunlight. He ran his hand over the point, attempting to block out the light from above but to no avail - the shadow was still there and continued to point to the East.

"So that is where I must go." He lifted the contraption from the pilar and walked around the castle on the inside wall, leaving from a back entrance. Towards the mountains...

It was night when he arrived, but that didn't matter, the place was fully lit from all angles, hundreds of people walking about, inspecting the purple mist around the valley, and others venturing into it. Reynard walked up to one of the people around the gap, the sundial safely hidden under his clothes. The man was sitting by a tent, a small camp-fire was burning and he was patiently watching others and occasionally laughing to himself. Reynard tapped him gently on the shoulder, "Does anyone ever return?" he asked.
The man jumped, he hadn't noticed Reynard approach, then he cackled. "Return? Haha! Don't be so stupid, boy! If there was a way to return I would have entered myself! But what about you? Are you going to enter this tear in our world? This... Torn gap?"
Not far away, a group of travellers walked towards the mist surrounding the rip in the world. The first to cross was a mountain of a man, then companions followed, two more men, a woman and a smaller creature. Reynard ran towards where they entered, removing his hood and raising his ears from beneath. He listened intently...

What he heard sent chills down his spine and curdled his blood. Screams! Horrific screams! He turned away, not able to bare it any more. He collapsed onto his knees and a single tear fell from his eyes. The screams... They were like the screams in his nightmares. The screams had started when his brother had gone missing and he knew he had been right all along. His brother's death was linked to this Undran mystery.

He stood again, threw his coat open. Ears held high... Tail showing from beneath his coat... Wind ruffling his hair... Holding out the sundial... He charged into the mist.

No screams were heard this time.

[Pherione]

[Izal - Undran tomb of Nigerautumnus ~ the torn gap ~ U-10]
...And suddenly, it was silent. No more dreams, no more visions of the past. His mind was blank. Itzal didn't know why, but it was a relief. He fell into the deep sleep of exhaustion.

The Undran shard had been destroyed, restoring the Undran fortress in Nigerautumnus, preparing it for its master's return. Giving the sundial to its bearer and lead him further on his damned quest. With the Sundial, Reynard could cross the Torn Gap's darkness, yet there were other things he must face in the darkness. Loneliness, lack of light and, above all, himself.

The Torn Gap was once known differently. It was named the Falaryn Court and was the governmental seat of the Undran civilization. Its conquerors feared the might of the Undran and, above all, Prince Fear, who was buried underneath it. Thane, the powerful sorcerer that had devised the mirror of Mas, chained Itzal to the remnants of the nearest shadow beacon and cursed him. Later, the cult of Umbranox built a tomb over the site and used it for their rites, until it was forgotten.

What causes the darkness surrounding it is still a mystery...it is rumoured the days of mortals are at an end and a new era of fear has once more come...