[center][h3][color=C0C0C0]Escre - the Great Spirit[/color][/h3][/center]

Upon the lip of the Planet Cord's top Escre sat and looked down at Arguilla with pale eyes.  Until now, it hadn't truly comprehended the sorry state of affairs that mankind was in.  The Liaison's final report had not informed the Great Spirit that the continent currently lay in the crushing grip of eternal winter.  Through the snows a snake had moved, bending flesh and mind alike to his evil degeneration, spoiling humans and dragons alike and transforming them into twisted mockeries of themselves, but not before blanketing the planet in a veil of eternal night.  Though Escre could see through the storms and the shadows from its lofty perch, it almost wished that it could not.  Humans froze, starved, or died in droves.  Like some of the other gods Escre had been intrigued by the possibility of a war between races, but now there would be no war if the Cimex moved to attack...only a slaughter.  From atop the world, Escre could hear the screaming of spirits it held most dear.  One or more of its outsiders were being subjected to a fate far worse than the mercy of death, and though Escre could hear those tormented screams, it could not see from where they came.  It seemed that even the second kind would not escape the purge of chaos.

But Escre willed it differently.

It held out its sinister left hand, and its scythe appeared.  From the edge of the tower of bone it began to descend, drifting downward through the chaos that was the lower atmosphere toward Arguilla.  Mankind could fight the monsters that the other gods had created, or content with the endless, glacial midnight, but not both.  Escre intended nothing less than to wipe out every Dyun in existence, and so return the balance.

Then, a light blazed far off in the sky.  The Great Spirit, never before privy to a spectacle so marvelous, ceased its descent to watch.  Before its eyes the tiny thing descended, melting away snowy clouds and accursed darkness beneath its radiance.  Where the seed landed, a most wonderful thing took place.  Life, not the silver of Escre's but the gold of perfect wheat and the green of tender new leaves, swept over the planet, washing away its blight like a damp cloth over an ailing man's brow.  From the epicenter of this Rejuvenation, as many of the people of Galbar would hereafter refer to it, there grew a marvelous tree.  The Tree of Life rose from the blemished ground and towered above the forests and mountains.  Less tall than the bare Planet Cord it was, but far greater than a simple landmark was it too.  White flames enveloped Escre, and like a comet it descended to the tree.

As it was wont to do, it watched in silence as Vowzra ended the suffering of the afflicted woman and drew forth from her body a tiny babe.  Suddenly feeling that it had intruded on an event that it did not understand, Escre masked its presence, turning invisible to even a god's eye.  Before its gaze, the god of Time left, carrying his precious cargo with him, and Escre was alone before the Tree.  It did not follow.

Instead, it approached the dying woman, and knelt by her side.  Escre allowed itself to become visible, and the woman watched him with blood-addled eyes.  The warden could see her spirit; faint it was, and resonating erratically, as if incompatible with its own shape.  A quick examination of the desecrated body revealed that she wasn't altogether human, but that even in her final moments she felt great pain.  Why had Vowzra not terminated her?  Death was not the worst fate a soul could have.  Why allow a spirit to tear itself to pieces when it could be reused and given purpose anew?  Escre reached out with its sinister left hand and plucked the fading spirit from the woman, then between two claws squeezed it to get the corruptions out.  Then, it let it go, and the spirit sank into the ground, bound for the Astral Home.

Looking at the ground now, Escre saw something else and very new.  In the course of its business on Galbar it had taken numerous lives, but only by removing the spirits within them.  Never before had it seen this strange red liquid spilled.  It dipped a metal claw into it and held it up.  Thicker than water it was, and more rich.  Escre found it oddly...inspirational.

In a flash, Escre stood, holding its lantern.  From within the contraption it released a black spirit, and after weaving an outline of blood in the air, the Great Spirit swung its scythe, and where before there had been just blood and life energy there stood a familiar shape.  The Liaison looked upon its master with a new eye, this one crimson rather than cyan.  [i][color=C0C0C0]“A hero never dies,”[/color][/i] Escre told it.  [color=C0C0C0][i]“In your veins courses not blood, not mana, but something wholly new...lifeblood.  The hymn of winter has died, made meaningless by Svieand's idiocy, and a new song rises along with this new dawn.  You are Invidia, the Liaison, and you are the first of a new Sanguine Communion.”[/i][/color]

Soon after, Escre retracted its steps to the Astral Home.  It stood before the great silvery orb, and for the first time felt less than satisfied.  The night had left its mark, not only on the world, but on its watcher.  [color=C0C0C0][i]“Thicker than water...”[/i][/color] the Great Spirit whispered, and placed its metal claws on the sphere's surface.  A wave of red began to spread across it.  [color=C0C0C0][i]“It was foolish to make my Astral Home so much like water.  The most pure is the most easily tainted.  This time it will be thicker...richer...”[/i][/color]  The white glow of the Astral Home had become scarlet, and the veins that protruded from its surface and into the cavern walls resembled veins more than ever before.  The Astral Home's tempo increased, louder and deeper and stronger than before, a [b]beat[/b] that any god could hear, regular and reverberating, every seventy-seven seconds.  

On the surface, the Fountains of Life turned red.  The Liaison knelt at a pool, and drunk deep.  [i]”This time,”[/i] it told the pool, [i]”We shall not fail in our duty.”[/i]

[center][i]Might – 1 MP remains
Free – 1 spent to recalibrate the Astral Core, and make all of the creations linked to it hardier, and more difficult to corrupt. 0 FP remain
Inherent powers used to revive the Liaison, now called Invidia
Khookies – 6 spent to begin the Sanguine Communion, an Order of monks to replace the Pallid Communion as defenders of humanity.  20 spent to rise to Level 4. 1 K remains.
[/i][/center]