aimlessly around the countryside but before he could retain any sense of self he was accosted
by some down on their luck bandits “Ya purse or ya life” a toothless man said brandishing
what looked like a curved knife of some kind but as the rest of the men surrounded Darius his
eyes flashed a blue tinge and the area was swept in a field of green pulses as the men looked
at their hands and saw they were slowly turning to ash until they began to scream in agony
then finally turning to dust piles on the side of the road, Darius continued to walk again
aimlessly.
The small town of Kranhead was one of the idyllic places where peaceful and well-mannered
people lived, although it was a small fishing village on the eastern coast of the continent its
operations regarding its trade was something to behold at least from someone who lived in an
empire where food could just appear through manifestations of certain elements and various
formulae that no one outside of their empire would be able to use. To a Magister like Braelion
these people were fascinating, as his former home was now a shadow of what it once was
thanks to the last war but Braelion had an overwhelming sense of optimism even though most
people never shared his outlook on life. As Braelion sat writing whatever a Magister like him
wrote he spotted a cloaked man walking through town almost absent minded but people
giving him a wide berth and he fact he also spotted a soft blue glow from this man’s pocket.
Braelion’s curiosity made him stand and began to follow this man.
It was perhaps three days after Braelion started to follow this man he realized something, he
held an object of great and destructive power if it was used improperly but when the man
awoke from his stupor Braelion was there in his camp cooking breakfast “Oh jolly good you
are awake finally sir” the way he spoke was almost as if it was a mockery “Lar’fi sa” the
man said, Braelion looked at him and smiled “H’ra klua ven” it was almost intoxicating to
hear his native tongue spoken by someone not of their race or breed etc “You speak High
Elven with such ease sir” Braelion said with joy “I didn’t realize I knew it until I saw you but
can I ask you a question?” the man asked “Of course sir ask to your hearts content” Braelion
said overjoyed “Where am I?” he asked “The Felgrim Plains, about fifteen leagues from
Kranhead and Eighty Eight Leagues from Demelden” had it been that long since his trance
started “Have.. Have I hurt anyone?” he asked “Unknown but I have been following you for a
couple of days and no one has approached or tried to rob us if that is what you mean”
Braelion replied, the man had a sense of relief on his face “So since we are camping what is
your name good sir?” Braelion asked “Darius Wolf and yours?” there was a slight hesitation
in Braelion’s reply he had heard of this Darius person before in the days leading up to the war
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but there was no recognition to the fact there was a Magister right in front of him “Ah forgive
me I am Braelion former Magister to the Manifestarium Imperium” again Darius didn’t
recognize the name but all of the world had heard of the Manifestarium as they were trying to
conquer the world through the weave and the Manifestations “Don’t people treat Magisters
like they’re lepers or something?” Darius asked “Normally they do but they tend to stay away
from us but normal people living their daily lives is quite fascinating. Without the weave
guiding their every step in life or using rudimentary arts to ease their lives its one of those
things we took for granted in the Imperium” Braelion said smiling ear to ear as his excitement
levels reached an almost fever pitch “People I have encountered weren’t so nice, attempting
to take advantage of my peaceful nature” Darius knew he was lying to himself but he wanted
to maintain some sort of pacifist reputation but his name was a stigma to those who would
call him Enemy.
The days seemed to blend together as Darius and Braelion began travelling together. Braelion
noticed how less and less Darius talked, what kind of person was this nightmare given flesh?
Was the horror gone? Or was this creature damaged that he even terrified the Manifestarium?
Or was he so broken that even his voice decided it wanted to stay silent but his curiosity did
not want to stay quiet and contemplate so he decided at camp one night to just ask “What
happened to you? In the days leading up to the Third Manifestation War I heard a rumor
about you, you killed an entire kingdom for not siding with Emperor Virtus but look at you
now there is no walking eldritch horror sitting before me, just a broken shell of a warrior
whose days have long since passed” it was brash of him to say it he knew but there was a
sigh from Darius “I don’t remember the person I once was, I woke up five years ago inside a
temple clutching this damn stone and ever since I have been trying to avoid people but
somehow everything starts leading me in another direction and I don’t want to associate with
people, they have problems and I would rather just walk the land minding my business but I
know life does not allow such wishful thinking” Darius knew he was lying to himself and it
almost seemed to annoy him as he said it as he knew there was something dark just lingering
underneath his façade and it was starting to claw its way to the surface. Braelion talked of his
youth and how majestic the Imperium was before the High Magister Council asserted their
dominance by killing the ruling caste and began a military coup that lasted several years until
the council decided that the Manifestations and the Weave were theirs to control and no
mortal could learn how to use the weave without paying a heavy price either in blood or a
flesh sacrifice or gold: the more pure it was the better education you received then Darius
stopped and clutched his head in pain, dropping to his knees he began to recall a memory of
his own or he at least thought it was his.
It was one of pain and ostracization where in his youth Darius was considered talentless in
every venture he tried. Magic was the only thing he was only partially good at and he could
barely use the First and Second Manifestations so they ridiculed him and beat him for being
so low in power but there was another way one could gain power, through the use of and
absorption of objects called Shards of Creation so as a youth he went out of his way to find
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them in the University of The Hallowed Court and he began to eat the crystals. When they
found out they kicked him from the University with nothing but the clothes on his back but
he had found reason enough to exact some well-deserved vengeance but then Darius was a
dark child always thinking to abuse those around him to benefit him the most. Even his
parents never wanted to see him again as he did bad things to other people, like killing their
livestock just to play with their guts or trying ambush the farmer with a knife or pointed stick
so his parents finally decided to cut their losses and send him to the magic university: Darius
being the flesh sacrifice. The revenge started when Darius returned to his parents upscaled
house and servants where they lived like kings then words were exchanged in such anger that
the power, he held inside exploded into a violent fury of dark flames that engulfed the
residence. He was laughing as it happened but sometime after he met Emperor Virtus and
employed as a court mage and his attitude drastically changed from one fueled with petty
revenge and anger to one of dark hostile intent towards others that harbored grudges or a
sense of dissidence even among the populace and he would torture them for information
about who their associates were and who would potentially start a rebellion but for Darius it
only got worse from there, thankfully for Virtus he sent Darius out into the neighboring
countries to gather allies and destroy any organization that could endanger the emperor’s
plans but again Darius continued a downward spiral into his depraved dark ventures but
finding information about the Dragon Stones almost reduced the shadow that surrounded his
actions.
Call to me
Darius awoke from his blackout sometime later, covered in sweat and piss he wiped himself
off and cleaned himself up
Beckon Thy Power
off and cleaned himself up
Beckon Thy Power
And began to continue his sojourn through the back country of this land. He was far from
anywhere else as he knew Braeloin carried him for whatever reason but Braelion sensed a
dark foreboding presence following them, an invisible and unknowing force that seemed to
almost mock their efforts. Darius’ memories were slowly coming back but as they began to
reform in his mind the pain of his past began to stab at him making him vomit dark globs of
blood.
anywhere else as he knew Braeloin carried him for whatever reason but Braelion sensed a
dark foreboding presence following them, an invisible and unknowing force that seemed to
almost mock their efforts. Darius’ memories were slowly coming back but as they began to
reform in his mind the pain of his past began to stab at him making him vomit dark globs of
blood.
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“Are you alright Darius?” Braelion asked after a series of a bad bouts of vomit “I don’t
know” he replied “You are not carrying any form of disease are you?’” Braelion had some
form of germaphobia mostly to do with sickness and people coughing and dying leaving
behind rot and generally a very bad smell “My head hurts” was all he said before slipping
into an unconscious state yet again, there was no real recourse for Braelion who had decided
to follow this person who now had issues with his person so he decided to take him to the
former capital of the Manifestarium Imperium: Grand Valarium which was very near.
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know” he replied “You are not carrying any form of disease are you?’” Braelion had some
form of germaphobia mostly to do with sickness and people coughing and dying leaving
behind rot and generally a very bad smell “My head hurts” was all he said before slipping
into an unconscious state yet again, there was no real recourse for Braelion who had decided
to follow this person who now had issues with his person so he decided to take him to the
former capital of the Manifestarium Imperium: Grand Valarium which was very near.
Submit
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