There were a great many things to celebrate this night, among them was the successful slaying of an Arcanum! The battle was hard faught and almost lost, but with some quick thinking, determination and sacrifice, the deed was done. Not long after another great victory was won. The Dark Fae Corsair, was dark no longer! The town had retrived the Heart of Corsair and his spirit which was far lost. With Fiona aiding in the resurrection process, the taint that had infected him during the first age of man, was cured at long last. Clearly he was a changed being from the result, and clearly he was thankful to the Heroes of Travance for lifting this dark weight that had fogged his mind for so long. The people of Travance had won a very powerful ally that night, one of the original creators of the Weave.
In the main hall of the Dragons Claw Inn stood two ancient and knowledgeable beings, and the people of Travance had questions. They knew that the next thing they would be asked to do was something they would have never fathomed in their life. The guild mistress of the Mages guild had been chosen to retrieve answers, and the town gathered around the three, intent on hearing them.
(Tari) Why were you and Miranda created and by whom?
(Fiona) We do not know the why or by whom. Our first memories were of us playing in a field together as very small children. We never knew our parents. We where raised by the Aspect Priest Haramon.
(Tari) What are Aspect Priests?
(Fiona) When the world was new and fresh, some people worshiped our many aspects. We were told by the fae and the dragons that these aspects where what made us so unique. Some had devoted their lives to understanding them, and they where referred to as the Aspect Priests.
(Tari) What is the source of your power?
(Fiona) It is unclear. I will say that we do not draw our power from any greater being. What gives us the power to influence the world, is that the people are willing to be influenced.
(Tari) How do the gods of light and darkness connect to you two?
(Fiona) We are the same and we are different. It is complicated and I just don’t know the words to describe it to you. I am sorry.
(Tari) What do you know of Visagalis?
(Fiona) I know that Visagalis is the name of the first mortal human made on the face of Arawyn. He lived for three hundred years and near the end of his life he ascended into a higher power. The footsteps to his ascension created the Amber Path, which some mortals later followed. The Aspect Priests of the first age drew their power from him. Beyond that I know very little.
(Tari) Who Imprisoned Mirranda?
(Fiona) I did.
(Tari) Was the Weave created to imprison Miranda, or was this a secondary use?
(Fiona) The Weave was already there, as was an arcane prison within the Weave. I emptied the Prison and put my sister in it.
(Tari) Why did you imprison Mirranda?
(Fiona) I was tired of the war. I had seen enough bloodshed and I just wanted it to end. It was after a long campaign that ravaged the continent. We had won this battle and Mirranda was beaten down before me. I knew what was going to happen. I had seen it to many times. She was going to get free, escape and rebuild her army. I realized that it was a cycle and it was never going to end. I reached deep and summoned every ounce of power I could muster and I forced her into “Myrinod, the weave prison”.
(Tari) How did you imprison Mirranda?
(Fiona) The prison already existed. I unsummoned its inhabitants to empty it and then teleported Mirranda within it. While the prison itself was powerful, it was not enough, and the leaders of the Fiona Argentis aided me in strengthening it, and forming safeguard after safeguard to ensure her servants would never be able to fight to free her.
(Tari) Why did you imprison yourself?
(Fiona) Because years later I made a horrible discovery that no one was willing to understand. Immediately after imprisoning Miranda the world got brighter and the world got better. There was less war and more love. The sun shone brighter and days where longer and filled more with hope. This feeling was at first euphoric and good rejoiced, so strong that when I made my realization they did not want to believe it. Evil was not defeated at all, it was just hiding in the shadows, licking its wounds and growing stronger, so that its next attack would be even greater than the last. At first I thought that a new lord of darkness had arisen to fill Miranda’s place, but I learned that not to be true at all. Mirranda’s force transcended her prison, and her influence endured and even flourished. It was at that moment that my mind had discovered a profound and stunning realization that neither one of us had ever directly taken or given life; That for all our lives all we have ever done was influence others, and from her prison she could do this every bit as much as she did in person. That realization alone changed nothing for good or bad… and had that been the end of it, I would have just endured the realization as my own burden. But it did not end there, the days where in fact getting longer, and warmer literally. I had the foresight, which no others wanted to believe. Crops and earth would one day become hard, dry and barren, and Ice from the north threatened to melt and flood the seas. I should have seen it earlier from the power we gave to our champions. To every great battle our champions fought for us, I brought the fire, and Miranda brought the ice. With one of us suppressed and the other not, an elemental dis-balance was slowly taking place.
I told the Fiona Argentis everything. I assured them that releasing Mirranda would have no effect on the battle between good and evil, but they could not understand, for the immediate evidence before their eyes told them otherwise. The euphoria was too powerful and to real, and I could not convince them of what the future would hold if this elemental balance was not regained, and so I took the only action that made sense. I chose to imprison myself as I had imprisoned my sister, and all this time imprisoned only reconfirmed my suspicion, for my power and influence over the world has been no different in my sleep, as it has been otherwise.
(Tari) What are the short term and long term implications on the world after releasing her?
(Fiona) If we both walk the world or both are imprisoned, the elemental imbalance ends. Other than that the implications are purely aesthetic. She and I will influence good and evil to the same degree either way.
(Tari) Why would Miranda help us after we free her? Why not try to immediately kill us?
(Fiona) I am positive that during all this time she has come to the same realizations that I have. She also knows that she holds the same power either way and so she will regard her freeing with indifference. Allowing the Nulls and the Anastazi to win will only serve to defeat both good and evil and so she will seek to help us defeat this common foe.
(Tari) Once the NULL are trapped what will you two do?
(Fiona) Miranda will not easily be put back into a box, and truth be told even if she could, the result would be no different. We both now fully realize that our power is influence. We have no reason to travel the world or to attempt to engage the people of this world so personally. We will choose locations to affix ourselves to and will forever influence from those places, the same as we influenced from within our prisons.
(Tari) What are the short term and long term effects on the weave?
(Fiona) Only Corsair could answer that.
(Tari) Will freeing Miranda also free the Morgazi?
(Fiona) No. Freeing my sister will have no effect at all on the state of the Morgazi. The morgazi sleep and conserve their power, in hopes that the dragons will all return to the world.
(Tari) How did Balfurous come to know about the key and the Obelisk?
(Fiona) The Anastazi have a power and speak a language that we do not comprehend. I have little doubt that every small move that led to that point was somehow orchestrated from their wishes.
(Tari) Was the original obelisk cracked because there was an imbalance of power in creating it as Miranda had to use more of her power to compensate for your distraction?
(Fiona) No. There was no imbalance of power. Our involvement was equal. My distraction was not a distraction at all, but a display of compassion. It was a statement that in no circumstance is any live small, or insignificant, or underserving of my help and my love. My sister was angry that I had done so, and may perceive my act to be a weakness, but it was truly a strength, and the act had no negative effect on what was done.
(Tari) If you did not want the null to be released, why even create a key to free them?
(Fiona) There is no such thing as an impenetrable imprisonment. There is no such thing as a lock without a key. Without a lock, the way in would be far too clear.
(Tari) What specifically did you do to trap the null the first time?
(Fiona) They were not in full physical form as they are now, so what we have to do now is not the same as what we did then. We pushed their essence into the prison, but right now they are more than that essence. They are in physical form, and so they first must be defeated in physical form.
(Tari) What is your plan to defeat the Null?
(Fiona) I know that that the presence of me and my sister will act to greatly reduce the nulls power. While we do not actively engage, if we are both within a days journey of the null, our power will counteract many of their abilities, allowing the people of the world to force them into a fair fight. That by itself however will not be enough, for despite this, the null are indestructible and their power will always return to them within time. For this reason they must be imprisoned. The monolith which you have created has the power to contain them. If their defeated and worn forms can be brought to the monolith, than the entirety of their essence could be transferred to within it. Once you have defeated and imprisoned the null, my sister and I can move the monolith to the deepdark and forge a new gate and new key.
(Tari) What is to stop the Anastazi from freeing the Null again?
(Fiona) Nothing. When we are done, we must hope for one of two things; that either the act of our defiance convinces the Anastazi to leave us to our own fate, or that we can communicate to them the error of their thinking.
**Tari thanked Fiona for answering the town’s questions and then turned to regard Corsair.**
(Tari) Please explain yourself to the people of Travance
(Corsair) As all fae, I was not born with an alignment. While I have always been fond of puzzles and games, my darker side was the product of an infection. Now that the infection is gone, I am far more willing to assist you in your time of need. While I do not believe that I should physically join in your war, I will answer what questions you have in all earnest.
(Tari) How was the Weave created?
(Corsair) The actual process would be difficult to explain to someone who is not a Fae, but I can tell you that many of the Fae came forward and each made a sacrifice of some kind to contribute to its creation. My contribution was removing my heart, which ultimately allowed me to be more easily infected by the darkness.
(Tari) How will freeing Mirranda affect the Weave?
(Corsair) In the short term it will not. In the long term it could form a weakened area, however with some work on your part, that could be avoided. If the prison could be filled again over time, it would strengthen and instead of being a weak spot in the weave, would be a fountain of strength.
(Tari) Explain the prison that Mirranda is trapped in
(Corsair) When the Fae taught magic to mortals, it was at first very difficult for them to handle. Many aberrations of magic were both summoned and formed as a side effect. Rather then destroy perfectly good magic we decided instead to imprison these creatures to preserve their energy for later use. The Prison was called “Myrinod”. For hundreds of years we imprisoned and stored many magical beasts there. However… one day after a ten year battle between the forces of good and evil, In a single overwhelming act of power Fiona instantly sent back all its inhabitants to whence they came and forced Mirranda into the prison. Her presence was so vast, that it filled the entirety of the prison, and extra safeguards had to be placed upon it to keep her from escaping, and to keep others from getting to her.
(Tari) What should we expect when trying to free Miranda?
(Corsair)The Arcane Prison of Myrinod had many defenses and then many more where placed upon it when Mirranda was put within it. The prison is pocket dimension nestled in between the strands of the weave, where they are at its strongest. Once inside, its structural appearance is surreal and unbound to conventional thought or wisdom. Each room transcends the definition of size and appears as large as it needs to be to contain whatever force is currently within. There is a large entry hall which leads to the main chamber. In the middle of the main chamber is Mirandas prison. All along the walls of the main chamber are countless doors, which are currently open and lead to empty chambers.
… I can tell you that this task will sound impossible, but a people who are determined will always find a way to make the impossible, possible. It is you people have taught me that, though I would have never admitted it in my previous state. I will return and gather you all soon, to explain in detail the defenses of the Arcane Prison of Myrinod. Until that time know that you have my gratitude for removing the infection in which I suffered. My assistance to you will be my penitence for the hardships I suffered upon you in my dark form.
((Next events Prologue will be out early! Look for it within one weeks time!))
