A Note to my Fellow Gith
We have been deceived.
If you are reading this, ra’stil, you have already broken the rules. It is only in this light that I shall hope you are of an open enough mind to heed the words I now scribe to you. This planet, this sector of space, is forbidden to us. We were told there is nothing here. And yet, the ground beneath your very feet is a testament to this deception. It is here that I, Fer’ckotch, former sword of Vlaakith, shall record what I have discovered about the insurmountable danger that lurks so very close.
We were pursuing a gh’ath of the dreaded ghaik. It had already strayed far from its intended course, and was heading into deep space. A sector of space that is forbidden for Gith to travel. Our Kith’raki made a judgement call. We were to pursue. Unfortunately, as we closed distance on the ship, we entered a cloud of Phlogiston that appeared… damaged. Swirls of purple and pink encapsulated our ship, and in mere moments, our kretch was rendered non-operational. We were being pulled in by something that was not supposed to be there.
When my kretch was marooned in this strange land, there were four of us that had survived our fated fall from the stars. We believed it to be a trick of the ghaik that had torn us from the skies. Perhaps they had infected us, and what we were experiencing was an illusion designed to soften our minds in anticipation of infection. Two of our number followed our oath , and took their own lives. It was only myself and Ha’kana that suspected something greater was amiss.
We obscured ourselves in cloth and made our way to the coastline, towards an Istik settlement. For some time, we remained in the shadows, gathering information in the hopes of finding an escape back to the stars. We… “befriended”… an alchemist who pointed us in the direction of a land they call Reino Fracturado - The Fractured Kingdom. Many of his human tomes described this place as a lost land, one torn asunder by the ancients of their kind. Ha’kana and myself foolishly believed this to be the result of Istik arrogance, meddling with forces their lowly species was incapable of grasping. We stowed away on a primitive water-bound fishing vessel, and slew the inhabitants once they departed for the sea. We then departed in the vessel to the Fractured Kingdom.
After many journeyed days, we arrived at our target. Ha’kana was the first to feel that something was off. The air there… it reeked of something deeply disturbing. As though a key component that was present elsewhere, even in the depths of Phlogisten in space, was absent. We continued our journey, deluding ourselves into believing this was simply our bodies acclimating to a cursed world.
Some days of searching bore the fruit of an abandoned Istik city. Their buildings had been torn asunder, and nature was well at work in reclaiming its rightful land. One building, however, stood tall. Ha’kana and I named it The Archive. The stonework, in spite of many centuries of wilt, remained intact. We knew immediately of the magic at play; this was a place of continuance.
Within the Archive, many tomes lay that were unavailable to the alchemist. We learned of so many things in our time there… some of which you may already be familiar, ra’stil. I will recount what we learned.
The reason of this realm’s exclusion from our territory started in what the Istik call the Land of Fairytales; Unum. Saturated with magics, the warriors of this place were of true legend. A group of these warriors, referred to only as The Five, came to odds with a being that seemed to be bound to this Realm. They called him Eltic. One of seven, this Eltic sought to wreak havoc on the Land of Fairytales, driving its residents to madness and polluting its land to chaos. Through great trials and tribulation, The Five were able to best this Eltic. That, unfortunately for them, was not the end of their struggles.
I know little of this Eltic and his six counterparts, but the scholars of The Archive seem to have made a grave discovery. The seven beings are one side of a coin. On the other end, there is a… force. If the seven represent madness, action, chaos… this being represents Control. Stasis. Order. These are traits that we as Gith revere. But as we know them, they are utilized forces. And as understanding of this other entity crashed over me like the waves of an ocean, I felt fear for what pure order would bring.
Brother or Sister, know this: a truth that has been revealed to me is that life requires chaos. Pure order is the antithesis of life… It is the absence of asymmetrical motion, the restriction of all choice, the death of desire for life. All of these things are the lifeblood of the entity, It who’s name I cannot bring to part my lips or take form from my pen, for fear that I will bring it closer to it’s goal.
Ha’Kana did not share in my hesitance. From the moment she spoke of the name, I began to notice change. Small at first. Her footsteps became more methodical, covering the same distance each instance. Then, as she continued in her studies, her unique mannerisms disappeared. Running a hand through her hair when encountering a puzzle… her upward snarl when unable to solve it… all gone. I assumed the blight of The Archive and its surrounding settlement were taking their toll on her. So, I recommended we depart and return to the alchemist with our findings. She was resistant to this idea.
Late that night, she tried to kill me.
I awoke mere moments before the blade made impact with the crown of my head. I was only barely able to duck to the side. My pleas of reason fell on deaf ears, as she continued her assault. Even her form seemed more methodical. She was always a more skilled fighter than I, being a kith’raki, but this was something more advanced entirely. Her swings could cut through the most adamant of blades. It did not take me long to realize I would be unable to pull her from her haze. So… I ran.
Ra’stil, I am a coward. I know that I should have fought and found a way to slay her… that is what she would have wanted. But my desire made me weak. The few months that I had been marooned with her, Ha’Kana had become my light in this dark land. I could never bring myself to hurt her. I now know why Gith are restricted from venturing to this part of the cosmos. The entity that I have refused to speak of could bring an end to every living thing in the multiverse. Even the dreaded ghaik cannot match its power.
Ra’stil, I must atone for my sins. I cannot bear to go on knowing that I have failed Ha’Kana. But someone must slay her. I am hoping that someone can be you. I beg of you to venture to the Fractured Kingdom, to find The Archive, and to put an end to her suffering. If you do, you must at all costs avoid the name of the entity. A name that I will share with you before taking my own life, to ensure that I do not befall the same fate as my friend. Heed these words until your last breath.
Keep your lips from this intention.
Guard our lives from the W̵̧̡̳͓᷿̲̤̫͑ͧ̈ͮ̀̏ơ̷͉̞᷿̙̂᷃́ͦ͜͜ŕ̷̨̨̤̱̼̼͔̬́͐͢͞l̸̤̻̟͉͖̟̣̭͋͒ͯ᷁̽ͮͮd̷̡̺̤̬̣̤̺̚͢͝ E̶̝̣͈̣̱̪͕̳ͫ︡̈̑ͮ̕͟͡n̶̘᷅̃̇̃̚ģ̶̻̭͓̟̱̝̩̏̀͆͊᷁͘͟i̷̼̻͔̼̜̬̙̗᷁᷅᷉͒ͦ͌̃̄n̷̘͉̲᷄᷾᷇ͥ͌ͭ̍͑́͜͠ę̷̹̬̞̤̟̳̩̱̿̎̓́͑︠ͭ͝
If you are reading this, ra’stil, you have already broken the rules. It is only in this light that I shall hope you are of an open enough mind to heed the words I now scribe to you. This planet, this sector of space, is forbidden to us. We were told there is nothing here. And yet, the ground beneath your very feet is a testament to this deception. It is here that I, Fer’ckotch, former sword of Vlaakith, shall record what I have discovered about the insurmountable danger that lurks so very close.
We were pursuing a gh’ath of the dreaded ghaik. It had already strayed far from its intended course, and was heading into deep space. A sector of space that is forbidden for Gith to travel. Our Kith’raki made a judgement call. We were to pursue. Unfortunately, as we closed distance on the ship, we entered a cloud of Phlogiston that appeared… damaged. Swirls of purple and pink encapsulated our ship, and in mere moments, our kretch was rendered non-operational. We were being pulled in by something that was not supposed to be there.
When my kretch was marooned in this strange land, there were four of us that had survived our fated fall from the stars. We believed it to be a trick of the ghaik that had torn us from the skies. Perhaps they had infected us, and what we were experiencing was an illusion designed to soften our minds in anticipation of infection. Two of our number followed our oath , and took their own lives. It was only myself and Ha’kana that suspected something greater was amiss.
We obscured ourselves in cloth and made our way to the coastline, towards an Istik settlement. For some time, we remained in the shadows, gathering information in the hopes of finding an escape back to the stars. We… “befriended”… an alchemist who pointed us in the direction of a land they call Reino Fracturado - The Fractured Kingdom. Many of his human tomes described this place as a lost land, one torn asunder by the ancients of their kind. Ha’kana and myself foolishly believed this to be the result of Istik arrogance, meddling with forces their lowly species was incapable of grasping. We stowed away on a primitive water-bound fishing vessel, and slew the inhabitants once they departed for the sea. We then departed in the vessel to the Fractured Kingdom.
After many journeyed days, we arrived at our target. Ha’kana was the first to feel that something was off. The air there… it reeked of something deeply disturbing. As though a key component that was present elsewhere, even in the depths of Phlogisten in space, was absent. We continued our journey, deluding ourselves into believing this was simply our bodies acclimating to a cursed world.
Some days of searching bore the fruit of an abandoned Istik city. Their buildings had been torn asunder, and nature was well at work in reclaiming its rightful land. One building, however, stood tall. Ha’kana and I named it The Archive. The stonework, in spite of many centuries of wilt, remained intact. We knew immediately of the magic at play; this was a place of continuance.
Within the Archive, many tomes lay that were unavailable to the alchemist. We learned of so many things in our time there… some of which you may already be familiar, ra’stil. I will recount what we learned.
The reason of this realm’s exclusion from our territory started in what the Istik call the Land of Fairytales; Unum. Saturated with magics, the warriors of this place were of true legend. A group of these warriors, referred to only as The Five, came to odds with a being that seemed to be bound to this Realm. They called him Eltic. One of seven, this Eltic sought to wreak havoc on the Land of Fairytales, driving its residents to madness and polluting its land to chaos. Through great trials and tribulation, The Five were able to best this Eltic. That, unfortunately for them, was not the end of their struggles.
I know little of this Eltic and his six counterparts, but the scholars of The Archive seem to have made a grave discovery. The seven beings are one side of a coin. On the other end, there is a… force. If the seven represent madness, action, chaos… this being represents Control. Stasis. Order. These are traits that we as Gith revere. But as we know them, they are utilized forces. And as understanding of this other entity crashed over me like the waves of an ocean, I felt fear for what pure order would bring.
Brother or Sister, know this: a truth that has been revealed to me is that life requires chaos. Pure order is the antithesis of life… It is the absence of asymmetrical motion, the restriction of all choice, the death of desire for life. All of these things are the lifeblood of the entity, It who’s name I cannot bring to part my lips or take form from my pen, for fear that I will bring it closer to it’s goal.
Ha’Kana did not share in my hesitance. From the moment she spoke of the name, I began to notice change. Small at first. Her footsteps became more methodical, covering the same distance each instance. Then, as she continued in her studies, her unique mannerisms disappeared. Running a hand through her hair when encountering a puzzle… her upward snarl when unable to solve it… all gone. I assumed the blight of The Archive and its surrounding settlement were taking their toll on her. So, I recommended we depart and return to the alchemist with our findings. She was resistant to this idea.
Late that night, she tried to kill me.
I awoke mere moments before the blade made impact with the crown of my head. I was only barely able to duck to the side. My pleas of reason fell on deaf ears, as she continued her assault. Even her form seemed more methodical. She was always a more skilled fighter than I, being a kith’raki, but this was something more advanced entirely. Her swings could cut through the most adamant of blades. It did not take me long to realize I would be unable to pull her from her haze. So… I ran.
Ra’stil, I am a coward. I know that I should have fought and found a way to slay her… that is what she would have wanted. But my desire made me weak. The few months that I had been marooned with her, Ha’Kana had become my light in this dark land. I could never bring myself to hurt her. I now know why Gith are restricted from venturing to this part of the cosmos. The entity that I have refused to speak of could bring an end to every living thing in the multiverse. Even the dreaded ghaik cannot match its power.
Ra’stil, I must atone for my sins. I cannot bear to go on knowing that I have failed Ha’Kana. But someone must slay her. I am hoping that someone can be you. I beg of you to venture to the Fractured Kingdom, to find The Archive, and to put an end to her suffering. If you do, you must at all costs avoid the name of the entity. A name that I will share with you before taking my own life, to ensure that I do not befall the same fate as my friend. Heed these words until your last breath.
Keep your lips from this intention.
Guard our lives from the W̵̧̡̳͓᷿̲̤̫͑ͧ̈ͮ̀̏ơ̷͉̞᷿̙̂᷃́ͦ͜͜ŕ̷̨̨̤̱̼̼͔̬́͐͢͞l̸̤̻̟͉͖̟̣̭͋͒ͯ᷁̽ͮͮd̷̡̺̤̬̣̤̺̚͢͝ E̶̝̣͈̣̱̪͕̳ͫ︡̈̑ͮ̕͟͡n̶̘᷅̃̇̃̚ģ̶̻̭͓̟̱̝̩̏̀͆͊᷁͘͟i̷̼̻͔̼̜̬̙̗᷁᷅᷉͒ͦ͌̃̄n̷̘͉̲᷄᷾᷇ͥ͌ͭ̍͑́͜͠ę̷̹̬̞̤̟̳̩̱̿̎̓́͑︠ͭ͝
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