Legends of Belariath
Scathien
September 23 (Dated one year ago)
The destruction, the merciless destruction, and I can do nothing about it. Damnit all! Why did our “benevolent” pasha (and I use the term lightly now) attack this place. He knows damn well we would have given him the mythril ore had he only asked! I cannot believe this is happening to me; and to think I was to begin my warrior training tomorrow. Instead, I am stuck here in this damn mine as everyone else is slaughtered above. Why can I not go out there and face them like everyone else?
I know why... because I fear death... I can taste it in the air... the necromancer is here... what was it they called him? “The Domare Cruciatus”... He carries fear and death around him like a cloak and dagger, wielding the arcane arts I could never seem to grasp, even the most commonly used arcane spells were beyond my reach.
Night had fallen as I emerged from the mine. The imagery of the destruction and the smell of burning corpses did assault my senses, and I wept. I cursed the “benevolent” pasha that had sent his army to raze our village, and I cursed the Domare Cruciatus for my absence from the battle; for inducing complete and utter fear in my very self and soul. Most of all... I cursed the very gods that allowed such a travesty to happen... I turned my back on them, every single one...
It was then that I heart the whispers in the depths of my mind and soul, the promises of power... Power... what use did I have for power when everything I had ever known was gone... stolen from me... from the utter seething rage that burned like hellfire within my soul I heard another whisper... I was promised that which I truly wanted... Revenge... Yes, retribution against the pasha and his army that dared destroy my home and my life... even retaliation against the Domare Cruciatus who destroyed my very pride...
It was then I listened to the voices speaking into the depths of my soul... It could only be described as a crackling flame... Somehow, I was able to understand it... In rejecting the gods, the elements themselves took hold of me. Only one won out over the other three, the only one able to compete with the rage and anger of my soul. The chaotic and destructive force that commands the element of fire.
Power and revenge... or emptiness and despair... I stood and followed where I was led. Small fires had broken out in several places as I emerged into the center of town. In simple amazement, I watched as the flames flowed toward the center of the town square as molten rock would from a volcano. It all merged in the center and arose to a blazing inferno. From it, my ears could hear the words it spoke, though it was nothing more than the crackling flames of an inferno.
It once again reiterated its promises of power and revenge, and my mind was filled with visions of grandeur. None of those visions interested me, until one showed me against the pasha's entire army... every single one of the bastards that attacked my village stood against me to attempt to kill me... and with a simple wave of my hand they were all nothing but ash. All except for that damned necromancer... no I made him scream in agony before he died, before I allowed his body to be consumed by the flames of rage and anger within my soul before they were sated and the necromancer's body as destroyed beyond the point of resurrection...
The image vanished, and I stood before the massive flame before me; and it told me to make my choice.... So now.... I shall choose....
*written in Scathien's signature*
Soulic Doran
Sept 24
The pain was incredible, the agony indescribable. When it was all said and done however, I felt... changed... I had awoken that morning; naked in the destroyed village I had once called my home. Despite my lack of clothing, I felt overly warm, as if my entire body had come under siege by a fever. I did not feel sick however; I felt more... alive than I ever had...
Power, sheer untapped power flowed through my once fragile being. Where there was once weakness was now strength. Where undefined flesh and fat were before, hardened muscles stood bared and proud. I did not gain strength. However, my physical flaws were removed from my body, burned away from my flesh when I stepped into that fire. My hair, once black and close to my head, stood straight in the air, flowing back and forth as if caught by a shifting breeze... Though there was no wind in the air.
Upon finding a small pool of water, I peered within to see the changes that had once come over me. I noticed my eyes, once the color of the deepest blue, were no longer as such. Instead, the hues of the deepest orange and red swirled about like a torrent within my eyes. Behind those colors, I saw only what I could describe as a tiny flame, dancing about as if it was caught within a breeze.
Not only had it changed the way I looked and felt, but also it seemed that my very soul had been altered. On a whim, words streamed from my mouth as my hand was suddenly enveloped by arcane power before bursting into flames as a bolt of fire shot forward and exploded in a flurry of sparks over a scurrying rat.
I watched the poor creature in sheer awe. It was not because I had fried the unfortunate pest; but because for the first time in my life, I had summoned arcane power! Not only had I summoned it, but also I had full control over the spell!
It was then that I remembered the promises that were whispered within my mind. Power... such was delivered... all I needed now was revenge. That would have to wait however, as I was not strong enough. No, I would never survive the battle that would take the lives of the necromancer and those that were under him during the attack. My revenge would wait... I stood and once again viewed myself in the shallow pool of water and viewed my state of nakedness. I would not survive long like this.
I turned back to look upon the center of town where the massive blaze of last night should have been. All that was in its place were nothing but ashes. Something urged me toward the ashes however; and when I reached in with my hands, I felt the folds of cloth under my fingertips.
As my hands pulled free of the ashes I found myself holding a large robe, orange and red in color, adorned around the middle of the robe with images of dancing flames captured in motion. It was absolutely beautiful and so wonderfully made. I was elated at the gift the powers I served had given me, and I soon pulled it on my no longer naked form.
The moment the last fasten of the robe was secured around me I once again heard the whispers of the crackling flame within the depths of my mind. Soulic was dead and gone, burned to ashes by the flames of hatred and rage. My name echoed within the crackling flames, the name the powers I now serve have blessed me with. Scathien, though I realized it was more than a name, but a title within itself: Servant of the Flame...
Scathien
Sept 31
It has been one week since I left the site of my birth, traveling south into the massive desert to seek out the one called “Flameforger”. Though I knew I was not ready for such confrontation, as I did not yet have full mastery over my spells just yet. Oh, by the powers I serve they were incredibly powerful. Hellfire, Firestorm, and Explosion were my favorites fro the most part, as I felt the urge to be as destructive as possible.
Hellfire, something that should have been far beyond my “novice” casting ability, came easily to my mind and my use, engulfing the surrounding area of my person in a raging inferno, consuming all in a 35 ft radius of my person. Such destructive power was at my fingertips but I had not the full knowledge of what I had received. I was to go to Flameforger and learn, by either his will or my force... the secrets of the Element of Fire...
Unfortunately, I had a long while to reach the Elemental Master of Fire, and my first stop led me to a remote village on the outskirts of the desert. Its name was of no consequence to me, and hours after leaving it, I had forgotten its name because well... it was no longer standing... The stupid pretentious bastards told me I was not welcome because of what I was. I did not know nor did I care what those damnable high elves were speaking about, but deep within my soul, I felt the flames of anger and hatred rise within the depths of my very being... Damn them! Every one of them! I would not stand there and be insulted by such pretentious scum!
I then felt the anger shift into pure arcane power, surging through my body before manifesting around the elves that barred my entry. They felt it as well, they could see the rage and anger within the swirling depths of my eyes and they knew their death was upon them.
The sounds of explosions filled the air of the quiet village as they were ripped apart by the fury of my spell the powers I serve had imparted to me. I had named it “Explosion” for obvious reasons, and when I looked upon the ripped and torn bodies of the elves before me... I knew why I called it as such...
Still my rage was not sated. I would make them all pay... My hands rose to the sky as words and arcane energy flowed from my body to the skies above as air condensed and combusted forming into hundreds of balls of fire, raining to the ground in a storm of explosions, the aptly named “Firestorm” as it was called had completely destroyed the town. The sounds of elves: women, men, children... they all filled my ears as they were consumed and the town was reduced to nothing but ashes.
I strode forward into the black smoke as I was led to the center of the village. I stood there for a moment as I felt a compulsion to raise my hands to the sky as I chanted once again. As I fell silent, every flame in the village ceased to exist; there were not even warm coals that existed. For a moment, I wondered what had happened.
Quite suddenly, a massive inferno arose from my feet, towering 20 feet into the air as I stood in the center of it. Though I did not burn, I did not even feel warm. I did however, feel revitalized. I felt the very essence of the flame delving into the depths of my soul, recharging my energies. I felt fully rested as if I had slept an entire day. The sensations were amazing. When it was all said and done, the last bit of flames had flowed into my eyes; and all was quiet. Not even a warm coal had been left. There is nothing more for me here... It is time to move into the desert...
Scathien
Oct 7
The days get steadily colder, and the bandits far bolder than ever before. Five times today, desert bandits have accosted me. I do not know why they seem drawn to me like flies to dead flesh. Perhaps the powers I serve wished to test my growing mastery of the flame, or perhaps it has been mere coincidence... It matters not to me, I will find to soon anyway. Currently I have the last group of bandits surrounded by a spell I found I had at my command that surrounded my foes in walls of fire... a prison of sorts.
I plan to torture the so-called “leader” of this band of fools to see if they know the reason I was attacked... I will learn one way or the other...
Ahh... I enjoyed the screams as their bodies burned and their limbs flailed in the air under my flames. I was told that the leader of the bandits that had been attacking me was a water mage who hid in one of the mountain caves to the east near an underwater lake... Supposedly, a renegade drow had felt my passing and decided to try and get rid of me... I think its time I paid a visit to this drow hydromancer....
Scathien
Oct 9
Damned moronic hydromancers... to think that poor bastard could stand up to me! The screams of a water mage are like music to my ears, and soothing to my very soul. That drow never stood a chance, and I consumed his body in my own flames of rage and hatred, drawing forth my most powerful magics to utterly annihilate him.... His shield held up when the fireball hit... though he panicked in fear when his comrades around him were completely incinerated... he could never defend against a direct attack with that sort of fear... not only would I destroy him, I would humiliate him. My hands were outstretched as the Burning Fingers spell flowed from my hands, teasing his pathetic barrier he had erected.
He began to panic. Oh, how I savored the fear he projected! Because of it, he was unable to cast any spells to defend himself and the flames constricted around his pathetic carcass, completely enveloping him as it continued to eat away at the barrier of cold around him.
Finally it broke through; skin was charred and blackened and his screams filled the room as the chaotic passion of the destructive flames fully consumed him before the spell faded; leaving his body as nothing more than a charred and blackened husk before his dead body collapsed into a pile of ashes. I now sit amongst those very same ashes. It is time to rest... and prepare... another fight is always along the road to a final goal....
Scathien
Aug 1 (Dated this year)
The time has finally come to leave this accursed cave... the ashes of a hundred fallen hydromancers litter the floor of the cave I have come to inhabit. At least twice in one week I am accosted by hydromancers who believe them to be superior... and all of them have fallen to ashes before my powers...
Shortly after I had chosen to stay within the cave, I had found that I no longer required physical sustenance for my physical body to survive. The powers that I serve had granted me freedom from the physical weaknesses of sleep and hunger. I seemed to be sustained well enough by the screams of the hydromancers that I killed time and time again.
Every time one fell at my hands, I felt my powers grow stronger, as if the powers were pleased with me. Spells came easier to my lips and fingers each and every time I needed them. Even during the days I was not attacked by the pathetic hydromancers I was challenged by even more pathetic warriors and knights coming in their place. I let their screams sate me until another acolyte of the water was drawn to the place of my dwelling.
I have survived for nearly a year like this. Now it was time to confront the Elemental Master of fire himself... The old Dwarf Flameforger... I had to learn the secrets that not even the powers could show me. From these writings, I stay here my final night... I sense that a Hydromancer approaches... my sustenance for my trip... my goal comes closer... I will not stop... I WILL make him scream...
Scathien
Aug 23
So I stood in front of the place the master smith and Elemental Master of Fire, Flameforger the dwarf resided within. My goal stood before me, and so I entered. When told that I sought the secrets of the flame he simply laughed at me... He laughed at me! Right there and then I felt the urge to strike him down, to incinerate his body and to make him scream in pain and agony... though the thoughts were not my own, as the flames whispered them to me... They told me he did not serve the flames, he commanded them as if they were his servant. How he did so if too far beyond my comprehension.
The flames also told me that he had extracted the secrets I needed to complete my transition to be the strongest pyromancer I had to be so I could confront that damned Necromancer. They could not reveal these secrets to me for some reason... apparently Flameforger had taken the ability away from the flames to speak of their secrets... he had to die in order for me to reach my goal. That the flames had convinced me of. I knew, however that if I attacked, I would not win this battle... Not in Flameforger's own stronghold.
As if he saw the debate going on within my mind he spoke, and told me that if I could not learn to control the flame that it would fully consume a fool such as me. From there I do not know if my actions were my own or if they were forced upon me by the powers that I serve, but my dagger flew free of its sheath as I leapt towards Flameforger to strike him down. Flames erupted around my body as the chaotic and destructive nature of fire came to my aid and I attacked him with a fury I had never known before...
And awoke several hours later...
I do not remember much of anything that happened. However, I remember a single flash of light just before I lost consciousness, and he spoke to me again. Telling me that because my actions were not my own... he spared me... but he would not do so again... He said if I could learn to control the flames instead of serve them... then perhaps he would teach me...
I looked around the ground where I lay, beside me a travel pack and a month's supply of rations lay at my side. For the first time since I took the pact of fire... I felt hungry... I was cold... my power was locked away... my hair and eyes were almost the same as before... even my body temperature was mostly back to normal... It was then I realized that the power that once flowed through me so freely does so no longer... He had sealed it away in hopes I would come to my senses when it came forth once more so that I would be able to control it.
Whispers in my mind, probably from Flameforger, told me to head north toward the forests of Nanthalion, to seek out the Tower of Unigo and to learn how to control what I had lost. In the morning I will seek out this tower... though it is roughly a month's journey away.
I did manage to start a fire with what little power I had left... Flameforger was kind enough to leave me with my two weakest spells, and with those at near minimal power. The flames did lean toward me, as if wanting me to immolate myself so they could undo what Flameforger had done to their servant. I placed my hand into the flames, but jerked it back just as quick... for I had gotten burned...
I had managed to retain a sliver of my power... or perhaps Flameforger allowed me to do so... as small as it was... it would be enough to survive until I reached this tower.... My goal was not crushed... simply detoured.... I will reach it one way or another...
Scathien
Sept 23
It has been one month of travel. I have been walking through seemingly endless forest for days in hopes I would locate this place called Nanthalion. I sit here writing this as I eat my final day of rations within the pack that Flameforger had apparently left me. I suppose I should thank him in some way... for in locking away my powers it has kept the hydromancers that had continually sought me out at bay, unable to find me.
I look up and I see faint lights ahead. I must have finally reached the town of Nanthalion... one goal has been accomplished... now to locate the Tower of Unigo and begin my training...
Scathien