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| − | == Maylin's Dreams ==
| + | #REDIRECT [[Maylin/Maylin'sDreams]] |
| − | | |
| − | <b>Dreams of the First Age: Part 1</b>
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| − | | |
| − | *cue dream wibble*
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| − | | |
| − | Your feet make no noise on the floor as you walk through the red crystal
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| − | corridors of the palace. You don't see the expensive tapestries or the
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| − | exquisitely carved statues--not today. After decades of living here, they are
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| − | as familiar to you as the back of your hand. Besides, you more important
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| − | concerns on your mind. With a flicker of Essence, you shift the color of your
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| − | dress to black. That should give him his first clue.
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| − | | |
| − | When you reach the foyer, Alaethis is waiting for you.
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| − | | |
| − | "Good morning, Rai-chan," he begins. "I-"
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| − | | |
| − | You don't even need to use your powers to see what's in his mind. He's been to
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| − | talk to her again. With a flick of your wrist, you cut him off. "What I have
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| − | told you about speaking to Ruby?"
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| − | | |
| − | He blinks, but otherwise makes no sign of his surprise. "It was necessary."
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| − | | |
| − | "I think I should know what is necessary," you say, taking a few more steps
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| − | towards him. "You agreed when we were married that you would not speak to her
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| − | alone. We agreed that we would tell each other when we left on a trip that
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| − | took longer than a few days. Did you do either of these? No!"
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| − | | |
| − | You reach out and place a hand on his shoulder. "Alaethis...honor is the most
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| − | important trait that anyone may possess. If I know that you're willing to lie
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| − | about this, how can I trust you? Like those peasants who were hiding their
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| − | children when we were passing through their village. They assumed the worst
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| − | about us based on no evidence, and lied to our faces when we asked them for the
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| − | truth."
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| − | | |
| − | "You didn't have to kill them." Alaethis' voice is completely devoid of
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| − | emotion.
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| − | | |
| − | "Didn't I? They were willing to lie to us--their rightful overlords. If they
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| − | were willing to lie even when we were there, what other deeds might they have
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| − | been capable of? Perhaps there was a Yozi cult in the town...I will have to
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| − | speak to Seventh Son about the matter.
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| − | | |
| − | You squeeze suddenly, bringing the force of your strength to bear on his
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| − | shoulder. His collarbone snaps like a brittle twig under the pressure. The
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| − | muscles around his eyes tighten, but despite the injury, he does not cry
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| − | out--the Chosen of Luna are good at mastering pain. "I am most displeased
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| − | about this, Alaethis. MOST displeased. We will speak further of this later."
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| − | | |
| − | You turn and begin walking away. "I have affairs to attend to now. I will see
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| − | you at dinner. Oh, and Alaethis-" You turn back briefly. "Do not attempt to
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| − | heal that until the next time I speak with you."
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| − | | |
| − | Without waiting for a reply, you walk back through the corridors of the palace
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| − | towards your room.
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| − | | |
| − | *end dream wibble*
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| − | | |
| − | | |
| − | <b>Dreams of the First Age: Part 2</b>
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| − | | |
| − | *cue dream wibble*
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| − | | |
| − | You lie on your back, staring up at the blue sky. It isn’t cold, for once--the
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| − | brief Northern summer has come again, for the few weeks it will last. It
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| − | certainly isn’t warm, though, and you are slightly envious of Shining Star who
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| − | is curled up against Nine Lives a few feet to your left.
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| − | | |
| − | It’s not often that you have time off like this. Your duties usually take up
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| − | almost all of your time, but you do not regret them. You enjoy them--the dance
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| − | of trade and diplomacy, the single word that can topple an unjust ruler or
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| − | raise up a righteous prince, the travelling throughout the bounds of
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| − | Creation…the Unconquered Sun made a wise choice when He exalted Ashraielle of
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| − | the Black Flower Shenrae.
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| − | | |
| − | You can hear the Shining Star saying something to Nine Lives, but the words are
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| − | too faint to make out. For someone with such an unremarkable body, she has a
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| − | beautiful voice. You’ve caught her looking at you enviously when you attend
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| − | official functions, though--you look far better dressed up than she does. It’s
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| − | no wonder she always wears those robes. Her figure is better hidden than
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| − | displayed.
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| − | | |
| − | Dancing Ruby Phoenix is around here somewhere as well--she walked off a few
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| − | minutes ago to get some exercise. Dawns…they always have to have a weapon in
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| − | their hands, even if it’s just a tree branch. Fighting is overrated. Even
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| − | foes as implacable as the Fair Folk can be reasoned with. Despite this, you
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| − | know that not every battle can be averted. The heroes of the Primordial
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| − | War--the Dagda Mór, Cernunnos, Odhinn, Marduk, Apollo, Kwan Yin, Anansi,
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| − | Amaterasu, and all the rest--had testified to the necessity of battle when you
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| − | trained under them.
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| − | | |
| − | But that is what the Dawn Caste is for. To lead wars. You are a diplomat, and
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| − | your job is to prevent the Dawn Caste from being necessary--and when it is, to
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| − | make sure everyone is on the right side. Our side.
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| − | | |
| − | You smile as you lay on the grass. Life is good.
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| − | | |
| − | *end dream wibble*
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| − | | |
| − | | |
| − | <b>Dreams of the First Age: Part 3</b>
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| − | | |
| − | *cue dream wibble*
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| − | | |
| − | "We have a deal, then?" you say.
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| − | | |
| − | The two Fair Folk nobles look at each other, their impossibly perfect faces
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| − | carefully smoothed into emotionless masks. The taller one's eyebrow twitches,
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| − | almost imperceptibly, but it does not escape you. You have trained yourself to
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| − | look even for clues as small as that. When they turn back to you, you have
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| − | carefully placed a welcoming smile on your face.
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| − | | |
| − | The taller noble smiles, revealing a mouth full of brilliantly white, perfectly
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| − | even, and razor-sharp teeth. "We have a deal, o Prince of the Earth. I thank
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| − | you for allowing my brother and I to abide within the bounds of the Desert of
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| − | Fixed Shape."
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| − | | |
| − | You nod. "There is one further duty I must ask of you," you say.
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| − | | |
| − | The noble raises one delicate eyebrow. "Yes?"
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| − | | |
| − | "You must swear an oath not to feed upon any but criminals. You must swear that
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| − | you will follow the laws of the Deliberative, and you must swear that you enter
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| − | Creation with no ill purpose and no ill intent."
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| − | | |
| − | "It is easily done," the noble says with another dazzling smile. For the first
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| − | time, the second noble speaks, and the two of them recite, in perfect harmony,
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| − | "I swear by the Mother of Change that I will feed only upon the lawbreaker and
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| − | the unjust. I swear that I will take the code of the Deliberative as binding
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| − | law, and that I come into Creation with only peace and friendship in mind."
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| − | | |
| − | That is enough--you know that the Fair Folk cannot break their sworn word. With
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| − | another smile, you gesture to the Dragon-Blooded behind you, who power down
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| − | their Elemental Lenses. "Welcome to Creation, my lords Arashi and Mask."
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| − | | |
| − | *end dream wibble*
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| − | | |
| − | | |
| − | | |
| − | <b>Dreams of the First Age: Part 4</b>
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| − | | |
| − | *cue dream wibble*
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| − | | |
| − | Your anima blazes around you in a meters-tall pillar of incandescent fire. You
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| − | pull back the string of Vermillion Glory, giving only enough time for the
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| − | whirls
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| − | of Essence around you to coalesce into another arrow forged of flame and light
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| − | before focusing on it and sending it streaking across the battlefield into the
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| − | heart of another one of the Fair Folk.
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| − | | |
| − | The others are all around you, somewhere. You can see Shining Star on top of
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| − | the hill, her arms outstretched as she chants the Incantation of the Invincible
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| − | Army. Her mate paces around her in the shape of a wildcat, and the circle of
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| − | bodies around him testifies to the vigor of his defense. Ruby is down in
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| − | amongst the enemy army--you only need to follow the hacked limbs and bodies
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| − | flying in the air to see exactly where she is, and where Ruby goes, Sun's
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| − | Setting is never far behind. Seventh Son is undoubtedly sneaking around the
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| − | back to assassinate someone, and Maenin and Hikari would never risk themselves
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| − | in open battle.
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| − | | |
| − | Your Dragon-Blooded bodyguards are spread out in a half-moon around you,
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| − | keeping
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| − | watch for any Fair Folk that try to break through. They have already repelled
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| − | several attempts on your life--one of the Dragon-Blooded is dead, and two
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| − | others were severely wounded and had to limp off the field. They left their
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| − | blastlances with the other troops, though, providing a useful means of defense
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| − | for you if you exhaust your own stores of Essence.
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| − | | |
| − | Suddenly, the ground a few meters in front of you bubbles like boiling water.
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| − | The grass begins to get up and walk around, chanting nonsense syllables, as a
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| − | miniature rainstorm of tiny fish forms in the air. The Dragon-Blooded look at
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| − | it nervously, hoisting their blastlances, but there is nothing to fire at.
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| − | | |
| − | Then, like an enormous tentacle, the ground surges up into the sky. It hangs
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| − | there for a moment, writhing back and forth, before heading for you like a
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| − | speeding hawk...
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| − | | |
| − | *end dream wibble*
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| − | | |
| − | <b>Dreams of the First Age: Part 5</b>
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| − | *cue dream wibble*
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| − | | |
| − | The Deliberative. Carved out of the living rock of the Elemental Pole of
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| − | Earth,the Solar Deliberative is the heart of Meru, and Meru is the heart of
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| − | Creation.
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| − | | |
| − | It is your native element.
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| − | | |
| − | The assembled Solars in their seats watch you eagerly as you briefly review
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| − | your notes. You glance over briefly to see Maenin, wearing the golden torc of
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| − | office, standing behind the podium at the head of the room. With a gesture, he
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| − | indicates that you should begin.
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| − | | |
| − | "Brothers and sisters," you say, your voice filling the chamber. You pause for
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| − | a moment to smile at the gathering, and wink at Alaethis, who sits in the
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| − | balcony dedicated to the Chosen of Luna. "Assembled Chosen of the Unconquered
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| − | Sun, greetings. Maenin-sama has asked me to speak on the dangers posed by the
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| − | Fair Folk in the north as I have just returned from a trip to the Court of
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| − | Standing Wind. This is only a small portion of the Fair Folk in the north, but
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| − | when they act against us, they act in concert, so it is undoubtedly reasonable
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| − | to extrapolate their tactics more broadly.
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| − | | |
| − | "With that said, I must simply state this. The Fair Folk of the North are
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| − | preparing for an invasion. They attempted to hide it behind honeyed words and
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| − | denials, but it was obvious in their eyes and in what they did when they
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| − | thought I was not looking. They are assembling their legions and preparing for
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| − | war. As such, I propose that the subsidies for trade for the far north be
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| − | increased by 15% to entrench the stability of Creation in that area."
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| − | | |
| − | You pause, as the assembled Solars begin discussing the proposal amongst
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| − | themselves. It's days like this you love your job.
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| − | | |
| − | *end dream wibble*
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| − |
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| − | <b>Dreams of the First Age: Part 6</b>
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| − | | |
| − | *cue dream wibble*
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| − | | |
| − | "This is for you," Shining Star says, handing you a package. You quickly open
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| − | it up to find an exquisite tiara, nestled carefully amid folds of silk. The
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| − | tiara gleams slightly with the gold hue of orichalcum, but some process has
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| − | tinted the metal slightly red, just enough to be the perfect contrast to your
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| − | hair.
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| − | | |
| − | "It's wonderful!" you say as you examine it.
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| − | | |
| − | Shining Star smiles. "It's not just decoration, either, Rai-chan. After all
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| − | your complaining about the awful weather in the north, I thought you might want
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| − | something so that you can fix the problem." At your raised eyebrow, she
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| − | continues. "Go on, put it on. You'll see what I mean pretty quickly."
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| − | | |
| − | After a moment, you put the tiara on, channelling a little bit of Essence into
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| − | it. Immediately, an enormous tapestry unfolds in your mind. You can see every
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| − | little cloud and swirl of air in the area around you. Experimentally, you try
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| − | added to it.
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| − | | |
| − | Shining Star says nothing as you spend several minutes concentrating on the
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| − | clouds. She doesn't even comment when thunder starts rolling and the sky
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| − | darkens, but when thunder crashes for the third time and the sky opens up with
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| − | a waterfall of rain, she says (half-shouting over the thunder), "It's supposed
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| − | to be for making the weather better, not worse!"
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| − | | |
| − | Your only response is a delighted laugh.
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| − | | |
| − | *end dream wibble*
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| − | | |
| − | <b>Dreams of the First Age: Part 7</b>
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| − | | |
| − | | |
| − | *cue dream wibble*
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| − | | |
| − | This is the last straw.
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| − | | |
| − | The terrible singing echoes all around you. You can see Ruby’s clothes burst
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| − | into flames under the force of the song as you raise your hands to your ears,
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| − | trying to block out the noise. The New Year’s ceremony collapses under the
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| − | weight of the attack. Who would dare to disturb this ceremony? Who?
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| − | | |
| − | The noise is too much, and you can feel your own skin begin to heat up under the
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| − | assault. You gather Essence into your limbs and leap through one of the
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| − | windows, shattered stained-glass flying out before you in a fan. You remove
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| − | your arms from your ears and look outside to see what could possibly have
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| − | caused this debacle. Time slows as you fall towards the ground, and gasp in
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| − | shock at what you see.
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| − | | |
| − | Before you are the massed ranks of the Dragon-Blooded, every last one of them
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| − | armed and armoured for war. In the distance, interspersed among troops with
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| − | simple jade armor and daiklaves are troops with blastlances, troops in Dragon
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| − | Armor, or even troops in warstriders. As you come out of the window, the
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| − | Dragon-Blooded nearest to you raise their blades in unison, and then charge
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| − | forward.
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| − | | |
| − | Quickly you channel Essence again, this time into a more abstract shape. As you
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| − | land and stand up, the Essence enhances you, making you seem far taller and
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| − | more majestic than you would otherwise be. The nearest Dragon-Blooded fall to
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| − | their knees under the sheer force of your willpower.
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| − | | |
| − | “YOU DARE TO ATTACK US!” you scream as you crush the skull of the nearest
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| − | Dragon-Blooded, sending his body sprawling onto the plaza floor. “YOU DARE!
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| − | YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!” you yell as a whip of finely-focused Essence
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| − | disembowels a group of several others, cutting through their armor like it
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| − | didn’t exist.
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| − | | |
| − | In the distance, you can see Dragon-Blooded who managed to resist your
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| − | supernatural presence begin moving. Many of them raise their arms, and blasts
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| − | of flame and lightning and ice streak towards you. You can avoid the majority
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| − | of them, but not all, and you are soon bleeding from a myriad of tiny wounds.
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| − | The plain white robe that is the standard for the New Year’s ceremony is
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| − | half-burned away, and your skin is as hard as adamant, but you only have so
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| − | much Essence and what Essence you have is fast being depleted.
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| − | | |
| − | After a few minutes of fighting, you realize the simple truth. You cannot win.
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| − | There are simply too many of them and too few Solars. If you had your weapons
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| − | and armor, it might be a different story, but such things are forbidden at the
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| − | New Year’s ceremony. Your skills in the martial arts are good, but they are
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| − | simply not enough. Where is Alaethis? He should be able to sense your
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| − | distress--why isn’t he coming to defend his mate?
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| − | | |
| − | In the whirl of battle, you find yourself next to Maenin, who is also bleeding
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| − | slightly. His left arm hands uselessly at his side as his elbow is bent the
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| − | wrong direction, but he still manages to keep all the Dragon-Blooded off him.
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| − | | |
| − | | |
| − | In the sky, you can see an eagle diving straight down towards you. As you hurl
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| − | another Dragon-Blooded back into the mass, you begin to get your hopes up, but
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| − | when it gets closer you see that the eagle doesn’t have fangs. It’s not
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| − | Alaethis…
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| − | | |
| − | Then it changes into a woman.
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| − | | |
| − | As soon as Hikari hits the ground, a dozen tentacles tipped with razor-sharp
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| − | moonsilver claws explode outwards from her body, impaling the nearest group of
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| − | Dragon-Blooded. Hikari shrieks in rage as her body shifts with impossible
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| − | speed, the flesh flowing like it was wax in a bonfire. You hear Maenin’s shout
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| − | of triumph as he struggles to fight towards her, and you begin to do the same.
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| − | Your Essence stores are depleted, and only the effects you’ve been keeping up
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| − | are currently working. You need to get out.
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| − | | |
| − | Out of the corner of your eye, you see movement directed at you. You turn just
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| − | in time to see one of the warstriders in the distance nock a tree-sized arrow
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| − | and aim it directly at you before letting fly. As the arrow hurls towards you
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| − | and you futilely try to throw yourself aside, a thousand thousand thoughts race
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| − | through your mind, none of them truly large enough to get a grip on. Why did
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| − | they do this? How did they plan it without anyone knowing? How…
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| − | | |
| − | Then the arrow tears through your chest, and you spiral down into darkness.
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| − | | |
| − | *end dream wibble*
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| − | | |
| − | ----
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| − | | |
| − | * Back to [[EndlessChase]]'s main page
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| − | * Back to [[EndlessChase/DreamsoftheFirstAge | Dreams of the First Age]]
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