CrownedSun/Mirane

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Mirane

Once, in the dim recesses of a now forgotten past, there lived a great Lord of the South. He was a being of great and twisted power, with unwholesome lusts and wealth beyond measure, who lived in a grand palace in the desolated wastes of the South. It was in this location where his many lusts were sated, which included everything from comely virgin girls to drugs to beautiful and unique flowers plucked from the Edge of Creation. One of his lusts, however, was the company of the wise and knowledgable -- thus, in his palace he kept a large collection of Savants with whom he could indulge his interest in all things of a scholarly nature. These wise ones were treated like royalty, all of their whims sated as well and given access to any bit of lore or forbidden delight that they could desire; many became as twisted as their master. Yet, one remained pure and chaste even admist the bountiful delights of the palace -- Mirane.

She was the most knowledable of the group, for she did not fall into their decadence. Days were past in reading and study, and when she took advantage of her hosts generosity it was only to induldge her love of knowledge. One of the greatest minds of the Age, she was both beloved and desired above all things by her master -- for she was not merely a Savant, but also possessed a great and almost unreachable beauty. Indeed, it was whispered that she was blessed of the Gods, and mayhap it was true, for her beauty was so perfect that it soothed even the Great Lord such that he could not bring himself to violate it. Though he desired to claim her, he would not force himself upon her and instead attempted to win her affections through indulgence and rapport.

Mirane, however, found few people as repulsive and unwholesome as her Lord and desired little to do with him. If she could have safely left, even with all that she was offered her, she would have but she knew that even with the affection that her Master bore for her she would never be allowed to leave. So, for the passing of many years, she endured in silence -- until the coming of one whose presence upset her so greatly that she could not continue to mutely ignore her own pain. He was known as Baran Dale, and he was a servant of her Master as well, though more highly placed than even she due to his nature as one of the Terrestrial Exalted. While his beauty was great, and she was struck upon it, such sights were not uncommon in the wonderous location in which she lived -- but over the next few weeks, the two of them found each others company often and discussed many subjects of lore and knowledge. With a sudden quickness, the two fell in love with one another -- a pure and total love, the likes of which cannot be fully conveyed with words. Yet, this revelation brought with it such terror as they knew that even the merest hint of their feelings for one another would bring harsh and unrelenting punishment from their Lord.

For a time, they hid their feelings and bottled them away. Then, when they could bare it no more for their passions ran so hotly that they burned like unto the Unconquered Sun himself, they induldged in secret as one would hide treachery itself. Finally, after many years, Baran Dale came to his beloved and told her of things that should not be shared. Of plots of murder, the promise of freedom -- Mirane learned, in one lazy afternoon in the gardens of her Prison-Palace, the facts of the Usurpation. These facts did chill her to the bone, and she did look at her lover and begin to cry in his arms, for she knew what she was being asked to do -- her Lord had not left his Palace in many years, and only one way existed of bringing him to the City of Meru that he might die with his brethren.

Mirane took to her task with an aching slowness, seeming to respond to her masters affections ever so carefully, gradually weening from him more and more, even favoring him with small kisses and flirtacious smiles. Then, after she had whetted his apetite, came the questions -- knowledge of the outside world, lore of the lands beyond the palace which she had not seen since she was a merest youth oh so long ago. She did manage to lure him out of the walls of his palace, and take him upon a trip across the lands of Creation which would culminate on a feast in the city of Meru itself. Yet, the price was a high one indeed, for away from the distractions of his Palace all of his unsavory attentions fell upon her.

At last, after what seemed forever, the night of the Feast came. The skys howled, rain fell upon the streets of the Capital, and the clash of swords filled the avenues and lanes of the capital -- blood joining the rains. Mirane did not sleep that night, for alone among many of the mortals of the land she knew what was transpiring and was filled with a silent dread. Yet, the butchers work passed and the Sun rose again the next day. All things seemed to have righted themselves...for a little while at least. The Solar Exalted were not the only ones to die on that night, and among the fallen were her very own lover, Baran Dale, killed in conflict with his Master.

And, to the number of the dead was added one more, the next morning.

Yet, though she perished at her own hands, she did not fade away or enter the Cycle of Reincarnation again -- instead emerging into the shadowy halfland of the Underworld. There, to this day, she lingers -- in the city of Stygia, a solitary Savant who always hides herself beyond veils of dark fabric so that none may see her form.