The End of the Beginning

[Phoenix]

Audio message to all members involved in the Master matter, from Jane, repeatable on demand by request to 351.

We lost more of the Master's targets last night. Gas attack, an unusually indiscriminate and risky strategy for the enemy. The remaining members of the list are being held under the tightest security the city can muster.

One thing is becoming increasingly clear: the Master is outmanoeuvring and out-planning us at every turn, and if we don't manage to stop him very soon, he'll be home free with whatever crap he's planning.

I haven't been able to contact Ves yet, so I may be overstepping my authority a little way here, but I want to call as many of you together as I can as soon as possible. We need to put our heads together and hammer out a proper plan of action or at least some way to go forward from here. We're in danger of losing BIG here, and I don't like it.

See you all soon.


((OOCnotes: thinking Friday or Saturday night for a meeting-type thing, but nothing concrete yet. lemme know what suits!))

[Phoenix]

Message from 351 to all involved members

Alright, people. Ves informs me that we have a plan of sorts. I don't know if he's spread the greater details yet, but I'l leave it to him to do that if he hasn't.

Step one is to find a specific person, who can apparently help us. All available details follow.


Name
Dominique d'Arquette

Height
~5'6"

Hair
Red

Eyes
Green

Image



Previous sightings
Pocket D, various rich-peoples' events.

Notes
Believed to be of Demonic heritage. Approach with caution.


Go to it, guys.

[Phoenix]

((no, it's not dead, I just been in a bit of a writing funk recently and haven't had much time for RPing either. nao begins catchup time! more tomorrow hopefully. ))


After a visit from a being identifying itself only as Greyshade, members of the Alliance were taken to another dimension, never before visited by any human, and shown something of the truth of Jane's history and ancestry, and a glimpse into a possible future, on the condition that what was said remain a secret from Jane herself.

The young Peacebringer, it seems, is not human in a way entirely separate from her Kheldian bond. The daughter of a human man and an Immortal woman, she is apparently an entirely unique being, which the Master sees as an affront to the Line of Kayn, a half-breed insult to what he considers the last pure and good race in the multiverse.

The Watchman and the Master have not been seen on Earth for some time, but at least one gaze is still observing these events as another passage is read, the gilded borders of his Book changed now from gold to a deep blood-red.

Black and White will fade to Grey
The Trinity will show the Way.

History Past, the Birth of the Phoenix.
History Present, the Greatest of Struggles.
History Future, at the Seal of Shadow.

In the depths, a great Wave stirs,
Fate and Destiny trailing behind.
In the Tomb of the Golden One
Truth awaits.

Soon, all things will become clear.
The End of the Beginning at last draws near.

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[Phoenix]

Her Mother's Daughter

After Jane received an unexpected delivery from an apparently-disguised Master, consisting of an unusual gold pendant and a drawing she had made as a young child, she abruptly left the statue and flew deep into Dark Astoria, breaking into an ancient tomb and following a twisting tunnel down into the dark.

Soon joined by Veskit, Chlorr and Kumiko, the oversized space was explored and examined, triggering several unpleasant traps in the process. Negotiating the traps changed the contents of the room, a battlefield of intricately detailed statues, a group of humanoids engaged in fierce fighting with a horde of Shadows, looming over a single stone coffin at the centre.

When this was opened, a familiar face was revealed- Jane's, older and careworn but unmistakable, the perfectly-preserved body interred with armour, sword and shield. Those present soon realised who this was, for as Jane took up the weapon, she was confronted by the long-missing spirit of her Immortal mother.

As the others present left the tomb to allow Jane time to peak with her parent, what exactly was said will likely remain a mystery for some time, if not forever. Jane eventually emerged to find them waiting for her, armed with a mighty new weapon in the ongoing battle with the master.

[Phoenix]

Kayn and the Alliance

Acting on a tip given to Veskit by the mysterious Watchman, the Alliance ventured deep into Oranbega, searching for an especially powerful, evil set of souls, intending to replace those the Master had taken from his innocent victims and strike while he was overwhelmed by the malevolent beings.

The acquisition was successful, yielding a sealed rust-red box containing seven Circle soul crystals. The apparition of a ghostly king in the are sparked an investigation and an apparent defence of the crystals, Jane being accosted by a ghostly hand and thrown hard into a wall, briefly knocked unconscious and leaving her memory of the events somewhat worse for wear afterwards.

This proved to be just as well, as following a newly-opened pathway took them through a dimensionally-transcendent tunnel into Elsewhere and through into the Beyond, the realm of the Warlord God Kayn. After coming face to face with the ancient being and managing to extract some vague information regarding the crystals and what awaited them at the Seal of Shadows, the Alliance members were returned to Earth with the crystals.

[Phoenix]

The Impossible Repository

Several members of the Alliance were called to Founders Falls by Jane, who herself was acting on an alert from 351 regarding unusual energy build-up beneath a section of that zone.

After an initially fruitless search and a fractious argument between the Alliance members after Jane appeared to simply give up the search when the answer appeared less than obvious, Jane herself stepped onto an apparently innocuous patch of grass and abruptly vanished in a pillar of gold light.

After receiving something of an apology from the remaining above-ground members, she was able to operate machinery in the room she found herself in to teleport them down to her, though the teleporters either lacked a dampening system or it was disabled, causing the transit to be somewhat uncomfortable.

The 'room' was eventually revealed to be an odd kind of ship, travelling in defiance of the laws of physics through the Earth's mantle and depositing the heroes inside a much larger room, its only real interesting feature a smallish pedestal at its exact centre, apparently designed to fit the sword Jane had been given by her mother. Only after Jes attempted and failed to force the blade into place did Jane take it up herself, and the room responded.

Six pillars moved from the edges of the room to the edge of the circular central platform and between them was displayed a rapid, flickering matrix of images, brilliant light draining from them and through the sword into Jane.

After a brief period confined to an odd realm apparently populated by scattered memories, the other members present were returned to the impossible repository to find Jane changed subtly, the inherited memories of her Immortal line returned to her and her attitude changed completely- now calm, quietly confident, and ready to face down the fearsome Master in battle if necessary.

[Phoenix]

((hright! So, I have one weekend left before my sub dies and one piece of this left to do, to wrap this monster up at last. Thinking Friday around 8 at the moment, but can do most times on Saturday too. lemme know! PMs, in zis thread, catch me when I poke my head into the game, whatever. But please, for the love of *insert deity here* give me SOMETHING if you're at all interested in this. I can't schedule anything if you people don't tell me when is good! >.>))

[Fanservice Girl]

I'm free Friday! And late Saturday.

[Ves]

(( Okie dokie...

Currently taking a break myself (until issue 12 arrives) HOWEVER... If someone gives me a nudge (via PM) in advance, I'll make sure I'm around to take part.

*does not want to miss the ending* ))

[Shadowe]

((I'm around Friday and Saturday - well, I have to trim the hedge at some point on Saturday, but that's about it - so call on me whenever!))

[Solar]

((Should be good for friday, maybe saterday.

Although this is all subject to change on how ill I'm feeling at the time, etc.))

[Phoenix]

(( 8pm tomorrow I shall nail down zen!

(barring significant objections/Mayemergencies/whatever of course. >.> <.<) ))

[Fanservice Girl]

((I may only be able to hang round for an hour and a bit, as i'm getting me brain doctored somehwere else as I agreed ages ago. But i'll be there for 8 yes!))

[Phoenix]

((welp, it's done, at last. little scruffy at times, but overall I had fun, I kinda hopes you people did too! >.> Will go back and fill in those missing posts at some point soon, if only so you people can point to this topic when new people arrive in my absence and say 'lucky you, you don't have to put up with things like that.' anywho! microstory to end. >.>))


The Machine Chamber
Elsewhere
25th April 2008 Primal Earth time


I don't know how I knew, exactly, but I knew. Or at least, I had a feeling. A feeling that told me when I walked into that cave, that I might not walk out again.

The words the Master put to my friends were true. As soon as he spoke I knew. My whole life, planned out from the beginning. His hidden hand had guided me to the streets, to Paragon, and now here.

As the crude golems crashed against us like the tide smacking the cliffs, I had realised that this could not be his true intention. To give rise to his 'Empire' he would need to create life. And to create life he would need a way to transmute stone and energy into flesh and blood.

With a Kheldian, unwittingly or otherwise, under his control, he would be unstoppable. And thus, my mind was set. As I felt the tendrils of his arcane power begin to wrap around me, before the strength of the spell could rip its target away from me, I turned my focus inward, bent my strength to tearing apart the familiar bond...

...and screamed.

Liquid fire washed over me, the world blurring and swimming, every nerve ending blaring agony. The stone of the floor hit me, and there was only a great coldness where something warm had once been.

In the distance, now, I hear a voice, quiet and echoing, as the texture of the slabs fades slowly to blackness. The sounds of battle fade, and there is nothing now but the faint, struggling beat of my own heart.

*thumpthump*

*thumpthump*

*thump*

Silence dawns on me, what pain remains washing away on the tides of night. This is the end, it seems, and I accept it. If, in my sacrifice, I have aided those I hold most dear...

...I die satisfied.

[Jake]

((I just got shivers reading that! Your very talented )