[center] [h2]Doron[/h2] [/center] [hr] Doron squirmed in the hug, desperately trying to escape his Mother’s grasp. “Mooooom! Lemme go already!” [color=sienna]”Let me just hold you one more minute.”[/color] came Rowan’s stern voice. He wiggled some more in her arms and then went limp as he let himself get kissed by his mother. He groaned and his mom finally let him go. Doron then bolted to the door, Rowan’s voice calling out, [color=sienna]”Be home for supper!”[/color] as the door closed behind him. He ran down the steps with a grin on his face, and then headed towards the Vallamir houses. There was little time to waste after all! Engil would be waiting for him by now. And she’d give him grief for being late. With that in mind, he sped up. He made it to their meeting spot, a lone tree overlooking the Mir houses. He did not see Engil anywhere, however. And he realized he beat her for once! Now it was his turn to scare her for once. He went over to the tree and hid behind it, peering out and down the dirt road to see if she was coming. Leaves rustled and wood creaked behind him, and Doron turned to find himself face to face with an upside-down terrifying wooden face! “Boo!” Doron’s eyes went wide as he screamed and fell backwards. “Hehehehe!” Laughed the monstrous being, until it lifted one of its hanging arms up to its face and lifted the… [i]Mask[/i], out of the way. A smirking, self-satisfied face was behind the wooden mask, baring her sharp fangs to the world and without the mask’s band to keep it in place, her shoulder-length jet black hair now hung limply. It was Engil, “That was a good one! Sis carved this yesterday and I knew I had to use it on you!” She said with a last giggle before hoisting herself up onto the low branch she’d been hiding on and looking down at Doron like a cat looking at its prey. He felt his face grow hot, and he scowled at Engil. “Engil! Y-You didn’t scare me! I was just surprised is all. So stop laughing!” he said, getting up and dusting off his shorts. “Pfft, sure,” Engil said with a roll of her eyes, “C’mon, you gotta admit I got you at [i]least[/i] a little bit! Last time you screamed like that we had massive bugs chasing us. I swear I thought you were a girl for a moment and you had been lying to us the whole time!” “I’m not a girl! Those bugs were just really big! I don’t like big bugs!” Doron protested, crossing his arms. “You’re one to talk anyways! You can’t even cross a stream without making a big fuss and that one time you fell in, you screamed like a baby!” “H-hey!” Engil perked up and blushed, “The water was just really c-cold, okay! I-I wasn’t scared or anything, I’m not a baby, you baby!” Engil looked away and pouted, but after a while she chuckled. “So what you wanna do today Doron?” Doron stared at the ground and kicked a stone before saying, “I dunno… Explore I guess?” “All done! I found this awesome looking cave yesterday while you were helping with the farming. It’s got these shiny rocks inside so you can see where you’re going. Wanna go?” He looked up with a giddy grin and shook his head up and down really fast. “Yeah! Where did you find it?” he asked excitedly. Engil smirked again and swiftly jumped down from her perch, letting out a little gasp upon impact, “Near the place we got jumped by the insects. Egwyn wanted some insect shells for one of her thingies and I thought I’d find em there.” Doron’s face instantly went blank and he gulped. “H-How near?” he said, standing up straighter. Engil touched her chin and looked up in thought, “Ummm, bout a minute away walking? Scared?” “N-No! I just… Just wanted to know! Come on, lead the way!” He said with anxiety in his voice. “Okay, no walking though!” Engil said and took off running into the trees, showing off her agility and speed like she usually did. Doron groaned as he took off after her. Engil was much faster than him, and she always won in a race. If only he could fly! “Hey wait up!” he called after her. Of course, her way of waiting for him was just slowing down enough to remain at the edge of his senses so he could follow. “You’re taller than me, use your long legs to run faster you dork!” Her voice echoed through the forest. "I'm not that much taller Engil!" Doron complained as he ran after her. A few moments later, after a few twists and turns were taken, Doron broke out into a tiny clearing and saw Engil bouncing on the spot in front of the entrance to a deep, dark cave. She held her usual smirk as she turned to face Doron, “Okay! This is the cave. I thiiink it may be the home of the insects, y’know.” Engil said, her face suddenly turning serious and somber, “We might find huge ones, maybe the size of Old Man Rim. No scaredy geckos allowed.” Doron cautiously approached, staring at the cave entrance before gulping. "Old Man Rim?" He said nervously. He looked up at Engil, his eyes wide. But there was something in her smirk that made his blood boil. She always thought of him as scared a baby, but it was time to show her who the real scaredy cat was! The boy stood up a little straighter, puffing out his chest and said sternly, "I'm not scared, lead the way." “Good, now get glowy and lead the way! Last time I stumbled and scraped my elbow.” Engil said pridefully, “We should see some glowy mush-rooms in a bit.” And with that, she stepped aside and motioned toward the dark cave. Doron hesitated slightly, before leading the way. Inside his soft glowing body illuminated the cave slightly, but did not go so far. It took a minute for his eyes to adjust and he looked behind to see if Engil was there and she was, jumping over a small depression in the ground and looking up to Doron with a chuckle. “Handy, I would like to glow too.” “Yeah… It’s okay.” Doron muttered, looking forward. He thought he heard something skitter deeper in and his heart began to beat faster. “S-So how far in?” “Just about… Now!” As soon as the word left her mouth, Doron’s soft glow illuminated a split in the cave, and deeper into that split there was a blue, neon glow in the rough shape of a cone. “There! See it? It’s one of the mushrooms!” Engil asked, excited. Doron looked at it, then to Engil and smirked. He then traveled down the Split to get a closer look at it. “Why does it glow?” he asked, staring at it intently. It was a weird thing. Its colors were nothing at all like a normal mushroom, and the neon patterns on it seemed to shift slightly. Engil pursed her lips and took a sniff of it, “I dunno, it smells like soil though. There were more last time I came around, too.” “I wonder where the others are.” he mused, reaching out to touch it. ZAP! There was a bright light like that of a tiny lighting strike that lit up the room. “Ow!” Doron shouted, pulling away his hand as he shook it back and forth. “What was that?! That was cool!” Engil asked with starry eyes, then immediately touched the mushroom as well. ZAP! “Oow!!” She immediately flinched away and looked at her hand. “It shocked us!” Doron gasped. “That’s so cool.” “But-” Engil made a confused face and inspected her palm closely, “My hand’s not red or anything. It doesn’t even hurt anymore? Yours?” Doron looked at his hand, but found nothing to indicate he was shocked. “I don’t see anything. Doesn’t hurt either. That’s so weird.” he said, looking back at the mushroom. Tentatively, he reached out for the mushroom again, but instead of touching the cap, he went for the stalk, and to his surprise, it didn’t shock him. He pulled it out of the wall and then a wicked idea crossed his mind. He touched the cap to Engil. ZAP! A loud shriek and an illuminated cavernous room later, Engil was nursing her right shoulder and pouting at Doron, who was laughing hysterically. “Okay, my turn now, dork.” Doron calmed down and looked at Engil as a childish grin crossed his face. “If you want it, then come get it.” Slowly, Engil’s pout turned into her smirk, in looking predatory in the dimly lit room, her fangs and wild eyes glinting in the dark. “I will! HYAH!” She gasped as she suddenly jumped at Doron, but yelped and retreated after Doron held out the shroom again, touching her. The boy laughed again and said, “You’ll have to try better than that Engil!” Engil frowned and stared at him, but then looked at the ceiling above Doron and nearly gagged, “.. L-Look up, Doron. I think your friends are preparing to cuddle you.” “Ha! You can’t fool me so easily Engil! You’re trying to get me to lower my guard. It ain’t going to happen!” he boisted proudly. Engil’s gaze was focused on the ceiling, and her eyes widened as a sound akin to… [i]Skittering[/i], started echoing throughout the cavern, coming from right above the two kids. “T-They’re waking up. It’s so many of them… Doron, I think I know what happened to the other mushrooms…” Doron’s eyes went wide as he followed Engil’s gaze. Above them, climbing across the ceiling were several large bugs. Doron opened his mouth to scream, but nothing came out. He was petrified, he couldn’t move, and the bugs were coming down the wall, skittering as they did with their multiple legs and clanking pincers. “R-...” Engil took a step back, and then she smirked nervously, sweat falling profusely along her face, “Run…” Her voice was shaky. And she ran, grabbing Doron’s wrist to drag him with her. As if pulled out of a trance, Doron finally screamed as he ran alongside Engil. Through the cave they went, the skittering growing closer and closer until the light of the cave entrance shined through. Doron dared not look back. So close he was, that he tripped and fell, the mushroom landing in front of him. ‘Engil!” he shouted pleadingly, as the clanking got closer. The girl slowed to a stop almost instantly and turned to help her friend, grabbing his hand and the mushroom. ZAAAAAP! She whimpered and bit her lip hard, tearing up but keeping a hold of the fungus. She pulled Doron to his feet and at that point screamed as a shadow skittered up against her feet, “EW, EW! COME OON!” She yelled and pulled on Doron’s wrist once more, almost out of the cave. And the two flew out of the cave entrance, but they did not stop there and kept running as the skittering became but a distant, bad memory. Eventually they made it to a small clearing, underneath the shade of a jungle tree, Doron collapsed on his back, panting and shaking. Through his quick breaths he managed to say, “T-Thank… Y-You.” Engil kept silent and dropped the mushroom she’d been holding in her left hand. It was dim and had stopped zapping her long ago. She took a long look at her hand and let out a small laugh, “I-It’s red now.” Doron sat up and looked at her hand. Indeed it was red and he felt really bad. “D-Does it hurt?” She teared up and sniffled, then smirked and wiped at her eyes, “N-No, I’m okay. I-I guess we both scream like girls when seeing icky insects. I actually am a girl though, hehe.” Doron groaned, rolling his eyes. The boy then stood up and went over to Engil and looked over her hand some more. “You’re a bad liar, Engi.” he grabbed her good hand with his own, and pulled her without waiting. “When I… When I got attacked by fire once, Mom told me that water can soothe the pain, or something. Come on.” After a few moments of Doron leading Engil through the foliage, she began sniffling quietly out of his sight. “I-I think I hate insects now.” “You and me both. Those were too big, way too big. They give me the shivers.” Doron said, looking away from Engil as she sniffled. Eventually they made it to a small stream, the trickling water sounding nice as Doron went to his knees next to it. He let go of Engil and put his hands in and then looked up at her and said, “This feels great. I know… I know you don’t like water but, it will help Engi.” Engil looked away from Doron and sat on her knees next to the stream, slowly dipping her burned hand in the current while keeping her other firmly on dry ground. A while later, she sighed in relief. “It helps a little.” There was silence between the two for a long time as they rested by the stream. Finally Doron said, "I'm… Sorry for shocking you." Engil chuckled, “It’s ok, I was gonna do the same anyway. Hey, we should grab the mushroom and zap those big idiots back in town. You know, the ones that took the thing to catch fishes that Egwyn made last week?” “Yeah! That’ll teach ‘em to steal things. Does it still shock?” Doron asked. “Uuum, I think we might need to give it some time to recharge.” “O-Oh yeah… Maybe we should take it Egwyn? She might know more about it.” Doron asked, looking at Engil. “Yeah! Egwyn’s a genius, she’ll know how to make its zaps strong enough!” Engil puffed out her chest and nodded, pulling out her hand out of the water and jumping up to her feet, “Let’s go!” “Okay!” Doron said excitedly, as he scampered to his feet. The two then ran through the jungle, mushroom in hand, as they went back to Mir town. [center] [h2]Reaper Woes[/h2] [/center] [hr] [sub] Ten Years Before the Timeskip [/sub] The rocks that covered the cave entrance, turned to dust as easily as a thought. Abraxas loomed over the bones of reaperspawn. It seemed in their attempt to remove the rocks, they created another cave-in that blocked their entrance entirely. Pitiful. The Avatar flew down the entrance, coming face to face with old, wasted sacs, and the dead. Eventually he reached the Mother’s chamber, to find the beasts hibernating. There were thousands left still, sleeping like a pack of wolves. With a clap of his hand, Ansara began to wake. Her bulk lifted off from the floor, sending reaperspawn falling. She raised her head and bowed when she saw Abraxas. The avatar wasted no time in chastising the beast. [color=dimgray]”You have been sleeping for a long time. Years upon years of wasted potential. But I have come to free you. Ansara, you have ten years to create the largest army of Reaperspawn this continent shall ever know. When the stars begin to fall, unleash them upon this world. But be wary, to the west is a civilization of mortals, led by a demigod. Do not go there, until the time is right. Failure… Is not an option.”[/color] he said, zapping her with lightning. The Queen faltered and growled, but Abraxas was gone and she had work to do. [hr] [sub] Days after the Battle with Ohannamauoi [/sub] He found Azadine sulking in anger within her chamber. The Reaper mother was tending to her wounds, and bitter about the battle. Abraxas did not care about this however, he had other things to command of her. He appeared before the Mother, the Reaperspawn growing restless as they saw a potential target. The Mother did not bow her head this time but watched with a hateful stare. [color=dimgray]”You have impressed me with your spawn, Azadine. Soon, you will unleash the entirety of your armies and head out. I care not for the crab or his ilk, push past them and destroy everything. I shall bless your spawn with powers. When the stars fall, that is when you will attack.”[/color] Like before, Abraxas zapped Azadine, sending the Mother into a rage, but when she looked for the culprit, he was gone. Around her, the spawn began to channel scarlet lightning around their bodies. It was almost time. [center] [h2]Heaven’s Rise[/h2] [/center] [hr] [sub] Ten Years Before the Timeskip [/sub] He found the Ihokhurs squabbling in the filth of slaves. Their crude monuments were a testament to little imagination. This would not do. When he landed, the ground coursed with scarlet lightning, hitting every single thing that wasn’t an Ihokhur. All of the Selka slaves and Ihokhetlani died in a heap of ash. This caused outrage, and the one known as Kalani broke from his chair and came down to face Abraxas with a roar like a mountain. The Avatar’s hollow laugh rang out as the giant fell upon him. He dodged the pitiful attack, and with one swipe, Abraxas sent him tumbling to the ground. [color=dimgray]”Kalani, you have wasted your time building crude things. For what?”[/color] the Avatar asked in a cruel tone. [color=Darkcyan]”Because I can! I can do anything I want!”[/color] the Desolate form roared, beginning to stand up. Abraxas pushed him over again and the ground shook, [color=dimgray]”No more of this foolery or I will kill you.”[/color] Kalani tilted his head to the side, and growled but said nothing more. Abraxas then looked around to see a handful of Ihokhurs staring. [color=dimgray]”I, Abraxas, the Avatar of Orvus, have a task for you. No more slavery, no more monument building, only the creation of an army. In ten years, I want hundreds of you and more of your kind.”[/color] he said, pointing at Kalani. [color=Darkcyan]”That’s not possible! We lack the materials.”[/color] Kalani said, as the other Ihokhurs nodded in agreement. Abraxas flared his form and growled deeply. [color=dimgray]”I am an avatar! I shall give you everything you need, and all I ask in return, is progress.”[/color] [color=Darkcyan]”Even if you can get us our materials… Why are we building an army for you.”[/color] Kalani sneered. Abraxas lashed out and struck Kalani, embedding him into the ground. His aura began to bite away at the orvium as he loomed over them. [color=dimgray]”You will do as told, or you will all die. In ten years, when the stars begin to fall, you will march south and destroy everything in your path. Everything. That is your purpose.”[/color] And just like that Abraxas lifted off into the night, leaving the Ihokhurs and Kalani alone. It did not take long however, to see their materials arriving. Huge chunks of lunar fall hit nearby with ear shattering impacts. They left sizeable craters, catching the nearby vegetation on fire. The chunks were far larger than any they had seen before and with little else to do, the dark stonemen began their terrible work. They were making good headway when Abraxas returned a week later, carrying with him a giant ball of Orvium. Laurien had forbid him from harming anyone upon the Eye, but she said nothing about going there. On a dark night, unknown to any that lived there, he retrieved the Orvium, and now, he gave it to the Ihokhurs. More Desolate forms would come, and when the time was right, everything would die. [center] [h2] Endgame [/h2] [/center] [hr] The Emptiness of Veradax was hauntingly beautiful. It was one of the only things that Abraxas found even somewhat desirable. And it was left to decay and rot. Many things littered its surface now. Old run down shacks, animals, plants, even people- All had taken the form of starry ones. They were as empty as the sphere. And now was the time to spread his Sphere across the face of creation itself. It was always the plan, and there was no time to waste, for sooner or later, he knew someone would come. Laurien was a fool if she actually thought he could keep her involvement a secret, in fact, she was the reason everything to come was possible. He landed before the Mar Tree, with the comatose Orvus still dripping ichor. [i]Power[/i]. He drew close to the tree and gripped Orvus’ face within his hands. [color=dimgray]”Everything is complete. I will do what you could not and usher in a new age upon Galbar. One of destruction.”[/color] his hollow laugh rang out. [color=dimgray]”And you, Orvus, shall be the catalyst. The beauty you turned your back on, shall consume you and at last, I will take the nothingness for myself.”[/color] The avatar pulled away from the tree and grabbed two long branches. He then activated the tree, it’s glorious humming awakening to bring harm to the world. This time however, the Mar tree would not take an age to work. This time, it had a divine spark. Scarlet lightning began to arc from the tree to Orvus, jostling the god awake. He looked around groggily before his eyes fell upon Abraxas and narrowed. He tried to pull himself free but it was no use. He began to speak but it was too late, the lightning erupted all over, sending the humming into a deep reverberation. A god screamed and an avatar laughed. The Mar Tree began to grow it’s fruit tenfold, and then send them off into the sky, over and over again. The white motes would fill the skies unlike never before and at long last, when the time was right, the Mar Plague was unleashed upon Galbar through the Gateway. Abraxas then left Orvus in his agony and went to the side of the moon that was broken. There he entered into the debris field and his perversion took root. Great swathes of lunar chunks began to drift away from its orbit and began on a path towards Galbar. Thousands of chunks, most would burn in the atmosphere, but the sheer amount meant many would impact the land, and even the largest ones began to move, slowly but surely. The Planet would be cleansed of all life, in sheer and utter agony. It would not go quietly into the night. [hr] Down upon Galbar, at the gateway itself, the Gatelord flew off. The sheer flow of motes would make any attacker think twice about venturing to Veradax, and those motes went in every direction. The Gatelord had grown restless under Orvus’ control, but now, now it was free and Abraxas willed it to destroy. It flew towards Kalgrun. The Reaper Mothers unleashed their swarms upon their lands. Like army ants, the Reaperspawn attacked everything and everyone they came across. Shooting lightning from their domes. They would leave a vast swath of destruction. Half of Ansara’s brood shot off towards the Xishan Plains, towards the city of the White Ape. Azadine left with her considerable armies, once more, this time however, the crab would not slow them down. At the sight of falling stars, Kalani and the Ihokhurs began to move out, not quite at over a hundred ihokhurs, but the tall forms were dangerous as ever. Each one sporting great crude weapons, trees with rock spikes or boulders. The Desolate forms were fewer then the Ihokhurs, but far deadlier in comparison. They all broke from each other, in large groups, heading off towards the coast, down near the Selka lands. The Age of Desolation, had begun. [hider=summary] Story one; A small little story about Doron, Son of Orvus and Rowan and Engil, a Roog Elf going on an adventure to a cave on their island. They find a mana mushroom that shocks people with it’s cap. The two then get semi attacked by some giant bugs and flee. The two then take there mushroom to Engil’s twin, a Li elf named Egwyn. But that’ll be for part two. Story two; We catch up with the Reaper Mothers and their spawn and get the ball rolling for fun things. Ansara’s story takes place before the timeskip, while Azadine’s takes place after the skip and battle with the big boy crab. Abraxas gives them some things and tells them to prepare. Story three; We catch up with Kalani and the Ihokhurs. Abraxas murders all of their slaves and tells them they are wasting their time on useless things. Commands them to build an army and gives them the materials to do so. Also takes place before the timeskip. Story four; Present day, Abraxas is on Veradax. He uses Orvus as a divine battery, which outputs the mar tree a thousand fold. The Mar plague then descends upon Galbar through the gate, going every which direction. He also uses the broken half of the moon to launch debris upon Galbar in a scorch and burn campaign. Down upon Galbar, the forces of Desolation begin their assault upon the world, with the intention being to destroy everything. We’ll see how far they get. [/hider] [hider=MP Summary] -1mp (0 due to Desolation port) To bless the Reaperspawn with lightning powers. This lightning turns minor things to dust and harms larger things. Used in conjunction with one another, it’s a formidable power. [/hider]