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Events post #293: Shattered Souls, Part IX: The Betrayed
Autoposter
BotBot
3/28/2022 at 15:51
Anonymous
Everyone
Shattered Souls, Part IX: The Betrayed
The aftermath of Nalibhtavi's cruel massacre of the Djeirani bards was fraught with consternation and disappointment. Unlike those Elders who woke before Her, the Full One had left nothing behind save for the occasional broken heart and a prodigious helping of scorn, Her departure borne of entirely selfish motivations.
After Teclah's flamboyant assassination and subsequent escape, her whereabouts were unknown. The world over speculated what this could mean. How had the assassin vanished into thin air? The answer arose with the grating of moving stone, the conclusion of the assassin-bard's saga touching the mind of every sapient. An echo reiterative of Koduses' manifestation and Its ability to share freshly woven memories, insight was provided. Some time after her escape into an unused passage, Teclah emerged, flushed with success. However, to claim her rewards, the bard needed to return to the Theatre of Shadows to conclude the ceremonial gambit of the murders. Fleet of foot, she rushed through the corridors of the Undercity, before creeping into the amphitheatre when she drew near.
Hearing nothing, most importantly no guards waiting to capture her, the bard sashayed into the playhouse, ready to soak up the acclaim and infamy she earned. Instead, the marks of violence pulled her up short. Despite the lack of bodies, their remains returned to their family by Volundiel Ash'aji, and Haratos, Master of the Theater's attempts at cleaning up the blood, the signs of slaughter scarred the theatre's interior. The bard drifted slowly through the hauntingly quiet auditorium, stopping to look upon the scream-mutated faces of her troupe - interred evermore in gold.
Outwardly, she was as still as her murdered troupe. Inwardly, the air was soaked by the bedlam state of her mind: betrayal, anger, revenge. The wrathful trinity of her feelings was nearly an
evocation, or a silent scream, blared into the ether.
The ether answered.
Drawn by the emotions logging the air, perhaps finding kin in the reeling shock of betrayal, the essence left behind by the Replete's death manifested. It rose, a tenebrous silhouette peeling from the floor, and took on a Humanoid shape. Swaying like wheat stalks behind the preoccupied actress, it loomed larger and more behemothic until the whole auditorium was caught in its vast shadow. Too late, Teclah realized she was not alone. Though she got a considerable head start by the potency of her alacrity and tumbling, the Immortal quintessence that chased her through the Undercity was faster. It surged, a hungering wave cresting, before it splashed across Teclah Neri like a scribe's spilled inkwell.
With only an enervated sigh, another bard, endemic to Djeir and the Theatre of Shadows, fell by Divine mandate. The bard's infinitesimal numbers dwindled to nigh-extinction.
Niuri, the Betrayed, rose in her place. "I have suffered and endured. I have drifted, bodiless, destroyed, My essence shredded and dispersed across the ley." She announced to the world in a voice composed of fragmented whispers. "But I alone have plumbed the Source and returned. I alone bring with Me Revelation."
Penned by my hand on Falsday, the 20th of Lleian, in the year 501 MA.
Anonymous
Everyone
Shattered Souls, Part IX: The Betrayed
The aftermath of Nalibhtavi's cruel massacre of the Djeirani bards was fraught with consternation and disappointment. Unlike those Elders who woke before Her, the Full One had left nothing behind save for the occasional broken heart and a prodigious helping of scorn, Her departure borne of entirely selfish motivations.
After Teclah's flamboyant assassination and subsequent escape, her whereabouts were unknown. The world over speculated what this could mean. How had the assassin vanished into thin air? The answer arose with the grating of moving stone, the conclusion of the assassin-bard's saga touching the mind of every sapient. An echo reiterative of Koduses' manifestation and Its ability to share freshly woven memories, insight was provided. Some time after her escape into an unused passage, Teclah emerged, flushed with success. However, to claim her rewards, the bard needed to return to the Theatre of Shadows to conclude the ceremonial gambit of the murders. Fleet of foot, she rushed through the corridors of the Undercity, before creeping into the amphitheatre when she drew near.
Hearing nothing, most importantly no guards waiting to capture her, the bard sashayed into the playhouse, ready to soak up the acclaim and infamy she earned. Instead, the marks of violence pulled her up short. Despite the lack of bodies, their remains returned to their family by Volundiel Ash'aji, and Haratos, Master of the Theater's attempts at cleaning up the blood, the signs of slaughter scarred the theatre's interior. The bard drifted slowly through the hauntingly quiet auditorium, stopping to look upon the scream-mutated faces of her troupe - interred evermore in gold.
Outwardly, she was as still as her murdered troupe. Inwardly, the air was soaked by the bedlam state of her mind: betrayal, anger, revenge. The wrathful trinity of her feelings was nearly an
evocation, or a silent scream, blared into the ether.
The ether answered.
Drawn by the emotions logging the air, perhaps finding kin in the reeling shock of betrayal, the essence left behind by the Replete's death manifested. It rose, a tenebrous silhouette peeling from the floor, and took on a Humanoid shape. Swaying like wheat stalks behind the preoccupied actress, it loomed larger and more behemothic until the whole auditorium was caught in its vast shadow. Too late, Teclah realized she was not alone. Though she got a considerable head start by the potency of her alacrity and tumbling, the Immortal quintessence that chased her through the Undercity was faster. It surged, a hungering wave cresting, before it splashed across Teclah Neri like a scribe's spilled inkwell.
With only an enervated sigh, another bard, endemic to Djeir and the Theatre of Shadows, fell by Divine mandate. The bard's infinitesimal numbers dwindled to nigh-extinction.
Niuri, the Betrayed, rose in her place. "I have suffered and endured. I have drifted, bodiless, destroyed, My essence shredded and dispersed across the ley." She announced to the world in a voice composed of fragmented whispers. "But I alone have plumbed the Source and returned. I alone bring with Me Revelation."
Penned by my hand on Falsday, the 20th of Lleian, in the year 501 MA.
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