The First Dark Congress

[Zarsies 6795]

From the head-oriented side of the table nearest Vapor and Naruntah, the gloomy gal just faintly lifts from her seat, her levitating posture fixing her eyes to rival the tallest of those present that she may. From her hypothetical throne of vainglory and menace, the false face of the Barrowlord parts its rose lips to usher words in a drenched, waterlogged voice as if comprised of transcendental song gargled through abyssal throats; many, deep, and prominent. 

 

"N͞ame h̨e͝ŗ ͞a̶nd̛ ̷c͢i̡t͡e̵ yo̧ur d̷e҉fini͝t҉ion͞ ͟o̢f́ in̸n͠o͞ce҉n͘t̕, ͡holyma҉n.́"

 

By the very utterance of her speech, the maiden's form implies falsehoods. The very nature of her being and quality to her sight, sound, and sensations rippling with an undertone of hoaxed power and illusion.

[TeaLulu 1783]

((As a reminder on behalf of Swgrclan, this is a closed environment. For reference, the meeting does not take place in the library proper, but in a closed off balcony area. Please see my first post for more information on the environment. If you are not an actual Scholar of the library or one of the people invited, you do not have access to this library. I'll be having an FM remove the posts of those who are not actually present. Thanks. ))

[Rig 17580]

Gareth Hawthorne, a Necromancer clad in tabard of Hallowvale made his entrance, his vision sweeping the entirety of the hall. He wordlessly paced off to find a place to stand aside his brethren... an Eye of Aerk'iath placed on his right pauldron. 

[Parkins 550]

As the parties speak amongst themselves, a decrepit old man is brought into the room, sat upon a seat of carved stone. The chair is brought into the room by two ghouls, seemingly Ologs in their past lives, which then set the man down for the meeting.

 

As the ghouls leave the area, the man slouches over to the side slightly, eyes scanning about the room as his hand trembles slightly. If one did not know better, he would appear as an old corpse, skin drawn taut upon fragile bones, even as wrinkles line his features. His brown hair is mostly grey now, falling out in various places. His emerald green eyes, however, remain the same as always.

[Ventusyr 233]

The priest regards the Barrowlord as she speaks. His emotionless expression does not change, save for a nigh-imperceptible furrowing of the brow at her warped appearance and unsettling voice.

 

"The cleric they hold captive is one known as Elvira Mantisuku, otherwise known as the Arm," he responds after a moment. "My definition of an innocent is simple: one who does not attempt to gain power over their fellow mortals through violent means, and who does not bring into this world taint, both in a moral and literal sense, for such inevitably leads to suffering for the Descendants. I am aware that none is truly 'innocent' in a Canonist sense, where we all have committed sins against one another, and that we are all imperfect, but violence, death, and taint are fairly unambiguous things, and what my Lord and my Brothers and Sisters in Him consider evil. It is the Mission of Purity to bring an end to such darkness, and to mend where evil leaves its foul tracks."

[Rig 17580]

3 minutes ago, Ventusyr said:

The priest regards the Barrowlord as she speaks. His emotionless expression does not change, save for a nigh-imperceptible furrowing of the brow at her warped appearance and unsettling voice.

 

"The cleric they hold captive is one known as Elvira Mantisuku, otherwise known as the Arm," he responds after a moment. "My definition of an innocent is simple: one who does not attempt to gain power over their fellow mortals through violent means, and who does not bring into this world taint, both in a moral and literal sense, for such inevitably leads to suffering for the Descendants. I am aware that none is truly 'innocent' in a Canonist sense, where we all have committed sins against one another, and that we are all imperfect, but violence, death, and taint are fairly unambiguous things, and what my Lord and my Brothers and Sisters in Him consider evil. It is the Mission of Purity to bring an end to such darkness, and to mend where evil leaves its foul tracks."

Gareth looks towards the priest, Ashanaak. "Violence brings about change, death is natural, and taint is to a degree natural as well. There must be bad things, and good things, but to destroy one side of the spectrum inevitably leads to chaos. Thence, a man can assume that you are wrong and that the Xionist ideals that promote in its stead mortal kind, progression, and the natural ways are inherently better.

"Your kind are ultimately wrong because unlike us, when the First Sin and the wars against Iblees raged you turned to the gods for aid, alas, we had no such luxury and turned to the mortal magics; Necromancy, Blood Magic, Mysticism -- all of which are not inherently evil, different to your magics that are specifically designed to slaughter others over religious or ideological differences."

[youdude 104]

"Pawns see only see the board from their side; And that's what you are. Pawns of your so-called holy guide, blinded to the wider spectrum of things." Piped up the elf sat against the wall, corking up his prized metallic liquor container as he did. "As my friend here said, there must be a balance of power. You just chose the easy path." His mismatched eyes lingered on the cleric for a short while, before his head drooped, and his gaze shifted to his own gloved palms; Fingers clenching and unclenching once or twice. Seems like he was done.

[Parkins 550]

"E-Easy.."

 

The old man lets out a rasping laugh after repeating the word, which soon devolves to a fit of coughs and wheezing.

 

"Do you see me now, and see ease, holy men? I have fought the forces of Iblees first hand.. on multiple occasions. I watched brothers and sisters die at their wretched hands.. What do you do? You sit about, asking your gods for help, no matter how little actually comes.." He lets out another cough, deep and guttural.

 

"Do you believe praying to your gods is harder than the work I have done? The studies?  The sacrifices I have made? The physical and mental DEGRADATION?!"

 

He speaks the final word angrily, louder than the rest of his impromptu speech, before coughing once more,  taking a deep breath as he sets back, finished speaking it would seem.

[HurferDurfer1 2978]

 "Pff, more like sent your lackeys to die while you sat back and pulled the strings you green eyed devil!" Coltaine would holler after (Parkins) The old mans speech

[Ventusyr 233]

"I shall agree with you that death is natural, but when it is violently brought, when one Descendant seeks power over others, that is indeed evil. I fail to see how you can argue that murder and torture is beneficial to the progression of Man, and that taint, the substance that brings agony and death to Descendants afflicted with it and renders land disfigured and abhorrent, is a suitable tool to use for such."

 

The priest pauses for a moment, letting out a small exhale before continuing:

 

"The Vehement Lord came down to grant boons to the clerics because the world was filled with unnatural arts that were used to abuse the Descendants. I have seen the taint of Iblees and the taint of necromancers leave land in decaying rot, the very life of the plants warped, disfigured, and drained. My kin of the Druian can attest to this. I have seen the disgusting effects of Soul Puppetry. I have seen the gold poured in the eyes of mali'ame by Kalenz's aheral, and the earless Elvish corpses left by Orenian soldiers, and the dying soldiers left in Setherien's realm. Destruction of life and happiness is evil. It simply is. And the most effective tools for bringing about this evil, the most efficient of boons for those seeking to create as much chaos and destruction as possible, are the unholy arts that Tahariae, Blessed Be His Name, deems Impure.

 

"The Arch-Aengul's boons are not designed to purge those with ideological differences, but to purge those who would seek to utilize taint and the lives of others for personal power, who tamper with things that should not be tampered with to cause suffering to the Innocent. We do not care if you hate our Lord, and we do not care if you hate us. We do care if your hatred causes you to bring harm to those who wish to live left alone and in peace. We do care if you taint the realm and its people.

 

"Tahariae, Blessed Be His Name, seeks to bring the realm back to Purity, back to a time when there was no taint or evil in the world. Where none may fall to the sword, and none may fall to taint. I care not how difficult such a goal is to achieve; if I see injustice and suffering, it is my duty as not only a servant of the Lord of Purity, but as a fellow Descendant, to defend the victim, and to heal the suffering."

 

When the old, decrepit man speaks, Ashanaak turns to him, and his lips purse before shaking his head.

 

"I never once insinuated it was the easier path, but you took a route of corruption. Whatever effects came to you as a result of relying on such arts is only a testament to how unfit they are to be utilized by the sons and daughters of the Four, and how unnatural they are. I appreciate the assistance you lent in fighting the Dark One's forces, but such does not render your path the right path."

 

He glances to the side at Coltaine's sudden call, and here, the elf falls silent.

[Geo 1415]

Naruntah slides a shameful glare over at Gareth as he unleashes a torrent of accusations and aggression at the priest.  "Be civil or be rid." His words strike quietly enough that Gareth and those nearby would hear him, but not that he would disrupt the discussion.  Not giving Gareth the pleasure of acknowledgement any further, he turns his condescending gaze to the parties that had raised their voices as a pitiful result of Gareth's own actions.

[Rig 17580]

20 minutes ago, Geo said:

Naruntah slides a shameful glare over at Gareth as he unleashes a torrent of accusations and aggression at the priest.  "Be civil or be rid." His words strike quietly enough that Gareth and those nearby would hear him, but not that he would disrupt the discussion.  Not giving Gareth the pleasure of acknowledgement any further, he turns his condescending gaze to the parties that had raised their voices as a pitiful result of Gareth's own actions.

Gareth Hawthorne simply remained unnaturally still, eying the discourse quietly. 

[Ventusyr 233]

Ashanaak regards Gareth, his expression still that of detached somberness, before looking back to the group as a whole. "I have nothing more to say. What else must be addressed in this meeting?"

 

 

[Farryn 860]

Elvira remains silent, listening to the meeting. At Ashanaak's statement to Gareth, the captive cleric smiles ever so faintly yet sadly. She was falling apart from her captivity and wanted to be back with her friends and family... being held in a cell for a whole year was affecting her badly, physically and mentally. It reminded her of her past and she didn't enjoy any second of it, even if her captor was treating her like an equal. She could just hop over the table and run to the Prophet and the others the moment this Congress was over, knowing they would defend her and take her away from this mess. Elvira, however, knew full well that would be hard, impossible, she would certainly cause trouble... perhaps ruin the whole things that this Congress was going to achieve: A period of peace and calmness.

 

So she remains where she is, listening and praying for her release.

 

(Just felt like including some thoughts from Elvira, keep her in this and this meeting going)

[Harri 4815]

Drauch seemed... humoured, over in his shady spot - slightly away from the others. Despite lacking the physical ability to chuckle, he gave it his best shot, giving a quiet and eerie sounding cackle from within the confines of his steel suit.

 

'None of you know the real definition of torment.' he thought.

 

'Clerics and the like speak of us as evil... How we torture those around us for amusement... Idiots. We are realists. We progress the world around us - all the while facing much worse agony than any we affect might receive.' he continued in his head.

 

Surprisingly, he recognised many here - whether it be the Druii trio, the tormented Elvira, the Hallowvale mage or even the old men. He'd met them all at some point. But they didn't recognise him. Sure, they most likely recognised the murderous slave he had become, but they didn't recognise him. People he had once loved or called friends. They did not care about the hardships he had faced, the suffering he had endured now.

No. Only one other had experienced what he went through, day in and day out. 

 

He gave a sidewards glance to his nearly eternal partner Raziel, patting his shoulder once.