Up for consideration: Vilorlith's truth
Things are starting to fall apart. At this point in the story I want the war between the Federation and the Caliphate in full swing. Caliphate is on the losing edge, though reports from all corners are starting to report "horrors". Plagues are starting to creep up, missing supply lines, strange dark creatures beginning to appear and attack anything that moves. Entire towns have been swallowed by these issues already, and the Militaries on both sides are starting to come to agreements that the fighting needs to come to a halt to sort these issues out. (The Shadows are prepping the battlefeild once more to start their war with the Quartet once more. The Calling beginning to be invoked once more)
Plot beat just before this point should be where Azu is burned away by Syn during her return. Ilgor and Vilorlith were finally seen together (for real) by Bhal, as he comes rushing in his fury. Pissed, that he was proven wrong by Xelex, that he didn't actually kill Vilorlith all those Eons ago. Even more pissed that his Priestess had betrayed him by forsaking her faith for Vilorlith. (despite the fact that Vilorlith is the actual creator of her race, and Bhal stole it all from her and her people, but that's another thing for a whole other time...)
Syn, or as she calls herself now, Dawn, nearly succeeds in killing three of the Eight Shadows during her return. Bhal, nearly falls, Koroth nearly falls, and Xelex nearly falls. Azu was consumed, though not technically dead... yet. Calls herself Dawn because she feels it fits her better now, a god having become Shadow Touched. A Dark Sun. Yet fully recognizes that day will come again, only her time with Azu has changed her.
Dawn was able to easily find her way to The Elsewhere and more or less just lets herself in. Her Children are more than overjoyed at her return, though Alnya is concerned. The Queen of the Fae welcomes her "home" and begins restoring her power to it's former degree, along with an unquestionable loyalty from her Children. All lending her the orginal Sparks of Divine power to her, Dawn should hesitate. I want to show that she still holds her original attitudes toward the first goal of the Children: do not take the their birth rights. They were always meant to join the Quartet.
Azu convinces her in the same way she used to do to her, to allow only the oldest of her Children to lend her their power. Alnya is horrified that she does so, Vilorlith is also extraordinarly concerned. Though Villy has no room to talk on the matter, seeing as she is more or less a parasite to Ilgor. Slowly gaining strength, but Ilgor is quickly passing her in power and ability as the Tether is working to progress Ilgor far faster than VIlly can heal.
Dawn wants to know why Azu constantly had memories shared between the other Shadows. Memories as if they were once one entity, the Quartet never knew the origins of the Shadows except for Vilorlith. She's angry, unstable, and needs Taneth to constantly calm her down. (Taneth and Syn should have had their reunion earlier than this. Still debating if thats the direction I want to go for them, but I still like the idea.)
I want a welcoming and joyous occasion to go wrong. I want Dawn to learn the Vilorlith is quite literally the reason the world fell. I want this to be a show of force between players, The Quartet will not fall again, but then again, every family has its issues.
The feast was slowly starting to wind down, music and soft light the only things spilling from the Cathedral halls. Crowds milling about, dancing and feasting still in full swing inside the main chambers below the party sitting under the stars on the top spire. There was no conversation, only a tense silence as the question Dawn had asked earlier hung in the air. "Why do the Shadows share their oldest memories, Villy?" Taneth sat next to Dawn, hand clasped in hers. Though the leg thumping and nervous look on his face gave away his unease like a beacon in the night. Anlyth leaning against the railing looking out over the Citadel proper, glass of blood red wine in hand. He was annoyed at the whole thing, having spoken with Ilgor enough, He had an idea as to what Vilorlith had done. Whether out of loyalty to the Queen or that his own honor would allow him to speak ill of the Great Mother, Ilgor didn't know. Gjorn sat silently next to Alnya, smoking on a long pipe. Arms crossed, looking ready for a fight, seeing as the feeling was thick in the air. Alnya looked much the same, the runes in her arms glowing brightly. Ilgor held Villy's hand, while she wrapped her tail around Ilgor's leg. She still looked unwell, thin, boney, her hair not illustrious and metallic yet like Ilgor knew it should be. Though she did finally have a body again, not just a spirit clinging to Ilgor like a sailor grasping at the only piece of driftwood in a storm. She was happy for that at least. Ilgor was the only one who didn't care about the hostile air between them all. She only slowly channeled her power to Villy, slowly healing her. Her attention fully on The Great Mother, only half listening as Dawn asked the same question again. Her concentration broken as Villy pushed back against Ilgor's power. A subtle thing, like a brush of the hand in a crowd, a wordless acknowldgement. "I want to say this first, Dear Sisters. I didn't know in the beginning." Vilorlith's words were music given form, her voice always a comfort to all that heard it. Dawn snapped back, fire in her voice. "Didn't know what? Didn't know that you played with something you never should have done?" "And what has that Shadow told you?" Alnya asked, tired to direct some of Dawn's heat toward her. "That Shadow is called Azu. Some of the earliest memories she has were of you, Vilorlith. You ripping something apart. What did you do?" Though the heat was still in her words, their was a certain sense of acceptance. "I... I was angry. I was scared and filled with sorrow. Please you must understand that I know any of you would have done the same thing. There was once only a single Shadow. A fifth note to our four." Her voice broke at the end, Ilgor gripping her hand a little tighter. Anlyth's eyes grew wide, Taneth had stopped fidgiting and had a ponderous look. Alnya looked shocked as well as Gjorn. Dawn looked decidedly less curious, no. Fury would not have been the right word, wrath wasn't enough. Dawn's wings slowly glowed as fire dripped from her clenched eyes. "He had played with one of my child's souls." Dawn finally opened her eyes, starting down at Vilorlith. A mix of anger and grief washed over her mind looking at the goddess that quite literally lost everything. An emaciated form with but a single child next to her. "I begged him to fix what he had done. He kept telling me he was trying but their sol only warped further and further. All I saw was my child suffering, screaming at the pain as her form changed over and over and over. I snapped." "SO YOU RIPPED IT TO SHREDS!? Instead of allowing him to try and fix what he had done, you ripped it apart? A brother we never were given the opportunity to know? And in your fury you were the cause of all of this?" Dawn rose wings glowing like a second sun. Fire billowing around her hands, plasma leaking from her eyes. "Mother, she..." Anlyth started, but was silenced by Dawn with a snap of her fingers. She shifted her weight, preping to backhand VIlorlith with almighty swing. It was, a flash. A moment captured in the infintessimal space between here and there, between the strum of an atom's vibration. Anlyth had tried to reach out and stop his Mother, Taneth had tried to hold her back. Alnya had raised a shield around Vilorlith, Gjorn and backed that same sheild with an incomprehensible rune structure. Dawn only looked down at Ilgor, arm firmly caught in the Goblin's hand. A soft, disturbingly familar song escaping Ilgor's lips. Vilorlith had cowered down, expecting the strike, slowly looking up to see Ilgor holding back the hand of a god. The shock on her face not lost to her, the stoic and resolute anger on Ilgor's face made Dawn balk. "You will lay no hand on my Mother. You can take your rage elsewhere and fully understand what trust you have just broken in me." Ilgor swatted away Dawn's hand, the stone floor cracked and shattered under her feet. "I cannot believe I have to say this to a god. I cannot believe that you of all things would punish one of your own for this. You want to punish a Mother for wanting to end her Child's pain at the hands of a stranger. You want to punish a reasonable reaction because you suffered a fate that all but the Fae Queen felt? Do you not realize that all her children, all her work, nearly all her power was taken?" The world vibrated with Ilgor's words, casting them out to the entirety of The Elsewhere. All could hear her as her voice was deafening in Dawn's ears. "How dare you. What gives you the right to speak down to her, when you would have done the same if not worse had it been one of your Children?" The divine fire exploded out of Dawn's eyes as the Syn side of her roared her answer. "It was her fault the War started in the first place! Had she told us about the situation before she acted, we could have helped and ealt with this Orginal Shadow!" Ilgor's voice was eerily quiet as she spoke her reply. "I believe that she recieved her punishment when she died. A fate you, nor the Queen, nor Kin faced. You seem more than powerful again, your Children are here in the Elsewehere. You are able to exert influence on the world again, you are able begin fixing things. Vilorlith is not. You are in a far better position than my Mother." Dawn opened her mouth again, but Ilgor cut her off. "You wish to punish the already punished. You wish to enforce a fury that isn't yours. That Shadow is the one angry, not you. All the Shadows had a right to be angry, but when they slaughtered everything and got what they wanted, was justice not served?" Dawn snapped her mouth shut, as the rest of the group stared at Ilgor with open mouthed astonishment.
The feast was slowly starting to wind down, music and soft light the only things spilling from the Cathedral halls. Crowds milling about, dancing and feasting still in full swing inside the main chambers below the party sitting under the stars on the top spire. There was no conversation, only a tense silence as the question Dawn had asked earlier hung in the air. "Why do the Shadows share their oldest memories, Villy?" Taneth sat next to Dawn, hand clasped in hers. Though the leg thumping and nervous look on his face gave away his unease like a beacon in the night. Anlyth leaning against the railing looking out over the Citadel proper, glass of blood red wine in hand. He was annoyed at the whole thing, having spoken with Ilgor enough, He had an idea as to what Vilorlith had done. Whether out of loyalty to the Queen or that his own honor would allow him to speak ill of the Great Mother, Ilgor didn't know. Gjorn sat silently next to Alnya, smoking on a long pipe. Arms crossed, looking ready for a fight, seeing as the feeling was thick in the air. Alnya looked much the same, the runes in her arms glowing brightly. Ilgor held Villy's hand, while she wrapped her tail around Ilgor's leg. She still looked unwell, thin, boney, her hair not illustrious and metallic yet like Ilgor knew it should be. Though she did finally have a body again, not just a spirit clinging to Ilgor like a sailor grasping at the only piece of driftwood in a storm. She was happy for that at least. Ilgor was the only one who didn't care about the hostile air between them all. She only slowly channeled her power to Villy, slowly healing her. Her attention fully on The Great Mother, only half listening as Dawn asked the same question again. Her concentration broken as Villy pushed back against Ilgor's power. A subtle thing, like a brush of the hand in a crowd, a wordless acknowldgement. "I want to say this first, Dear Sisters. I didn't know in the beginning." Vilorlith's words were music given form, her voice always a comfort to all that heard it. Dawn snapped back, fire in her voice. "Didn't know what? Didn't know that you played with something you never should have done?" "And what has that Shadow told you?" Alnya asked, tired to direct some of Dawn's heat toward her. "That Shadow is called Azu. Some of the earliest memories she has were of you, Vilorlith. You ripping something apart. What did you do?" Though the heat was still in her words, their was a certain sense of acceptance. "I... I was angry. I was scared and filled with sorrow. Please you must understand that I know any of you would have done the same thing. There was once only a single Shadow. A fifth note to our four." Her voice broke at the end, Ilgor gripping her hand a little tighter. Anlyth's eyes grew wide, Taneth had stopped fidgiting and had a ponderous look. Alnya looked shocked as well as Gjorn. Dawn looked decidedly less curious, no. Fury would not have been the right word, wrath wasn't enough. Dawn's wings slowly glowed as fire dripped from her clenched eyes. "He had played with one of my child's souls." Dawn finally opened her eyes, starting down at Vilorlith. A mix of anger and grief washed over her mind looking at the goddess that quite literally lost everything. An emaciated form with but a single child next to her. "I begged him to fix what he had done. He kept telling me he was trying but their sol only warped further and further. All I saw was my child suffering, screaming at the pain as her form changed over and over and over. I snapped." "SO YOU RIPPED IT TO SHREDS!? Instead of allowing him to try and fix what he had done, you ripped it apart? A brother we never were given the opportunity to know? And in your fury you were the cause of all of this?" Dawn rose wings glowing like a second sun. Fire billowing around her hands, plasma leaking from her eyes. "Mother, she..." Anlyth started, but was silenced by Dawn with a snap of her fingers. She shifted her weight, preping to backhand VIlorlith with almighty swing. It was, a flash. A moment captured in the infintessimal space between here and there, between the strum of an atom's vibration. Anlyth had tried to reach out and stop his Mother, Taneth had tried to hold her back. Alnya had raised a shield around Vilorlith, Gjorn and backed that same sheild with an incomprehensible rune structure. Dawn only looked down at Ilgor, arm firmly caught in the Goblin's hand. A soft, disturbingly familar song escaping Ilgor's lips. Vilorlith had cowered down, expecting the strike, slowly looking up to see Ilgor holding back the hand of a god. The shock on her face not lost to her, the stoic and resolute anger on Ilgor's face made Dawn balk. "You will lay no hand on my Mother. You can take your rage elsewhere and fully understand what trust you have just broken in me." Ilgor swatted away Dawn's hand, the stone floor cracked and shattered under her feet. "I cannot believe I have to say this to a god. I cannot believe that you of all things would punish one of your own for this. You want to punish a Mother for wanting to end her Child's pain at the hands of a stranger. You want to punish a reasonable reaction because you suffered a fate that all but the Fae Queen felt? Do you not realize that all her children, all her work, nearly all her power was taken?" The world vibrated with Ilgor's words, casting them out to the entirety of The Elsewhere. All could hear her as her voice was deafening in Dawn's ears. "How dare you. What gives you the right to speak down to her, when you would have done the same if not worse had it been one of your Children?" The divine fire exploded out of Dawn's eyes as the Syn side of her roared her answer. "It was her fault the War started in the first place! Had she told us about the situation before she acted, we could have helped and ealt with this Orginal Shadow!" Ilgor's voice was eerily quiet as she spoke her reply. "I believe that she recieved her punishment when she died. A fate you, nor the Queen, nor Kin faced. You seem more than powerful again, your Children are here in the Elsewehere. You are able to exert influence on the world again, you are able begin fixing things. Vilorlith is not. You are in a far better position than my Mother." Dawn opened her mouth again, but Ilgor cut her off. "You wish to punish the already punished. You wish to enforce a fury that isn't yours. That Shadow is the one angry, not you. All the Shadows had a right to be angry, but when they slaughtered everything and got what they wanted, was justice not served?" Dawn snapped her mouth shut, as the rest of the group stared at Ilgor with open mouthed astonishment.
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