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--- ayenee:character:median_darkthorne [2017/08/11 16:54] – amorceas
+++ ayenee:character:median_darkthorne [2017/08/14 19:56] (current) – amorceas
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 ====== Median Darkthorne ======
-~~NOTOC~~
 ^ Median Darkthorne ^^
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-=====The March of Destiny=====
+====The March of Destiny====
 "What happened here?!" Carver pondered as the group of hunters emerged from the forest to what was left of their town. "The whole town has been burned or trampled down like dead grass." The night air was heavy with the smell of nature, smoke, and death. It was quiet except for the mutterings of a few of the hunters looking for loved ones. The only other sound was the crickets and cicadas and the dying embers of fires. The hunters became shadows moving in the moonlight, sometimes crying out as they touched a still hot piece of debris or stumbled into a depression.
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 Roman: "The barbarian guides seem to think this is a bad idea."
-Median: " It is the quickest way back to the fjord. I don't care what superstitions they hold. Whatever holds such a grip on this river has never met me."
+Median: " It is the quickest way back to the bivouac and the fjord. I don't care what superstitions they hold. Whatever holds such a grip on this river has never met me."
 As Median looked out at the mountains and the jagged spines he thought about how beautiful the landscape was, despite the constant gray clouds and the superstitious natives. The vivid green grass, snow covered peaks, cold clear water, and the rocky hills. They almost reminded him of his home in Sharlazan on the edges of the Stryga kingdom.
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 Morgan: "Roman and Demi have been sparring since we landed. I think silence is a very rare commodity these days."
-A strange sound drew Median's attention away from their conversation. One of the guides suddenly shrieked as blood spurted from their neck. A metal object jutted from the guide's neck. It was a throwing knife.
+A strange sound drew Median's attention away from their conversation. One of the guides suddenly shrieked as blood spurted from their neck. A metal object jutted from the guide's neck. It was a throwing knife. The air was rife with tension as Median glanced askance trying to peer into the darkness. He could hear the slightest movement, but he was unable to sense the minds of any lifeforms. Roman and Demi disappeared into the night.
+Median could sense them a few feet from where he stood. Together with Morgan and the remaining guides they took up torches and delved into the night. The ground about the reed thick river was bulbous, it has once been a flowing river of lava many years ago. The solidified rock was now covered in thick green grass. The river from the melting snow and rain had carved its way through this valley over time. A huge section of stone rose up from the sloping mountain side. Its face was striated in an odd pattern. The many satraps of the Darkthorne lands used to mark where their lands began and ended with images of their family crests.
+He wondered if this pattern were something similar. To him it resembled a snake eating its own tail. Words beneath the carving said "sete di sangue". He had no idea what language that was or what it meant. Ahead there was an opening in the mountain, a set of stairs plunged into the ebon maw. He sensed Roman and Demi descending here.
+Median: "They pursued something down these stairs."
+The guides began to shake their heads and began to back away from the cave. Median urged them to enter, but they continue to babble in their language and refuse. He hit them with a wave of force sending them back into the river. Flashes of electricity pulsed with light as slimy black bodies slide against one another. A massive snake like form rose from the river and snapped its jaws onto the guide silencing his screams and taking him beneath the surface. There must have been at least fifty of the giant eels forming a ball in the river. The guides vanished just as quickly as they had hit the water's surface.
+Morgan: "You need to work on your anger issues. How are we going to find our base camp now? The river diverges ahead of us."
+Median scowled.
+Median: "Fear made them useless. They would have died here alone either way. We have to enter the cave."
+He treated the death of the guides as a piddling thing. The walls here were etched with numerous carvings of snakes and strange serpentine letters. As they proceeded the air became warmer and Median could hear footsteps ahead of them. The staircase exited into a large opening, a cathedral. Pale, hoary haired figures sat in pews. A path cut straight through the pews to an altar. Behind the altar two giant snake heads jutted from the wall, lava poured from their open mouths into a trench where it moved like a flaming serpent weaving a path till it descended into a crevice. A man stood behind the altar, his pale skin and hoary hair made him look like one of the dead, his face was gaunt. His eyes resembled a snake's and in place of his canine teeth were curved retractable fangs dripping with venom.
+Barnabas Pope: "Behold my children! Here comes our salvation!"
+Median felt a bit of unease as the hundreds of faces gathered in the cathedral suddenly turned and looked on him. Their eyes were like the man behind the altar. The snow white color of their skin and hair was strange.
+Median: "I am no savior. I am a conqueror. The destined god-king of the West."
+Roman and Demi stood to the side of the staircase and quickly joined Median.
+Barnabas: "So you say. I say that you are the one that will change our own cursed fate."
+Median: "Who are you and what is it that you want? Get to the point because my umbrage is at its limits."
+Barnabas: "How rude of me. I am Barnabas Pope, former mercenary Lord, then wealthy baron. Those days were a mere spark in the flame that is my long life though, they happened four millennia ago. I sought the secrets of the West and found them. The secret to eternal life became mine along with its curse. The garden of the gods had a tree with fruit that could grant immortality. It gave a bitter sting with that reward. I found that I could make others like me. I gave the great ruler known as the Impaler my gift and the Countess of blood as well. I have made many others like myself. Usually out of boredom, or because I saw in them the same longing that once existed in me."
+He waved his hands about towards his followers.
+Barnabas: "They all had the same void within themselves as I did. They were not meant to be among the vermin. They were meant to ascend to a higher state of being."
+Median realized how crazy the stranger sounded and looked to his companions who seemed to agree there was something off.
+Median: "Interesting story, now we shall take our leave, good day sir."
+Median turned to leave when the man appeared in front of him.
+Barnabas: "Leaving so soon? You haven't even heard the best part."
+Median threw a punch meant to destroy the man. He was surprised when the fellow simply became mist and then reappeared nearby.
+Barnabas: "Oh come now, violence will get us nowhere. Can't we all just get along?"
+Roman performed a monant with his sword cleaving a gash from the man's head down to his waist. The wound quickly began to reknit itself and seal.
+Barnabas: "I like you, cleave first and ask questions later. See I knew we would get along famously."
+Morgan threw a bolt of necrotic energy at the pale man. He simply caught it in his hand and looked it over like a child inspecting a toy. He found it dissatisfactory and tossed it aside and wiped his hand on his breeches.
+Barnabas: "So I was going to propose that we march with you to the West. My children and I would lend our strength, indulge in a bit of blood letting and drinking. I mean you are going to leave lakes of the stuff in your wake, someone might as well put it to some use. Besides if you intend to enter the West you will have to go through Pacifika. I have a debt to repay them in kind."
+Median found the stranger's abilities to be interesting. He could use such talent among his ranks.
+Median: "Hmm fine, might you be able to lead us to the River's end?"
+Barnabas: "That we can do. See my children, I told you it would all work out. I have waited twenty years for your arrival."
+Median: "Awaited me? How did you know I would arrive?"
+Barnabas: "How did you know you would become a god-king?"
+Median: " A dream..."
+Barnabas: " Exactly!"
+The pale faced Barnabas held up a hand and a red orb dislodged from the wall behind the altar. It flew to his hand and he held the bloodstone in his hand and closed it about it. When he opened his hand the orb was gone. He snapped his fingers and a blade appeared in his hand. It was a dagger with a blade that curved like a flame. The pommel lengthened in his hand turning the dagger into a spear.
+Barnabas: "All packed."
+Morgan whispered to Median: "Can we trust this man?"
+Barnabas: "No you can't trust me, but then again would you trust someone who lured you into a cave? Actually, can you trust anyone? We have goals that are aligned and so an alliance shall work for now. The rest falls upon if you can take the West or not."
+Median: "It shall be my empire and mine alone."
+Barnabas: "You can have it. I have grown tired of these lands. I seek greener pastures on the other side of the great wall."
+Median: "You and your vampires can have the rest of the world for all I care. The West is mine!"
+Barnabas: "You have made your point. My brood and I are the last of our kind. The West is not a place where we can thrive. I have no concessions about it being all yours."
+Barnabas revealed his army of stone to Median who delighted in such an army. He also revealed a faster route for Median to take to leave the mountains. As Median rejoined with his soldiers Barnabas placed a magical miniature ship on the waves. It was drawn out to the water where it began to grow in size. It was big enough to hold his children and the army he had crafted and then some.
+Aboard his ship, he looked out at Median with disgust. Mortals were full of greed, it devoured them from within and made them into monsters. He wanted to survive, he wanted his kind to survive, but perhaps it was just another form of greed? The world was changing. It was becoming the realm of man. The elder races were slowly dying off while humans bred like vermin. Even his vampiric race was down to a few hundred. Not just anyone could survive the transformation.
+To Barnabas, Median was a well-crafted tool that would aid him in his millennia old plan.
+Barnabas: "I am older than even the name of this back water realm. I have been cast out from former home. They say the Walls of the West keep out invaders. They do not know that the walls keep me in. This is a prison and soon I shall be free at last."
 ====At the Heart of the Storm====

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