Primordials (Full Version)

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Cherri Rosaria -> Primordials (5/8/2013 15:54:48)

Hello O.o This story is based on a series of drawings I was working on, takes place After Chaos (AC) and references DF and AQ original... Enjoy?
Commentary goes here ^_^

Prologue:
The war engines crushed the small rocks and grass which lay in their path as they droned towards their destination, towards ‘It’. The engineers who operated the machines were deep in thought and concentrated on the fuel gauges as if to avoid thinking about the place they were headed or more specifically the thing they were searching for. ‘It’ had had been their savior merely ten years ago and now ‘it’ became the very thing threatening their existence. The soldiers who marched along side war machines bore weary looks, each whispering prayers or thinking of love ones. As the sky began to cast an eerie red luminous on the ground below the great march of man and machine came to a sudden halt. They had arrived at the spot. From one of the war engines a hooded man dressed in a blue cloak dismounted and walked toward the boundary. The lush green terrain was replaced with a dusty gray dune where the red light touched it, and the light breeze which had been present died into stillness. The man in the blue robe raised his hand and began to extend his arm towards this boundary; towards the stillness. First a flicker of energy began to spark as his hand drew close, then the sparks grew furious as his hand landed on the invisible curtain which ran across the boundary. His mouth began to murmur a few words as the sparks, now a blaze of white light; began to form scattered shrapnel of lightning. The lightning simply crackled in the air at first then, as if though pressed against a solid wall the sparks began to outline cracks. The ever present stillness turned into a torrential vacuum as pieces of the invisible wall fell apart and were sucked into the gapping abyss that formed from their absence. The cracks grew and more invisible fragments fell, as if though a mirror had been shattered. Soon abyss settled and the winds which created the vacuum died down. All that was left where the boundary stood was a giant mist like portal which exhumed an ominous blue glow. The man, who had not moved since the beginning of the portal’s summoning, whispered one word, “Lore…”, then a few seconds later, “Battleon…”

The blue mist began to twist itself as if to answer the mage. As the mist twisted the warriors who had stood by the siege engines, some who took cover behind started to lean forward and peek over the machines. The blue mist continued to twist and turn for a few minutes, and then it settled. As it did the mist revealed an image of a large town surrounding a tall tower. The town, which had clearly once supported a large populace, now shared the same stillness as the land on the opposite side of the boundary. It was evident that life had not been welcomed at the town for quite some time. As the image cleared and expanded, the men and women began to withdraw from the machines and walked towards the image. Some gasped and other began to weep at the sight of the town of Battleon, it was so familiar but so different from what they remembered.

The town which had stood as a testament to the achievements of the sentient races now lay in ruins. The once proud guardian tower was covered in burnt stone. The tower was cracked at multiple spots revealing the skeletal frames of the building. As a large group began to form behind the blue mage, one of the soldiers let out a gasp and pointed toward the skyline of the town. The stillness was once again disrupted as the skies above the town began to fill with black clouds. The blue mage instantly head out his hand once more and began chanting trying to close the portal but a flash of red light erupted out of the portal followed by a strong gust of black smoke. The mage and those nearby were knocked several yards in the opposite direction by an unseen force. The mage tumbled but managed to hold his ground gripping the grass with both hands. Others were not so lucky and landed roughly on the war engines.

The smoke continuously raced out of the portal and diverged in multiple directions as if each head of smoke had a mind of its own. The smoke burnt the grass it passed over before settling into the ground blighting it into gray dust. But no one was paying attention to any of that, but rather turned their eyes to the portal from which a fiery draconic face emerged. Many smaller but still giant forms began to emerge from the portal. Suddenly before anyone could react a second wave of smoke burst out of the image and landed on top of nearby soldiers knocking them to the ground. The blue mage and the remaining soldiers instantly drew their weapons poised to fight. The smoke settled once more the blue mage looked desperately at the scene before him. Several large humanoid figures covered in flame had landed on top of the unfortunate soldiers, searing them along with the ground around them. These creatures continued to exhume smoke from the cracks on their molten bodies and looked the soldiers and their machines with cruel intelligence. For a moment the two armies scanned each other in silence. Then without warning the fiery creatures turned into smoke once again and raced towards the army. As one head of smoke closed in on the blue mage, he raised his hand and threw up a wall of ice which the smoke smashed into and dispersed. As the mage turned to survey the fight and note the condition of his allies; from the corner of his eye he saw another head of smoke erupted from the ground several feet away from him. Sudden realization hit him and he managed to cry out, “The first wave of smoke!”

Before he could retaliate with another spell the beast solidified in mid air poised to land on the mage with its fiery claw extend ready to impale the man. The mage tried to back away but stumbled realizing he was in front of a war engine. Suddenly, a blurred figure in obscured by a red cloak rushed between the mage and the creature. Then with a strong swing to the beast’s midsection, managed separated the creature in two.

“Are you alright Warlic?” The armored figure lowered his golden axe and held out a hand to the mage. The Warlic took the hand and pulled himself up using the war engine behind him for support.

“You have my thanks Artix,” answered Warlic as he patted the dirt off his sleeves and then returned his eyes to the portal, “but I’m afraid we are too late.”

Artix nodded and with a casual smile hoisted his axe up and pointed it straight at the face emerging from the portal. “Yes, but it’s not like we've given up.”

“No, I suppose not,” answered Warlic. Then as if to respond the face in the portal let out a massive roar which shook the ground and their spirits.

“I suppose our friend here wants to argue,” said Artix jokingly, as he eyed the face with a strong stare. All around the soldiers lifted their eyes from the foes they were fighting, and caught sight of the portal as it expanded. From it a titanic dragon-like creature of molten stone began to emerge. Black smoke and radiant flames drifted from the creature. The expressions of determination were replaced by terror as one thought ran through every soldier’s head: The Primordials have found us…



Cherri Rosaria -> RE: Primordials (5/9/2013 13:12:13)

Overview:

In the years following the fall of Chaos the inhabitants of lore found themselves struggling to rebuild. Magic had never been of more importance to the lives of those who had survived. Magic had been used to restore what was lost, heal those who had been wounded, and magic had been used to fight Chaos. In memory, magic use had never been so free, so unrestricted. But with every boon comes a curse. Though lore was eventually restored to its former glory, this reckless use of magic came at a price. The overuse of the mana-leylines which had been channeled caused ‘leaks’ into the world. These leaks allowed an ancient and powerful force find its way into existence…

The Elemental Orbs, objects of renowned power that the gods had bestowed on the world only to be lost long ago; had been restored into new life… These orbs fed on the stray energies, and gave birth to creatures of unimaginable power. These creatures, each the very embodiment of the elements wielded a new type of magic, Primordial magic. These Primordials were an unstable force on the world, and a war for elemental dominance started. The Primordials and their minions were hostile to all; cruelly striking down on every man, woman, and child that was unfortunate enough to cross paths with the creatures. Life struggled to survive in this new world.

The wars would escalate to a whole new level when the Primordials, much like the Elemental Lords, took on champions who served as emissaries and commanders of their armies. These champions not only sought to conquer the world, but all of creation. There was no safety to be had in the universe, much less Lore. Creatures which had gone unknown for centuries where forced out of hiding. Among these was the Serale, a race of magical beings living a neighboring dimension who were forced to flee when the Primordial influence arrived in their home world. It became clear that the universe had to be forsaken.

In a last ditch effort to spare those who had survived thus far, the magi of the world concocted a plan of escape. A portal was to be opened into a new world in a new universe; unexplored and untouched by anything on Lore. This event was referred to as the “Exodus of the World”. After the sentient races fled lore, the Primordials and their wars continued as if though no change was noticed. The refugees in the new world began to rebuild, and life continued. Ten years went by since then, and the Primordials became a distant memory.

While many had begun treated the Primordials as a “foreign” problem, some believed it was only a matter of time before it became their problem once more. If mortal magi could open rifts in the multi-verse, who was to say it was beyond the Primordials or their champions? Had they simply postponed the inevitable?

Nothing was ever that easy… No it never was… Never, not for them…


Indeed signs began to show the coming of the Primordials. There was the unusual weather, the disruptions in the workings of magic, and the suddenly panicky behavior of animals. The magi once again rallied and held council about these occurrences. It was decided that an investigation was to be held. One of the magi would survey the place where the space between this world and Lore was thinnest; at the site of the portal where they had first stepped into the new world. And he was to be escorted by a large armed force, should anything happen…

The expedition served only to confirm the council’s fears. When the portal was checked, a large primordial force was allowed into the world. Even worse a champion of the Primordial of fire had arrived as well. Though the expedition party had fought valiantly, it was unable to contain much less defeat the fiery threat. Panic once again consumed the world. However, from the chaos, the disarray, some stepped up offering solutions to the Primordial woes.

The Four Factions:

The Alliance – The military solution, where warlords from every race allied each other and like minded individuals who seek to gather an unstoppable fighting force. An army that is capable of not only driving back the Primordial threat but, retaking Lore as well. They vowed to fight the Primordials wherever they appear.

The Exodus Party – The political party composed of nobles and some council magi who believe the best option for the world is to start a second Exodus. This group seeks to gather support among the leaders of each race and form a centralized authority that will lead the Exodus. They vow to limit the amount of bloodshed needed, despite using an order of assassins against political rivals.

The Library – The scholarly group of magi who run a lab devoted to capturing and running experiments on the minions of the Primordials. They use their findings to fight the Primordials. Sometimes even using Primordial powers of the opposite element against the their minions. They believe that while the Primordials themselves can’t be defeated, they might be susceptible to a dimension lock style trap.

The Primordial Guilds – The guilds who seek to follow the example of some of those who stayed on Lore during the Exodus. They seek ally one of the Primordials, as to gain protection and power required to fight against the minions of the other Primordials. Some of them also believe that the Primordials are gods, the replacements of the forgotten Elemental Lords.

The Fifth Faction:

The Resistance – A group of time travelers who claimed to have come from the distant future, and they actively fight against the Alliance. They claim that if a Primordial falls, the elemental magic that Primordial stood for will be wiped forever from Magic. The group is also rumored to come from a post-apocalyptic world where mortal magic is non-existent.






Cherri Rosaria -> RE: Primordials (5/26/2013 17:26:50)

Chapter One
A Crimson Night
“The wheel was turning, the moon was missing, but light shone through…”


Eliza stumbled through the alley managing only to balance by running her palms against the walls. At many points during her escape Eliza could have sworn she had just come around the same corner or passed a familiar crack in the wall. Suffice to say she wasn’t familiar with this part of the city, and as much as she hated to admit it she was lost. It didn’t help that her mind was rattled in a state of panic k. The sounds of terror and agony were echoing all around her creating terrible symphony which drowned out her sobs of exhaustion and frustration. The noise wasn’t the only thing unnerving her, all around she saw buildings being burnt to their foundations, and the streets were littered with the scorched remains of those who had failed to escape. Eliza did her best not to look. She tried to pretend they were like wicker effigies, and to her credit it helped to avoid seeing their faces.

“What is this? Why is this happening!?” Eliza sobbed as she stopped to catch her breath. Some time had passed since she escaped into the backstreets, her legs hurt from running and she was having trouble breathing in the increasingly smoke-filled air. She looked over her shoulder and was relieved to see nothing had followed her. Relaxing her tense muscles she dropped her head and leaned against a wall. Looking around for a place to sit or perhaps hide for a bit she couldn’t help but notice the shabbiness of her surroundings.

The pavement was scattered with loose cobble stones atop of which rested a rich carpeting of trash carelessly tossed on the ground, not to mention the –
She stopped for a moment, then without realizing why found herself laughing. Perhaps it was the fact that moments ago she was running blindly for dear life only to stop and complain about the rustic look of her surroundings. Or perhaps it was the fact that on any given day a girl of her background wouldn’t be caught dead in this neighborhood much less allow herself to be found in its seedy backyard. Regardless of which, the irony of her behavior tickled her.
Despite the momentary humor with served to liven up her spirits she didn’t allow herself to forget where she was. As she stopped to catch her breath, and wipe the tears from her eyes she look ahead to see where this alley would take her.

Eliza inched over to the next corner and peek out into the next alley. To her relief she saw an empty street relatively untouched by the flames.
“Please let there be a gate leading outside the city…” She murmured as she surveyed the area. There were many shops lined across this road, and judging from the crates and barrels of everything from apples to armor, this was a busy street. Perhaps it was even a main street of the city. The thought consoled Eliza, where there is a main street there must be gates on either end leading outside the city.

Eliza ran across the street and hid behind a crate, from there tried her best to make out what lied on either end of the street despite the smoke filled air.
“Curses, I can’t see anything beyond ten buildings ahead of me… It’s this weird fire, but the magi should have been able to put it out by now… What is this fire?! Then again what were those creatures? ” Eliza was starting to become lost in her thoughts, and panic was starting to take hold again. But her
confusion did raise a good question, exactly what was going on?

The city council had put out multiple stories on the subject to offer their reasoning behind the wildfire. At first the official announcement was that a rogue fire was on the loose due to experimental magic by a group of magi. Then that was recounted and replaced with the story that a dragon had crossed the skies and began bombarding the city with a firestorm. It was only moments later when they announced that an evacuation was to take place, this time with
no further reasoning.

Could a dragon be responsible for this? It would surely explain the fire, but since when did dragons block out the skies with an eerie red glow? Eliza looked up and saw neither stars nor moons, but instead dark clouds laminated by red light. As frightening and unnatural as it was, the light was also strangely beautiful, and she found it hard to stop staring. It was almost as if though the light was calling to her, asking her to join it in its brilliance…
Eliza using every ounce of willpower she had, managed to slowly tear her eyes from the alluring scene and fixated them back to the street.

“What- !” She gasped as she noticed her view of the street had changed. A couple buildings ahead of her she saw a fiery figure hulking through the smoke. It was another one of those creatures. She could make out its hunched back body and the long arms which ended in three razor claws. Retreating back behind her crate she looked around for something she could use to defend herself with. Not having an intimate knowledge about swordplay or magic, she knew she was helpless regardless but a weapon would at the very least make her feel better. At least it would give her a chance. Looking over at the adjacent shops she found one with a barrel of swords marked, “Military Surplus Sale”. Though she knew from experience anything that was on sale and left outside the shop unguarded was normally trash. Still it was better than nothing.

Hugging the shop walls, Eliza managed to move towards the barrel and began surveying her choices. Of the ten swords about five of them had rust clinging to them, another four had flimsy hilts, and one of them was missing the front half of its blade entirely. Just as she was about to give up hope and settled for a rusty weapon she noticed that the front door had been left open. Perhaps the owner had decided the city wasn’t worth returning to as he fled. Perhaps she could hide inside the shop while the beast passed. She had seen those creatures rip through the armor of trained soldiers earlier today and knew without formal training she wasn’t in a position to expect anything difference. Still instinct told her to arm herself, and after she entered the shop and closed the door behind her she went about searching for her weapon. The shop must have specialized to selling swords for she had never seen such a wide selection even on the ministry guards. She passed some promising looking swords but they proved too heavy for her to wield. Finally she came to the end of the shop and found an empty money box resting on top of a glass display case. Within the display case was a weapon of remarkable craftsmanship.

The sword had a gilded black hilt; the handle was ornate with gold vines and leaves which extended on top of an elegant blue gray blade. The center of the blade had some runes etched in it which seemed to throw off its own glow. Like with the red light she couldn’t pull her eyes away from it, she didn’t believe she could wield such a weapon but all the same she found herself wanting to try. Using a nearby short sword she smashed the case open and found herself wrapping her fingers around the handle. Then using all her strength she lurched backwards trying to lift the weapon. To her surprise it felt almost weightless to her as she stumbled backwards against the wall.

“You’re mine” she heard a voice say, unsure of whether it was hers or if she simply imagined it.

Just as she got up the door to the shop was ripped from its hinges and there stood the beast in all its horrible glory. Its molten body threw off flames which cracked in the air.

“How did…” she found herself asking until she found her shoe crunch against something. She looked down for a bit and saw bits of the glass case lying all around her.

“Curses…”

As she returned her head back to the door she found the beast advancing to her. It seemed neither rushed nor hesitant, it merely marched. Its footsteps singed the wooden floorboards below it. Eliza began to worry if the shop would catch on fire before the beast would reach her. Then without warning the beast lunged at Eliza leaving a trail of dark smoke behind it which obscured her vision of the beast. But she saw the claw that was poised to kill her. In mere seconds it would all be over. Unable to move Eliza froze in place and closed her eyes as the claw came about to impale her. But that never happened. Eliza opened her eyes and saw that the sword had pierced the torso of the beast. Her hands were still on the weapon but, hand she done it or did the sword move for her? Unable to react, she withdrew the sword from the creature’s midsection. Molten liquid poured from the wound and the beast jumped backwards. It was injured, but it wasn’t dead. Worse it seemed angry now, as the fires protruding from its joints began to dance wildly and the crackling noise began to sped up and intensify.

Eliza instinctively brought the weapon close to her body and held it with renewed focus. Here she was, a wealthy girl of noble lineage about to engage in her first fight, where the only prize was the victor got to keep its life.

“Fear not the night for dawn’s light will guide you,
Fear not the sword for the shield will protect you,
Fear not the end for Death will spare you,
But Fear the Primordials for they have come to consume you…”
~Whispers



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