New original role play involving golems and magic and stuff
Logging a role play I'm doing with Jack. Seems like the convenient place to put it that both of us can get to.
bythemilligram (5:10:31 PM): What a pain in the ass. When he'd bought this thing, he'd been under the impression that it would just...work. Granted, he wasn't terribly proud of why he'd bought it, but it wasn't anything uncommon these days, with golems getting more and more realistic. It had been an impulsive purchase, and hell, why not? But then he'd gotten it home, and it had just...sat there. He tried talking to it. He looked for some kind of a switch. Nothing. Hey, he'd never owned one before. Eventually, he came to the conclusion that there was just no getting around it - he needed some outside help here. Wasn't there a whole department on these things down at the town library? It wasn't like he'd have to say why he had this particular golem...just that he didn't quite know how to turn it on. Reasoning that it would look a little too strange to just carry it in, he folded it carefully into his old wheeled trunk, and that was what he brought with him, right up to the desk at the library.
thmightykeyboard (5:30:14 PM): Ceyleon's atmosphere was alive yet calm. Full of educators and scholars the city was wealthy in information and thought and the two were its biggest trade commodity. It seemed the entire continent of Elatur was in great need of knowledge judging by the extensive use of costly marble that lined streets and curved up into flowing fountains and sculptures lining the open and quite beautiful Cellistine square. The most prominent building sat towering in the center of view dominating the landscape with its towers and spines. Decorated in ancient symbols and flowing banisters awash in bold colors was the state's priorate, protector of all the religious texts and laws. Directly oposing, perhaps by design, and across the plaza was the scholarly hub, adorned in its own banners with deep purples and rich golds, symbols of knowledge and logical thinking. It was here that Seyd worked in the golem research division and was rapidly becoming head of his department and forerunner in Golemology. He did several contracting work with golem engineers on their various projects but he much rather preferred the solitude of study. So it was natural that the stuffy head of the insitute would lead this visitor back to his little nook. Kerrigan would have to dodge towers of books and scrolls that seemed to be haphazardly dispersed about the room. The mound that was elevated toward the center was ostensibly his desk. Peering up through two full moons of glass Seyd blinked a few times to clear his vision from the close up strain of reading symbols to have the other's face come into more clarified view. "Can I help you?"
bythemilligram (5:38:57 PM): What a place. Kerigan was no scholar, never had been - he'd gotten the same basic education everyone did, but unlike so many others around here, he hadn't gone past that. If he had, if he'd been enrolled in studies, the conscription notice never would have shown up at his door. But he hadn't, and it had, and that was just the way it went. He did come to the library now and then, when he felt like he needed to stretch his mind, but for the most part it just wasn't his area. He had practical knowledge, and in his experience, that was what got one by from one day to the next. It didn't help him work a golem, though. So here he was. "They told me to come here," he stated. "You know about golems. I think mine's broken."
thmightykeyboard (5:46:49 PM): Know about Golems? Why he practically wrote the book on golems! Seyd didn't take offense but merely got up and took off his glasses to wipe the smudges off on his scholar's tunic. With them back on he made his way over. "Seyd Isuldri," he indicated with a familiar salute in greeting, curling his hand lightly to make a fist, bringing the knuckle of his first finger to his lips and then splayed his open hand palm up. From the mouth of one to the ears of many or so the gesture meant, the equivalent of the holy gestures. "A golem you said? Do you know of its maker, its origin?" His eyes spotted the case and piqued his interest. "You have it with you? Come, come, this way to where it is less clustered." If he needed any of his books he could have Elym get them. His trusted and self-made golem was a curious sort, somehow he inadvertantly had given it a sense of humor. Or at least the incentive to try.
bythemilligram (5:53:01 PM): Neither a scholar nor a religious man, Kerigan just nodded in response, glancing to his trunk when Seyd mentioned it. He could just as easily have carried the thing in, but it looked realistic enough that he'd have earned some unneeded attention. At Seyd's indication, he followed him to the less chaotic area, then crouched down to unfasten the latch on the case. "I don't know where it's from," he admitted. "I...found it." Well, it was sort of true. He really doubted the man selling it had been its creator - seemed too shady even for an alchemist. Carefully, he worked his arms under the golem, as limp and unresponsive as a doll, and drew it out, looking for someplace to set it down. She'd been clothed in sort of an unremarkable draped tunic when he bought her, and still was. And she was certainly beautiful.
thmightykeyboard (6:03:35 PM): He had to wonder how a man like this would come across such a finely made golem. Certainly didn't seem the type to dabble in these sorts of things. Found it? That was debateable. With a point he indicated a research table made of solid mahogany and had the man lay her down across it. My she was something to look at but his focus was not on her beauty but on her face and clavical where faint script seemed to pulse to his magic sensitive eyes. He whistled beneath a breath. This was no oridinary house golem or even the more sophisticated research golems. This was something entirely different but he had not the idea of what it could be. "How curious. These markings, I have seen them before but I can't remember in what text. Certainly no common "find". Where did you say you found it?" He was up close and personal now to the golem laying on his table, peering at the craftmanship to determine perhaps a region of origin from the base material used.
bythemilligram (6:08:08 PM): "Does it matter?" Hell. If it didn't, the man wouldn't keep asking, would he? Kerigan bit back a sigh. "Secondhand dealer. I didn't get his name. So - can you make it work?" He was nothing if not to the point, an old habit that had embedded itself into his personality years back. Either this Seyd could get the golem...turned on, for lack of a better word, or he couldn't. If it was the former, great. If it was the latter, he wasn't sure what he'd do. Maybe try to sell it himself or something. Just because he'd damn near given up on women didn't mean he wanted an unconscious doll hanging around either.
thmightykeyboard (6:14:10 PM): "Mm. Well that does not help me narrow down its maker. Very well." A disappointment but surely not one he couldn't possibly make due with. If he had a name to contact he could surely discover all there was to know about this particular beauty. "You see, a creator has a choice when making a golem in the manner that they are activated. Most house golems are created with a simple command inscription on the forehead, one must simply read it forwards to activate and backwards to deactivate. Very simplistic, very effective. The problem here, you see, is that the script this one is written in is not one I am familiar with. Let alone it could very well not be the method to awaken it." He chewed lightly on his lower lip, thinking this over. "Elym! I will need your assistance with this one!" Seyd called out for his research golem who was probably dittering around somewhere, he'd given it an exceptional amount of free will and self awareness, perhaps a little too much.
bythemilligram (6:19:32 PM): He'd been looking at those markings himself - figured they had to be a maker's signature or a decoration or something, he didn't know. It wasn't a language he recognized either, whatever it was. Suddenly, they had company. Another golem, he realized after a moment. They really seemed to be everywhere lately, and he was just a little curious as he watched the creature come over to join them.Elym was, to his maker's credit, very well-designed for his purpose. It would have been enough for most scholars to have someone to keep things organized, sort through long texts, that sort of thing. But Elym actually did his own research, fueled by something very much like curiosity. He was poring over a dusty old tome when his master called, and lingered there another moment before wandering over to the table. "Oh," he murmured, cocking his head and peering down at the golem on the table. "Where did she come from?"
thmightykeyboard (6:28:13 PM): "That is something I would very much like to know," he quipped with a tone of very light irritation. It would make things so much easier! Oh well, best not to dwell on what is not and focus on what is. "It was brought in by this gentleman...Ah, I did not catch your name," he realized with sheepish embarrassment. Seyd wasn't always on top of his social graces. "In any case I need that script analyzed, he wants to awaken it and as I do not have the rights to sequester it for study I would very much like to ask it a few questions myself before he takes his leave of us."
bythemilligram (6:36:15 PM): "Kerigan Haoti." The lack of mutual introduction had sort of slipped by him too - Seyd had bustled him right off to look at the golem, and he hadn't even realized he hadn't given a name before that. Elym, meanwhile, was very intently looking the female golem over, his artificial mind working at its finest. Unlike his master, he didn't need to worry about distractions like food or sleep, which left him free to study as long as he wanted - he could spend days just learning from the great archives if he wasn't interrupted. What would have taken Seyd alone who-knew-how-long to look up was a simple matter for Elym (who managed to look pensive all the while, an expression he'd copied from Seyd). After a minute or two, he looked up to Kerigan. "Shouldn't you be at the priorate with this?" Kerigan, who was briefly startled at being addressed directly by the golem, blinked. "The priorate?"
thmightykeyboard (6:40:05 PM): A fact that Elym rarely let him forget that he could spend all his resources and time devoted to study. The thought had crossed his mind to enter a strictly forbidden research of placing his consciousness into a golem thereby allowing a great freedom to study without cares such as sleep and nourishment. Only a thought. He was just as startled by the suggestion and a little offended. "The priorate indeed! What would those mindless drones know of this?" Golemology was his domain, not the priorate's!
bythemilligram (6:46:23 PM): Elym just smiled. "They would know of it because this is one of their scripts. This text is not used for secular matters." He devoted another moment to studying it intently, then tilted his head. "Then again. If you bring it there, they will never give it back." Kerigan had always assumed golems were straightforward and mechanical. This one seemed to be an exception. "What do you mean?" he demanded. Elym simply turned and went back out to the shelves they'd left behind, leaving Kerigan to stare after him, an eyebrow raised. "You build him yourself?" he asked Seyd with a dry glance. It was another minute or two before Elym returned, carrying a positively ancient book and setting it neatly down next to the golem on the table.
thmightykeyboard (6:51:43 PM): "Don't even get him started," Seyd replied, his glance also on his departing golem. The script was a religious text? How puzzling. Oh there were plenty of priorate golems designed without faces to do scribe work and store memory. Certainly to his knowledge the priorate did not create golems but had them ordered to be built, and he was quite positive no order would have come through for golem of this...detail. With his golem returned he drew over to it. "Hm...now to discover what it says..."
bythemilligram (6:56:01 PM): Kerigan wasn't sure where this was going, but it gave him a bad feeling. He had a well-earned distrust of the whole religious side of society - the rough, commoner's faith he'd been brought up with was long gone. So what did it even mean, a golem with religious scripts on it? Had the man selling it stolen it from a temple or something? He'd sooner give the thing back than get mixed up in the affairs of the church. Elym, meanwhile, helpfully leafed through the book, stopping at the appropriate page - where those very same letters were written, among other things. Including a description of just what they were.
thmightykeyboard (7:12:35 PM): "Holachim," he translated without quite thinking through the consequences, "beginning..." An odd word choice for the forehead script, but as he looked at the reverse he'd understand a bit more. Unfortunately the golem had been given the corret command and its eyes snapped open revealing very pale violet eyes. The script pulsed in the same color. Slowly it began to rise until seated, its gaze slowly trailing from one to the next stopping on Seyd. "You spoke the command," her voice was almost musical if it were not so flat. Seyd didn't exactly know what to say. "I...I did, yes, but I am not your creator or your master." He just wanted to be clear. She looked softly puzzled. "I have no master nor creator. I have always been." Seyd squinted back at the text as if hoping for an answer there. Mihcaloh...it meant end. The words themselves felt stirring as if they did not refer to the golem's beginning and end but to something more primal. Seyd was not a parlomancer but he was sure they could tell him if the words themselves had power and deeper meaning. "Any thoughts, Elym?"
bythemilligram (7:20:46 PM): Whoa. Apparently she worked after all, but she was even more cryptic than the research golem, and Kerigan furrowed his brows, not sure what to make of this. Elym, meanwhile, was all too happy to have another golem around. "Hello there!" he greeted her cheerfully. He would have been content to try and talk to her himself, if Seyd hadn't interjected with a question. " 'Have always been' appears in the original scriptures," he suggested. "As does 'holachim'. I would tell you more if you kept more information on those faiths," he quipped, almost scolding.
thmightykeyboard (7:26:37 PM): Seyd gave the assistant a reproachful stare that held all their arguments ending in just one look. I can shut you off. That was one very strong reason why he would not want to be a golem, the lack of control over when he could be simply shut off and put aside to be forgotten. "Leave the faiths to the faithful, their business is not mine." The golem situated on the table turned toward her fellow, her head lilting to one side. //You are a child of the earth and yet you serve.// Only Elym would hear those thoughts as her inner core reached into his as she could with all the earth-borns. Her tone was almost harshly judgemental, yet her features remained soft and complacent.
bythemilligram (7:32:16 PM): What Kerigan and Seyd couldn't hear left Elym visibly startled, and he took a small step back, eyes curious and fixed on the other golem. She'd spoken right into his mind, somehow - but that didn't seem possible. And he ought to know - he served an expert in his kind, didn't he? But nowhere in his research had he heard about a golem that could do something like that. "How..." Confused, he instinctually looked to his master. "Did she speak to you as well?"
thmightykeyboard (7:37:33 PM): "Speak? She's been silent, Elym..." How could a golem make a mistake like that? It didn't seem possible for him to hallucinate and hear things. So had she spoken to him by some other means? Her eyes had a depth to them that was astounding for her kind. She could be mistake for a prestine model or even human on a quick glance, yet her eyes to him seemed ancient. So too was her accent. It would seem she belonged to a different age and time yet to his knowledge the art of golemology was not so old. //You are bound to this one? How did that come to be?// She was curious about Elym and ignored the humans present as if they were mere oddities and no more important.Her violet eyes locked to Elym's and seemed to dive in.
bythemilligram (7:41:07 PM): By all rights, a golem couldn't feel dizzy. Or shouldn't be able to. So Elym wasn't sure how to describe what was going on, and frowned. He was built to think, to understand - so being confronted with something so utterly out of his experience was unsteadying. // I - he is my - // He faltered. He was speaking to her, but his lips weren't moving. He could hear himself only in his own mind, but somehow he knew she could hear him too. It all seemed to be happening without any direction on his part. // He...is my master, // he concluded, unable to look away. // My maker. //
thmightykeyboard (7:47:20 PM): Her eyes flared open and it seemed to take some control not to reel backwards from the other golem. //You were made?// Unthinkable. To have golems be created and then mastered over. With confirmation that he was indeed the product of another being's hands and will she looked away from him as if to dismiss his very existance. "How many earth-borns are made? How many do you control?" Slowly, almost like some kind of grassland predator, she removed herself from the table and looked between both men standing there. Seyd was perhaps more well equiped to answer. "Uh...do you mean the golems? Like Elym?" What a puzzling thing to ask. "All golems are made and under their creator's command, or handed their command over to a purchaser." Wrong answer. The scripts glowed darker and so too did her eyes but if there was any anger it was held at bay and not released.
bythemilligram (7:51:29 PM): "Seyd..." Kerigan was increasingly wary. He just had a bad gut feeling about this thing, one he couldn't quite explain but couldn't shake either. He might not be a golemologist, but he was sure they weren't supposed to act like this. "She wasn't made," Elym spoke up suddenly. He didn't know how he knew that, he just...did. "She is - she just is. I don't understand."
thmightykeyboard (7:59:22 PM): "How is that even possible? No golem can just...be. There must be something wrong with it. A left over spell? Some faulty ingredients perhaps. The craftmanship is quite exquisit, I find it hard to believe the creator of this golem would use shoddy ingredients after putting so much effort into the casing." Seyd stepped forward, not all ill at ease like Kerigan and Elym seemed to be by her presence. He reached out a hand to feel along the "skin" of her face but his fingers never made it. Her hand shot outward, tendrils of violet energy ensaring the curious human about his throat. Her skin paled whiter while her eyes and scripts grew brighter. Her white hair whipped about in an unfelt wind. Seyd kicked and struggled in the air, barely able to let out small yelps as the ribbons of energy constricted. "I am. I always have been. And far after you're gone to dust I shall stall be."
bythemilligram (8:06:52 PM): The first thing to flash across Kerigan's mind were the warrior priests, for they too fought with strange energies. But not one of them had been so bright, or made it feel like all the air had been sucked out of the room like that. For a moment, he was frozen, at a loss to do anything against what was clearly not a normal golem. Elym, however, was driven by his attachment to his master, and stepped forward, trying in vain to pull the glowing threads away from Seyd's throat. "No! You'll - you'll break him!" he all but pleaded. He hadn't been built as a protector or a bodyguard, but he couldn't just watch his maker endangered like that.
thmightykeyboard (8:29:10 PM): She had only intended on sending a message and her visage softened tremendously with the valiance of the blasphemous creation. Perhaps they could attaind some dignity but not enough, she concluded. With a thump the released scholar tumbled to the ground as the ribbons glittered into thin air and she returned herself to her placcid calm. Seyd coughed and tried to regain his composure, now looking on the being with more fearful respect in his eyes than rampant curiosity. "I...I'm sorry..." She glanced to him and then back to the others, resting her eyes on Kerigan. "And what do you expect?" She had gathered that he was the one to have found her and brought her here to this scholar of blasphemous earth-borns.
bythemilligram (8:32:52 PM): Elym leaned to help him to his feet, leaving Kerigan to face up to this...creature. "I don't know what to expect. What are you?" That had been an impressive display, but he reacted to threats like...well, a soldier, steeling his nerves and refusing to be intimidated. Whatever she was, she'd just used something like divine energy to attack the bookish scholar, and that had Kerigan on his guard.
thmightykeyboard (8:46:53 PM): "I am," she repeated as if it answered the question thoroughly. Or perhaps as thoroughly as she wanted it answered. Seyd thanked his assistant, quite shocked at the show of loyalty from him. It wasn't often that he was threatened and never before with magical force. Golems were made to be loyal, Elym had no other choice, yet he was still appreciative of the other's attempt at help. "Do you have a name?" Seyd tried. "I am called Zhyal." Seyd's lips fell apart slightly with a whispered word, "judgement."
bythemilligram (8:50:41 PM): Kerigan's eyes flickered between this Zhyal and Seyd. His cursory knowledge of the old religious traditions didn't extend to things like this. "What does that mean?" he demanded of Seyd. "Does she belong to the priests?" Some kind of new weapon they'd schemed up - a golem with holy powers? He wouldn't put it past them. Though the choice to make her shaped like a beautiful woman seemed a little odd.
thmightykeyboard (9:00:45 PM): "I belong to no one," she responded for Seyd in a voice that was remarkably calm yet held no room for question. Seyd looked a bit helpless, he had never taken the religious texts seriously. "I suppose we must inform the priorate about this, it seems their prophecies had been right...we've found the Imari." He couldn't even believe the words as he said them, having been one to hold no belief in the faiths that stated beings like golems had been on Elatur - not just the biggest continent but the only one - before mankind and even the Ancient Ones. The texts said that they were born from the ground itself back when Gaia, the collective spirit of all things living, was more primal and alive and could give birth from clay and spirit. This was the find of the centuries and Seyd could hardly believe it all.
bythemilligram (10:07:35 PM): "Imari?" he repeated, incredulous. "You can't be serious..." Even the most secular citizen would recognize that word and what it implied, but to actually believe it meant something - and something that was now right in front of them - was insane. Granted, he wasn't sure what else it could be, but he wasn't the golem expert here. But then, the golem expert here was the one who thought this was the Imari. Kerigan was more than a little unnerved. "Just wait a minute," he ordered brusquely, eyes flickering to Seyd. "Whatever this is - Imari or not - telling the priorate is the worst thing you could do."
thmightykeyboard (10:13:14 PM): Seyd never understood the priests and parlomancers in the priorate but he had never taken much issues with them either. Sure they had their debates but any scholar worth his salt enjoyed the disputes as a chance to test his wits and convictions. Others were not so lucky. The civil war within the priorate itself had caused many deaths and hardships for those involved so he could understand the man's reluctance. Zhyal had grown silent, her eyes dim but focused once again on Elym. "I am serious and why don't you think the priorate has the right know?" Knowledge was his true love and Seyd was of the mind that it was to be something that was shared and not hidden away. He didn't place faith in the prophecies nor hold any fears that this ancient creature was a doomsday omen. That was just silly. Here was a chance for knowledge, not fear. Just...no need to cross her, as he found out.
bythemilligram (10:16:51 PM): "Because. It's powerful, and if they get their hands on something like that, they'll exploit it. Wars have been started over less." The role of the Imari was something that varied from one sect to the next, and as soon as one group felt they could lay claim to it, there'd be an uproar among all the others. Some believed it would hearken the end of the world. Some were a little more moderate. But they'd all find one reason or another to claim that they were right, and wouldn't hesitate to battle it out. And Kerigan wasn't so naive as to think the fighting would only affect the religious.
thmightykeyboard (10:32:16 PM): Seyd hadn't thought of it that way, but his mind just wasn't geared to do so. "Oh," he breathed out in realization that the sects wouldn't come together over this fantastic discovery. "No I suppose they wouldn't hesitate to begin the in-fighting." How disappointing of their people. Here stood one of the biggest finds in all of Elatur's history, a link to the ancient past, and none could put aside their own disputes in order to learn. Zhyal's head lilted a bit to one side again in her strange manner while whispers echoed in Emyl's mind. Whispers of a coming age. Her dimly lit eyes studied his manufactured facial features.
bythemilligram (10:39:00 PM): Of course, that left the question of just what they were going to do with it. His first instinct was to get it as far from civilization as possible, to keep it out of anyone's hands. But this wasn't the ordinary golem he'd intended to buy; who was to say it wouldn't just...come back? Elym, meanwhile, was captivated. As if drawn in, he stepped closer to her, slowly reaching out. Even after seeing what she'd done to his master, he felt compelled to simply touch her, to be in contact with this being.
thmightykeyboard (10:52:54 PM): The whispers faded as he approached and instead became song. Slowly her head moved back to a more upright position as Elym was pulled in closer. Seyd watched stunned at his golem's actions but he was at a loss as to what to do about it. He knew if he intervened he'd probably be seeing those ribbons again and his throat ached and stung just at the thought. Zhyal leaned forward and placed two fingers to Elym's forhead and pressed down, scrawling out a curving and looped symbol with just her touch. She leaned further and her lips brushed against his ear. "Ifina aerijani ahy evafilo iosol," she whispered. Awaken child and join my song. Seyd's brow furrowed. Alright, something had to be done. "Mihca---" he began to say her seal backward when she moved faster than his eyes could follow. A streak of violet lashed out and struck him full in the chest sending the scholar flying up and back across the room and into shelves of books and scrolls. He collapsed into a heap as the contents of the broken shelving came crashing down with him. Without the ancient ring she could not be controlled.
bythemilligram (11:02:20 PM): "Seyd!" That voice was not Elym's, but Kerigan's, and with only a moment's glare towards the wild creature he hurried over to try and help the scholar out of the pile of debris. This was getting out of hand. He didn't know what Zhyal was doing to the other golem, but she was clearly dangerous. "You okay?" While he was focused on helping Seyd out of the mess that had been his bookshelf, Elym was being...transformed, really. His mind was changing, opening up - something very strange was happening, and he could really feel it. He actually let out a soft sound, a little surprised cry, then slowly looked back at his fallen master. No - was he? Was he master, or was he just...Seyd? Helpless, he looked back to Zhyal for answers. "...What...am I?"
thmightykeyboard (11:12:56 PM): Seyd was unconscious but alive and relatively unharmed compared with what she could have unleashed on him. Perhaps she had meant to kill him since the one who awakens her is the only one able to put her back into her trance, until the weilder of the ring makes his appearance. She didn't feel its tug in the world and could only hope it had been forggotten or destroyed. Her fingers trailed through Elym's hair, she wasn't concerned now about the men. "You are now," she intoned, "you no longer are bound you are free. What will you do with your freedom, Elym?"
bythemilligram (11:19:44 PM): "I..." Free. He was, wasn't he? When he looked at Seyd, something was just different, like a thread had been cut. The lost connection was profoundly startling, and he drew back. "I have to help Seyd..." That was his default, the closest thing any of his kind would have to an instinct. But Kerigan already had him, carefully extracting him from the mess Zhyal had made. At the sight of his creator knocked out, he looked hastily back to Zhyal. "You've...hurt him," he realized slowly. Kerigan, meanwhile, could do little but watch this bizarre scene unfold. Seyd was still breathing and looked okay - he'd just taken a good knock to the head. Kerigan would keep an eye on him till he came to, at least.
thmightykeyboard (11:30:30 PM): "He lives and will continue to if he learns his place." If he ever tried to put her back into that dark place again she'd ensure he'd never speak. And what of Elym's place? She could very well reach into his core and take control over him but that wasn't her style. "Go to your human if you must, we shall always share a bond. If you do not leave with me now you may still yet find your way back to me, my kindred."
bythemilligram (11:32:52 PM): "Leave?" he echoed, tilting his head. "Where will you go?" It was incredible - she was a being like him, made of earth, but she just...went wherever she chose. No one controlled her. Apparently now no one controlled him either, but that was almost too much to think about. "The stories say the world will end with you here..."
thmightykeyboard (11:44:27 PM): "The world as man has ruled it will end," she explained with a patience that conflicted slightly with her previous actions. "Man's time as ruler is up." And if they wanted to protest that fact she was more than willing to exterminate them. However, she had no intentions of harming those who were willing to serve her and her kindred as she made them. Her touch would bring her kind from their dormancy and compacancy into a new age for Elatur; theirage. "Make your choice, I am leaving this place."
bythemilligram (11:48:53 PM): Elym was truly confused. He'd read some of the old stories, the prophecies written down - though his master had never been one to keep much of that material around - but he'd never been forced to really think about it like this. And without the familiar tug of his bond to Seyd, everything just felt wrong. "I belong here," he affirmed. "I belong with Seyd." Kerigan, meanwhile, was done just listening. This...thing...was talking about a veritable apocalypse, and no matter how much he wanted to stay out of the fights for the rest of his life, he could hardly stay out of one like that. "You wait one damn minute," he snapped, carefully laying Seyd down so he could approach Zhyal. "You're talking about a civil war. You might get some of the religious freaks, but the rest of the world isn't going to lay down and take it."
thmightykeyboard (12:01:23 AM): "Then this is where you will remain," she replied without sentiment either way. He would come around eventually or he would be destroyed. SImple as that. WIth the other human coming toward her, Zhyal's eyes drifted his way. "Then the rest of your world will burn so that life can begin anew. You are fragile creatures, it would be best for you to understand that your resistance will only bring you more suffering." She had no sympathy in her eyes for humanity's plight. Her gaze briefly sized him up. "If you value your life you will step aside."
bythemilligram (12:06:42 AM): Damn. It wasn't like he was armed - and even if he was, she'd just tossed Seyd against the shelves like a ragdoll. He was sturdier than the bookish historian, to be sure, but against a creature like this, would it even matter? If she wanted to leave, it seemed, she was going to. But as soon as word got out - and it would, very fast - everything was going to go straight to hell. Still, he didn't budge. Elym's newly freed mind was racing. What was he supposed to do? She had hurt Seyd. She would hurt others. But she was his own kind. His eyes flickered to the book he'd brought over earlier, then to Seyd, and when he finally spoke up, his voice was quiet and almost pained. "...Mihcaloh." He knew it might not work. Seyd had been the one to awaken her; it might take his voice to subdue her once more. But he had to do something, and it was all he could come up with.
thmightykeyboard (12:20:47 AM): She wheeled around to look at Elym in pained shock that he would even try such a thing. Through her core to his she let him feel the full force of the betrayal and disappointment. "You shall no longer hear my song, child, until your mind is no longer clouded." She was certain they couldn't do a thing to stop her but just to be absolutely clear she walked by and thrusted her hand to Kerigan's chest and sent a shock wave intended to knock him back like she had Seyd. Either way she continued on her path. There were a few items she needed to find before she had a world to wash clean.
bythemilligram (5:10:31 PM): What a pain in the ass. When he'd bought this thing, he'd been under the impression that it would just...work. Granted, he wasn't terribly proud of why he'd bought it, but it wasn't anything uncommon these days, with golems getting more and more realistic. It had been an impulsive purchase, and hell, why not? But then he'd gotten it home, and it had just...sat there. He tried talking to it. He looked for some kind of a switch. Nothing. Hey, he'd never owned one before. Eventually, he came to the conclusion that there was just no getting around it - he needed some outside help here. Wasn't there a whole department on these things down at the town library? It wasn't like he'd have to say why he had this particular golem...just that he didn't quite know how to turn it on. Reasoning that it would look a little too strange to just carry it in, he folded it carefully into his old wheeled trunk, and that was what he brought with him, right up to the desk at the library.
thmightykeyboard (5:30:14 PM): Ceyleon's atmosphere was alive yet calm. Full of educators and scholars the city was wealthy in information and thought and the two were its biggest trade commodity. It seemed the entire continent of Elatur was in great need of knowledge judging by the extensive use of costly marble that lined streets and curved up into flowing fountains and sculptures lining the open and quite beautiful Cellistine square. The most prominent building sat towering in the center of view dominating the landscape with its towers and spines. Decorated in ancient symbols and flowing banisters awash in bold colors was the state's priorate, protector of all the religious texts and laws. Directly oposing, perhaps by design, and across the plaza was the scholarly hub, adorned in its own banners with deep purples and rich golds, symbols of knowledge and logical thinking. It was here that Seyd worked in the golem research division and was rapidly becoming head of his department and forerunner in Golemology. He did several contracting work with golem engineers on their various projects but he much rather preferred the solitude of study. So it was natural that the stuffy head of the insitute would lead this visitor back to his little nook. Kerrigan would have to dodge towers of books and scrolls that seemed to be haphazardly dispersed about the room. The mound that was elevated toward the center was ostensibly his desk. Peering up through two full moons of glass Seyd blinked a few times to clear his vision from the close up strain of reading symbols to have the other's face come into more clarified view. "Can I help you?"
bythemilligram (5:38:57 PM): What a place. Kerigan was no scholar, never had been - he'd gotten the same basic education everyone did, but unlike so many others around here, he hadn't gone past that. If he had, if he'd been enrolled in studies, the conscription notice never would have shown up at his door. But he hadn't, and it had, and that was just the way it went. He did come to the library now and then, when he felt like he needed to stretch his mind, but for the most part it just wasn't his area. He had practical knowledge, and in his experience, that was what got one by from one day to the next. It didn't help him work a golem, though. So here he was. "They told me to come here," he stated. "You know about golems. I think mine's broken."
thmightykeyboard (5:46:49 PM): Know about Golems? Why he practically wrote the book on golems! Seyd didn't take offense but merely got up and took off his glasses to wipe the smudges off on his scholar's tunic. With them back on he made his way over. "Seyd Isuldri," he indicated with a familiar salute in greeting, curling his hand lightly to make a fist, bringing the knuckle of his first finger to his lips and then splayed his open hand palm up. From the mouth of one to the ears of many or so the gesture meant, the equivalent of the holy gestures. "A golem you said? Do you know of its maker, its origin?" His eyes spotted the case and piqued his interest. "You have it with you? Come, come, this way to where it is less clustered." If he needed any of his books he could have Elym get them. His trusted and self-made golem was a curious sort, somehow he inadvertantly had given it a sense of humor. Or at least the incentive to try.
bythemilligram (5:53:01 PM): Neither a scholar nor a religious man, Kerigan just nodded in response, glancing to his trunk when Seyd mentioned it. He could just as easily have carried the thing in, but it looked realistic enough that he'd have earned some unneeded attention. At Seyd's indication, he followed him to the less chaotic area, then crouched down to unfasten the latch on the case. "I don't know where it's from," he admitted. "I...found it." Well, it was sort of true. He really doubted the man selling it had been its creator - seemed too shady even for an alchemist. Carefully, he worked his arms under the golem, as limp and unresponsive as a doll, and drew it out, looking for someplace to set it down. She'd been clothed in sort of an unremarkable draped tunic when he bought her, and still was. And she was certainly beautiful.
thmightykeyboard (6:03:35 PM): He had to wonder how a man like this would come across such a finely made golem. Certainly didn't seem the type to dabble in these sorts of things. Found it? That was debateable. With a point he indicated a research table made of solid mahogany and had the man lay her down across it. My she was something to look at but his focus was not on her beauty but on her face and clavical where faint script seemed to pulse to his magic sensitive eyes. He whistled beneath a breath. This was no oridinary house golem or even the more sophisticated research golems. This was something entirely different but he had not the idea of what it could be. "How curious. These markings, I have seen them before but I can't remember in what text. Certainly no common "find". Where did you say you found it?" He was up close and personal now to the golem laying on his table, peering at the craftmanship to determine perhaps a region of origin from the base material used.
bythemilligram (6:08:08 PM): "Does it matter?" Hell. If it didn't, the man wouldn't keep asking, would he? Kerigan bit back a sigh. "Secondhand dealer. I didn't get his name. So - can you make it work?" He was nothing if not to the point, an old habit that had embedded itself into his personality years back. Either this Seyd could get the golem...turned on, for lack of a better word, or he couldn't. If it was the former, great. If it was the latter, he wasn't sure what he'd do. Maybe try to sell it himself or something. Just because he'd damn near given up on women didn't mean he wanted an unconscious doll hanging around either.
thmightykeyboard (6:14:10 PM): "Mm. Well that does not help me narrow down its maker. Very well." A disappointment but surely not one he couldn't possibly make due with. If he had a name to contact he could surely discover all there was to know about this particular beauty. "You see, a creator has a choice when making a golem in the manner that they are activated. Most house golems are created with a simple command inscription on the forehead, one must simply read it forwards to activate and backwards to deactivate. Very simplistic, very effective. The problem here, you see, is that the script this one is written in is not one I am familiar with. Let alone it could very well not be the method to awaken it." He chewed lightly on his lower lip, thinking this over. "Elym! I will need your assistance with this one!" Seyd called out for his research golem who was probably dittering around somewhere, he'd given it an exceptional amount of free will and self awareness, perhaps a little too much.
bythemilligram (6:19:32 PM): He'd been looking at those markings himself - figured they had to be a maker's signature or a decoration or something, he didn't know. It wasn't a language he recognized either, whatever it was. Suddenly, they had company. Another golem, he realized after a moment. They really seemed to be everywhere lately, and he was just a little curious as he watched the creature come over to join them.Elym was, to his maker's credit, very well-designed for his purpose. It would have been enough for most scholars to have someone to keep things organized, sort through long texts, that sort of thing. But Elym actually did his own research, fueled by something very much like curiosity. He was poring over a dusty old tome when his master called, and lingered there another moment before wandering over to the table. "Oh," he murmured, cocking his head and peering down at the golem on the table. "Where did she come from?"
thmightykeyboard (6:28:13 PM): "That is something I would very much like to know," he quipped with a tone of very light irritation. It would make things so much easier! Oh well, best not to dwell on what is not and focus on what is. "It was brought in by this gentleman...Ah, I did not catch your name," he realized with sheepish embarrassment. Seyd wasn't always on top of his social graces. "In any case I need that script analyzed, he wants to awaken it and as I do not have the rights to sequester it for study I would very much like to ask it a few questions myself before he takes his leave of us."
bythemilligram (6:36:15 PM): "Kerigan Haoti." The lack of mutual introduction had sort of slipped by him too - Seyd had bustled him right off to look at the golem, and he hadn't even realized he hadn't given a name before that. Elym, meanwhile, was very intently looking the female golem over, his artificial mind working at its finest. Unlike his master, he didn't need to worry about distractions like food or sleep, which left him free to study as long as he wanted - he could spend days just learning from the great archives if he wasn't interrupted. What would have taken Seyd alone who-knew-how-long to look up was a simple matter for Elym (who managed to look pensive all the while, an expression he'd copied from Seyd). After a minute or two, he looked up to Kerigan. "Shouldn't you be at the priorate with this?" Kerigan, who was briefly startled at being addressed directly by the golem, blinked. "The priorate?"
thmightykeyboard (6:40:05 PM): A fact that Elym rarely let him forget that he could spend all his resources and time devoted to study. The thought had crossed his mind to enter a strictly forbidden research of placing his consciousness into a golem thereby allowing a great freedom to study without cares such as sleep and nourishment. Only a thought. He was just as startled by the suggestion and a little offended. "The priorate indeed! What would those mindless drones know of this?" Golemology was his domain, not the priorate's!
bythemilligram (6:46:23 PM): Elym just smiled. "They would know of it because this is one of their scripts. This text is not used for secular matters." He devoted another moment to studying it intently, then tilted his head. "Then again. If you bring it there, they will never give it back." Kerigan had always assumed golems were straightforward and mechanical. This one seemed to be an exception. "What do you mean?" he demanded. Elym simply turned and went back out to the shelves they'd left behind, leaving Kerigan to stare after him, an eyebrow raised. "You build him yourself?" he asked Seyd with a dry glance. It was another minute or two before Elym returned, carrying a positively ancient book and setting it neatly down next to the golem on the table.
thmightykeyboard (6:51:43 PM): "Don't even get him started," Seyd replied, his glance also on his departing golem. The script was a religious text? How puzzling. Oh there were plenty of priorate golems designed without faces to do scribe work and store memory. Certainly to his knowledge the priorate did not create golems but had them ordered to be built, and he was quite positive no order would have come through for golem of this...detail. With his golem returned he drew over to it. "Hm...now to discover what it says..."
bythemilligram (6:56:01 PM): Kerigan wasn't sure where this was going, but it gave him a bad feeling. He had a well-earned distrust of the whole religious side of society - the rough, commoner's faith he'd been brought up with was long gone. So what did it even mean, a golem with religious scripts on it? Had the man selling it stolen it from a temple or something? He'd sooner give the thing back than get mixed up in the affairs of the church. Elym, meanwhile, helpfully leafed through the book, stopping at the appropriate page - where those very same letters were written, among other things. Including a description of just what they were.
thmightykeyboard (7:12:35 PM): "Holachim," he translated without quite thinking through the consequences, "beginning..." An odd word choice for the forehead script, but as he looked at the reverse he'd understand a bit more. Unfortunately the golem had been given the corret command and its eyes snapped open revealing very pale violet eyes. The script pulsed in the same color. Slowly it began to rise until seated, its gaze slowly trailing from one to the next stopping on Seyd. "You spoke the command," her voice was almost musical if it were not so flat. Seyd didn't exactly know what to say. "I...I did, yes, but I am not your creator or your master." He just wanted to be clear. She looked softly puzzled. "I have no master nor creator. I have always been." Seyd squinted back at the text as if hoping for an answer there. Mihcaloh...it meant end. The words themselves felt stirring as if they did not refer to the golem's beginning and end but to something more primal. Seyd was not a parlomancer but he was sure they could tell him if the words themselves had power and deeper meaning. "Any thoughts, Elym?"
bythemilligram (7:20:46 PM): Whoa. Apparently she worked after all, but she was even more cryptic than the research golem, and Kerigan furrowed his brows, not sure what to make of this. Elym, meanwhile, was all too happy to have another golem around. "Hello there!" he greeted her cheerfully. He would have been content to try and talk to her himself, if Seyd hadn't interjected with a question. " 'Have always been' appears in the original scriptures," he suggested. "As does 'holachim'. I would tell you more if you kept more information on those faiths," he quipped, almost scolding.
thmightykeyboard (7:26:37 PM): Seyd gave the assistant a reproachful stare that held all their arguments ending in just one look. I can shut you off. That was one very strong reason why he would not want to be a golem, the lack of control over when he could be simply shut off and put aside to be forgotten. "Leave the faiths to the faithful, their business is not mine." The golem situated on the table turned toward her fellow, her head lilting to one side. //You are a child of the earth and yet you serve.// Only Elym would hear those thoughts as her inner core reached into his as she could with all the earth-borns. Her tone was almost harshly judgemental, yet her features remained soft and complacent.
bythemilligram (7:32:16 PM): What Kerigan and Seyd couldn't hear left Elym visibly startled, and he took a small step back, eyes curious and fixed on the other golem. She'd spoken right into his mind, somehow - but that didn't seem possible. And he ought to know - he served an expert in his kind, didn't he? But nowhere in his research had he heard about a golem that could do something like that. "How..." Confused, he instinctually looked to his master. "Did she speak to you as well?"
thmightykeyboard (7:37:33 PM): "Speak? She's been silent, Elym..." How could a golem make a mistake like that? It didn't seem possible for him to hallucinate and hear things. So had she spoken to him by some other means? Her eyes had a depth to them that was astounding for her kind. She could be mistake for a prestine model or even human on a quick glance, yet her eyes to him seemed ancient. So too was her accent. It would seem she belonged to a different age and time yet to his knowledge the art of golemology was not so old. //You are bound to this one? How did that come to be?// She was curious about Elym and ignored the humans present as if they were mere oddities and no more important.Her violet eyes locked to Elym's and seemed to dive in.
bythemilligram (7:41:07 PM): By all rights, a golem couldn't feel dizzy. Or shouldn't be able to. So Elym wasn't sure how to describe what was going on, and frowned. He was built to think, to understand - so being confronted with something so utterly out of his experience was unsteadying. // I - he is my - // He faltered. He was speaking to her, but his lips weren't moving. He could hear himself only in his own mind, but somehow he knew she could hear him too. It all seemed to be happening without any direction on his part. // He...is my master, // he concluded, unable to look away. // My maker. //
thmightykeyboard (7:47:20 PM): Her eyes flared open and it seemed to take some control not to reel backwards from the other golem. //You were made?// Unthinkable. To have golems be created and then mastered over. With confirmation that he was indeed the product of another being's hands and will she looked away from him as if to dismiss his very existance. "How many earth-borns are made? How many do you control?" Slowly, almost like some kind of grassland predator, she removed herself from the table and looked between both men standing there. Seyd was perhaps more well equiped to answer. "Uh...do you mean the golems? Like Elym?" What a puzzling thing to ask. "All golems are made and under their creator's command, or handed their command over to a purchaser." Wrong answer. The scripts glowed darker and so too did her eyes but if there was any anger it was held at bay and not released.
bythemilligram (7:51:29 PM): "Seyd..." Kerigan was increasingly wary. He just had a bad gut feeling about this thing, one he couldn't quite explain but couldn't shake either. He might not be a golemologist, but he was sure they weren't supposed to act like this. "She wasn't made," Elym spoke up suddenly. He didn't know how he knew that, he just...did. "She is - she just is. I don't understand."
thmightykeyboard (7:59:22 PM): "How is that even possible? No golem can just...be. There must be something wrong with it. A left over spell? Some faulty ingredients perhaps. The craftmanship is quite exquisit, I find it hard to believe the creator of this golem would use shoddy ingredients after putting so much effort into the casing." Seyd stepped forward, not all ill at ease like Kerigan and Elym seemed to be by her presence. He reached out a hand to feel along the "skin" of her face but his fingers never made it. Her hand shot outward, tendrils of violet energy ensaring the curious human about his throat. Her skin paled whiter while her eyes and scripts grew brighter. Her white hair whipped about in an unfelt wind. Seyd kicked and struggled in the air, barely able to let out small yelps as the ribbons of energy constricted. "I am. I always have been. And far after you're gone to dust I shall stall be."
bythemilligram (8:06:52 PM): The first thing to flash across Kerigan's mind were the warrior priests, for they too fought with strange energies. But not one of them had been so bright, or made it feel like all the air had been sucked out of the room like that. For a moment, he was frozen, at a loss to do anything against what was clearly not a normal golem. Elym, however, was driven by his attachment to his master, and stepped forward, trying in vain to pull the glowing threads away from Seyd's throat. "No! You'll - you'll break him!" he all but pleaded. He hadn't been built as a protector or a bodyguard, but he couldn't just watch his maker endangered like that.
thmightykeyboard (8:29:10 PM): She had only intended on sending a message and her visage softened tremendously with the valiance of the blasphemous creation. Perhaps they could attaind some dignity but not enough, she concluded. With a thump the released scholar tumbled to the ground as the ribbons glittered into thin air and she returned herself to her placcid calm. Seyd coughed and tried to regain his composure, now looking on the being with more fearful respect in his eyes than rampant curiosity. "I...I'm sorry..." She glanced to him and then back to the others, resting her eyes on Kerigan. "And what do you expect?" She had gathered that he was the one to have found her and brought her here to this scholar of blasphemous earth-borns.
bythemilligram (8:32:52 PM): Elym leaned to help him to his feet, leaving Kerigan to face up to this...creature. "I don't know what to expect. What are you?" That had been an impressive display, but he reacted to threats like...well, a soldier, steeling his nerves and refusing to be intimidated. Whatever she was, she'd just used something like divine energy to attack the bookish scholar, and that had Kerigan on his guard.
thmightykeyboard (8:46:53 PM): "I am," she repeated as if it answered the question thoroughly. Or perhaps as thoroughly as she wanted it answered. Seyd thanked his assistant, quite shocked at the show of loyalty from him. It wasn't often that he was threatened and never before with magical force. Golems were made to be loyal, Elym had no other choice, yet he was still appreciative of the other's attempt at help. "Do you have a name?" Seyd tried. "I am called Zhyal." Seyd's lips fell apart slightly with a whispered word, "judgement."
bythemilligram (8:50:41 PM): Kerigan's eyes flickered between this Zhyal and Seyd. His cursory knowledge of the old religious traditions didn't extend to things like this. "What does that mean?" he demanded of Seyd. "Does she belong to the priests?" Some kind of new weapon they'd schemed up - a golem with holy powers? He wouldn't put it past them. Though the choice to make her shaped like a beautiful woman seemed a little odd.
thmightykeyboard (9:00:45 PM): "I belong to no one," she responded for Seyd in a voice that was remarkably calm yet held no room for question. Seyd looked a bit helpless, he had never taken the religious texts seriously. "I suppose we must inform the priorate about this, it seems their prophecies had been right...we've found the Imari." He couldn't even believe the words as he said them, having been one to hold no belief in the faiths that stated beings like golems had been on Elatur - not just the biggest continent but the only one - before mankind and even the Ancient Ones. The texts said that they were born from the ground itself back when Gaia, the collective spirit of all things living, was more primal and alive and could give birth from clay and spirit. This was the find of the centuries and Seyd could hardly believe it all.
bythemilligram (10:07:35 PM): "Imari?" he repeated, incredulous. "You can't be serious..." Even the most secular citizen would recognize that word and what it implied, but to actually believe it meant something - and something that was now right in front of them - was insane. Granted, he wasn't sure what else it could be, but he wasn't the golem expert here. But then, the golem expert here was the one who thought this was the Imari. Kerigan was more than a little unnerved. "Just wait a minute," he ordered brusquely, eyes flickering to Seyd. "Whatever this is - Imari or not - telling the priorate is the worst thing you could do."
thmightykeyboard (10:13:14 PM): Seyd never understood the priests and parlomancers in the priorate but he had never taken much issues with them either. Sure they had their debates but any scholar worth his salt enjoyed the disputes as a chance to test his wits and convictions. Others were not so lucky. The civil war within the priorate itself had caused many deaths and hardships for those involved so he could understand the man's reluctance. Zhyal had grown silent, her eyes dim but focused once again on Elym. "I am serious and why don't you think the priorate has the right know?" Knowledge was his true love and Seyd was of the mind that it was to be something that was shared and not hidden away. He didn't place faith in the prophecies nor hold any fears that this ancient creature was a doomsday omen. That was just silly. Here was a chance for knowledge, not fear. Just...no need to cross her, as he found out.
bythemilligram (10:16:51 PM): "Because. It's powerful, and if they get their hands on something like that, they'll exploit it. Wars have been started over less." The role of the Imari was something that varied from one sect to the next, and as soon as one group felt they could lay claim to it, there'd be an uproar among all the others. Some believed it would hearken the end of the world. Some were a little more moderate. But they'd all find one reason or another to claim that they were right, and wouldn't hesitate to battle it out. And Kerigan wasn't so naive as to think the fighting would only affect the religious.
thmightykeyboard (10:32:16 PM): Seyd hadn't thought of it that way, but his mind just wasn't geared to do so. "Oh," he breathed out in realization that the sects wouldn't come together over this fantastic discovery. "No I suppose they wouldn't hesitate to begin the in-fighting." How disappointing of their people. Here stood one of the biggest finds in all of Elatur's history, a link to the ancient past, and none could put aside their own disputes in order to learn. Zhyal's head lilted a bit to one side again in her strange manner while whispers echoed in Emyl's mind. Whispers of a coming age. Her dimly lit eyes studied his manufactured facial features.
bythemilligram (10:39:00 PM): Of course, that left the question of just what they were going to do with it. His first instinct was to get it as far from civilization as possible, to keep it out of anyone's hands. But this wasn't the ordinary golem he'd intended to buy; who was to say it wouldn't just...come back? Elym, meanwhile, was captivated. As if drawn in, he stepped closer to her, slowly reaching out. Even after seeing what she'd done to his master, he felt compelled to simply touch her, to be in contact with this being.
thmightykeyboard (10:52:54 PM): The whispers faded as he approached and instead became song. Slowly her head moved back to a more upright position as Elym was pulled in closer. Seyd watched stunned at his golem's actions but he was at a loss as to what to do about it. He knew if he intervened he'd probably be seeing those ribbons again and his throat ached and stung just at the thought. Zhyal leaned forward and placed two fingers to Elym's forhead and pressed down, scrawling out a curving and looped symbol with just her touch. She leaned further and her lips brushed against his ear. "Ifina aerijani ahy evafilo iosol," she whispered. Awaken child and join my song. Seyd's brow furrowed. Alright, something had to be done. "Mihca---" he began to say her seal backward when she moved faster than his eyes could follow. A streak of violet lashed out and struck him full in the chest sending the scholar flying up and back across the room and into shelves of books and scrolls. He collapsed into a heap as the contents of the broken shelving came crashing down with him. Without the ancient ring she could not be controlled.
bythemilligram (11:02:20 PM): "Seyd!" That voice was not Elym's, but Kerigan's, and with only a moment's glare towards the wild creature he hurried over to try and help the scholar out of the pile of debris. This was getting out of hand. He didn't know what Zhyal was doing to the other golem, but she was clearly dangerous. "You okay?" While he was focused on helping Seyd out of the mess that had been his bookshelf, Elym was being...transformed, really. His mind was changing, opening up - something very strange was happening, and he could really feel it. He actually let out a soft sound, a little surprised cry, then slowly looked back at his fallen master. No - was he? Was he master, or was he just...Seyd? Helpless, he looked back to Zhyal for answers. "...What...am I?"
thmightykeyboard (11:12:56 PM): Seyd was unconscious but alive and relatively unharmed compared with what she could have unleashed on him. Perhaps she had meant to kill him since the one who awakens her is the only one able to put her back into her trance, until the weilder of the ring makes his appearance. She didn't feel its tug in the world and could only hope it had been forggotten or destroyed. Her fingers trailed through Elym's hair, she wasn't concerned now about the men. "You are now," she intoned, "you no longer are bound you are free. What will you do with your freedom, Elym?"
bythemilligram (11:19:44 PM): "I..." Free. He was, wasn't he? When he looked at Seyd, something was just different, like a thread had been cut. The lost connection was profoundly startling, and he drew back. "I have to help Seyd..." That was his default, the closest thing any of his kind would have to an instinct. But Kerigan already had him, carefully extracting him from the mess Zhyal had made. At the sight of his creator knocked out, he looked hastily back to Zhyal. "You've...hurt him," he realized slowly. Kerigan, meanwhile, could do little but watch this bizarre scene unfold. Seyd was still breathing and looked okay - he'd just taken a good knock to the head. Kerigan would keep an eye on him till he came to, at least.
thmightykeyboard (11:30:30 PM): "He lives and will continue to if he learns his place." If he ever tried to put her back into that dark place again she'd ensure he'd never speak. And what of Elym's place? She could very well reach into his core and take control over him but that wasn't her style. "Go to your human if you must, we shall always share a bond. If you do not leave with me now you may still yet find your way back to me, my kindred."
bythemilligram (11:32:52 PM): "Leave?" he echoed, tilting his head. "Where will you go?" It was incredible - she was a being like him, made of earth, but she just...went wherever she chose. No one controlled her. Apparently now no one controlled him either, but that was almost too much to think about. "The stories say the world will end with you here..."
thmightykeyboard (11:44:27 PM): "The world as man has ruled it will end," she explained with a patience that conflicted slightly with her previous actions. "Man's time as ruler is up." And if they wanted to protest that fact she was more than willing to exterminate them. However, she had no intentions of harming those who were willing to serve her and her kindred as she made them. Her touch would bring her kind from their dormancy and compacancy into a new age for Elatur; theirage. "Make your choice, I am leaving this place."
bythemilligram (11:48:53 PM): Elym was truly confused. He'd read some of the old stories, the prophecies written down - though his master had never been one to keep much of that material around - but he'd never been forced to really think about it like this. And without the familiar tug of his bond to Seyd, everything just felt wrong. "I belong here," he affirmed. "I belong with Seyd." Kerigan, meanwhile, was done just listening. This...thing...was talking about a veritable apocalypse, and no matter how much he wanted to stay out of the fights for the rest of his life, he could hardly stay out of one like that. "You wait one damn minute," he snapped, carefully laying Seyd down so he could approach Zhyal. "You're talking about a civil war. You might get some of the religious freaks, but the rest of the world isn't going to lay down and take it."
thmightykeyboard (12:01:23 AM): "Then this is where you will remain," she replied without sentiment either way. He would come around eventually or he would be destroyed. SImple as that. WIth the other human coming toward her, Zhyal's eyes drifted his way. "Then the rest of your world will burn so that life can begin anew. You are fragile creatures, it would be best for you to understand that your resistance will only bring you more suffering." She had no sympathy in her eyes for humanity's plight. Her gaze briefly sized him up. "If you value your life you will step aside."
bythemilligram (12:06:42 AM): Damn. It wasn't like he was armed - and even if he was, she'd just tossed Seyd against the shelves like a ragdoll. He was sturdier than the bookish historian, to be sure, but against a creature like this, would it even matter? If she wanted to leave, it seemed, she was going to. But as soon as word got out - and it would, very fast - everything was going to go straight to hell. Still, he didn't budge. Elym's newly freed mind was racing. What was he supposed to do? She had hurt Seyd. She would hurt others. But she was his own kind. His eyes flickered to the book he'd brought over earlier, then to Seyd, and when he finally spoke up, his voice was quiet and almost pained. "...Mihcaloh." He knew it might not work. Seyd had been the one to awaken her; it might take his voice to subdue her once more. But he had to do something, and it was all he could come up with.
thmightykeyboard (12:20:47 AM): She wheeled around to look at Elym in pained shock that he would even try such a thing. Through her core to his she let him feel the full force of the betrayal and disappointment. "You shall no longer hear my song, child, until your mind is no longer clouded." She was certain they couldn't do a thing to stop her but just to be absolutely clear she walked by and thrusted her hand to Kerigan's chest and sent a shock wave intended to knock him back like she had Seyd. Either way she continued on her path. There were a few items she needed to find before she had a world to wash clean.