Lunar: Magic Empire
Interlude 7 Log
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Cast of Characters:
Rune as "GM/Narrator, the bush, and Woman/Zara"
Ayeye as "Ayeye"
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    GMRune: -------game on------
    GMRune: The strands of Arzel's magic weave around you as
he casts his spell.  With a sudden jerk, his spell concludes
and tears you from existance from your side of the magma
river.
    GMRune: A heartbeat passes.  Then a second.  And all
around you remains a pitch blackness that offers no walls,
no ceilings, no floors, no support.  You can feel nothing,
not even a tingling in your limbs nor the pulse of your
heart.
     Ayeye: Arzel?  Is this a joke?
    GMRune: The silence roars in your ears.  Time must be
passing.  Yet you do not emerge from Arzel's spell.
            The bush shuffles awkwardly in your backpack.
     Ayeye: Arzel...
            Ayeye tries to move.
    GMRune: You seem to float forward, although you can't be
certain if it was due to your movements or simply your
desire for motion.
    GMRune: Suddenly, a pinprick of flame appears just ahead
of you.  It's form is blurred, muted by the hazy darkness
around you.  However its light shines regardless, the only
form of difference in this nether realm.
            Ayeye starts looking for something solid,
comforting, and moves toward the flame.
    GMRune: You glide closer, but the light in no way
illuminates anything beyond the figure in its center.  A
young woman stands in the heart of the flame.  Her long
braided hair is a burnished red-brown, intensifying the
green of her eyes.  She wields a long spear whose tip is
currently pointed down.  Like you, she appears to stand on
nothing, but her firm gaze indicates no disturbance by such
a matter.
    GMRune: As you draw closer, you notice she seems to be
not looking at you, or anything in particular, but staring
nonetheless.
            Ayeye approaches the figure and reaches out to
her, "W-where am I?"
            The woman snaps out of her tracelike state and
regards you suspiciously.  Her expression rapidly changed to
one of disdain.  "You...  You're one of them, aren't you.
One of the traitors."
            Ayeye looks up to the figure, her fear showing
in her eyes, "I am not...  I...I don't think I am..."
            The woman looks at you, eyes piercing through
your mind.  "I know you.  You are a descendant of my issue.
I could not be mistaken.  What brings you here?"
            Ayeye lowers her head and speaks in a soft
voice, "A magic accident I guess.  Am...am I dead?"
            The woman chuckles lowly.  "Nay, you are not.
So there may be hope for you yet.  Our people are cast here
when we die, bereft of any connection to our homeland.  Our
descendants can visit this realm.  But such sojourns are
never trivial."
     Woman: Still... to come here by accident is almost
unheard of.  Someone must want to speak with you.
            Ayeye looks nervously around.  "But, I don't
know my ancestors...  Who are you?"
            The woman makes a gesture, perhaps some sort of
salute.  "I am Zara, of the fifth house to the throne of
Maharahd."
            Ayeye shakes her head.  "I'm sorry, I don't know
of any Maharahd..."
      Zara: I'm not surprised.  You and the other rebels
have been seperated from us for a long time.  Few outside of
the loyalists remember the tales of their home.
            Zara's features soften slightly.
     Ayeye: The rebels, you're with them?  How?
            Zara scoffs.  "I was not a rebel.  I was one of
the few who sought to return home even after Althena cast us
out!  My daughter... she joined the traitors.  Peace!  Among
the very people who sought to destory us.  Nay, I could not
see her reasoning.  But she and her companions fought long
and hard.  Even in your age they still remain.  It is from
their village you must have come from."
            Zara mutters something unintelligibly and props
the butt of her spear against the nothingness below her.
            Ayeye frowns, "I feel... lost...  Who are the
traitors?  Why am I always associated with them?"
            Ayeye floats helplessly.
            Zara smiles, green eyes glinting.  "The traitors
are those who would no longer stand together as a united
people.  They were those who sought cooperation from those
who hurt us.  You needn't be associated with them though.  I
know another of our still loyal people who could help you.
He is alive and well in your realm.
            Ayeye perks up.  "Who?"
      Zara: His name is Damon.  You can find him among the
group of people known as House Nissa.
            Ayeye is lost in thought.
      Zara: He can help you find yourself, your history,
where those of the traitors can not.
     Ayeye: Where can I find him?
            Zara's mouth twitches slightly in irritation.
"You can likely find him in the captial of Killith.  But I
think he'll be travelling through House Flysse lands
shortly."
            Ayeye looks up at Zara.  "I'll do it!"
            Zara smiles encouragingly.  "Good.  Our people
could use one like you.  And the hour of us deliverance is
nearly at hand."
     Ayeye: Deliverance from what?
            Zara takes on a distant look.  "From the
suffering, the pain that has been forced upon us all these
years.  Ever since the gate to our home had been closed, and
an ancient Dragonmaster endowed with the only key to our
return.  He broke the power to the key into three different
parts with Althena's aid.  Without the power of the three
pendants, we cannot return, nor can we repay those who had
hurt us with similar kind."
     Ayeye: Althena did all of that...  But she's always
depicted as a good person, why would she cause pain and
suffering to you?
      Zara: She fears us.  There is little else to say.  She
did not create us, not shall we ever bow down to her as
ruler of this land.  This land had more food, cleaner air
and water, than our own.  But she would not share.  Our
people were attacked out of fear and hatred.  Some made it
back through the gate.  Others did not.
            Zara looks closely at you.  "I am certain you
wish to know more, but your time grows short.  Your spirit
is wearing thin and you should not remain here much longer
unless you wish to permenantly join these trapped shades."
            Ayeye looks down.  "I'm still so confused...  I
will do my best."
            Zara smiles, and it seems genuine.  "Damon will
help you.  He is another descendant of mine, and therefore
your distant cousin."
            Zara lifts her spear and offers it to you.
"Take this when you return to the realm of Lunar.  Damon and
others of our kind will recognize it.  I was a great warrior
when I lived, and I would like to see you help your people
in similar ways."
            Ayeye gives Zara a lopsided smile. "One last
question, how do I get out of here?"
            Zara smiles again.  "I think that is being
answered right now."
    GMRune: As Zara finishes speaking, a tight coil of smoky
blackness appears to wind around your waist.  It is somewhat
lighter than the darkness, and tugs insistently at your
spirit.
            Ayeye accepts the spear and nods to Zara.  "I
will make you proud of me."
      Zara: Take care then, daughter.
    GMRune: The smoke gives you a final wrench and then you
careen sharply out of the blackness.
     Ayeye: Goodbye...
            Zara's form rapidly fades away.  "Good-bye," she
echoes.
    GMRune: ------end session------