[✗] The Blight of Edan/The Dark Flame

[NomadGaia 924]

 

 

The Rediscovery

Beneath, under the shadows of the trees that so lovingly belonged to the dominion, a woman shuffled along the beaten roads that surrounded the grove city. They were almost silent, but for the steady patter of gentle rains that often dripped from the canopy, onto the ground below. The woman carried an engraved branch that thudded against dirt and stone alike, kicking up mud as she marched on through the woods. Her path weaved back and forth, with a lackadaisical sense of misdirection. She was merely wandering through the woods, thinking.

Awaiti’s mind had come to a shivering halt these past months. She had been addled with nightmares that had begun to chip away at her weary mind. Every thought came in short bursts, every whim came and went as easily as the breezes passing through the leaves. She felt fragmented, scattered thin. In fact, she had grown so disheveled that the voices of nature that usually populated her mind had grown disjointed and malformed in her ears. Eventually, even the rain grew silent for her. The foggy clouds flowed through the canopy, painting the forest a dusky hue. She wandered on, trying to rediscover the voices that were almost lost to her.

At last, she heard something, deep in the woods. A heartbeat. It's strange strings plucked in her ears, echoing quietly out. Something alive. It drew her, like a moth to the flame. With each beat of the heart, she took another step closer. And it grew louder and louder in her ears. She bobbed and weaved through trees, regardless of if she was cut by thorns. This primal urge surged her forwards, and she was unable to resist its calls.

She came upon a dip in the ground that fell away to reveal a small opening in the earth. Awaiti descended into the earth below, uncaring of the dangers that she might see before her. She dragged her fingers along the walls of the darkened cave, using only the steadily increasing sound of a beating heart to guide her. Her nails scraped against the walls, loosing black husks from the walls as she went, and they fell to the floor in a collection of dark ash.

As the young druid descended into the deep dark below, the cavern’s walls started to be painted with a dim glow at first. Then, in harmony with the growing heartbeat, it too grew in intensity. Before long, the heartbeat had taken over the very fiber of her being, screaming into her ears. Then she came upon it. She ducked her head under an arch, seeing its wonderful glow cascading onto the walls around her. A brazier, carrying a black flame inside of it. Yet even with this grey flame, it produced a light that rivaled the intensity from the sun. It looked like an eclipse, but so very close to her. It was alive, and it pulsated with a beat much like a heart.

At the back of her mind, something tugged. Something, somewhere pulled at the fabrics of her being and she was urged to commune with the flame. The living, breathing flame. She hadn’t connected to much in a while, and she desired the feeling once more. She knelt before it, closing her weary eyes. Only, when she reached out to touch its presence, it fought back, pushing her away from connection. Awaiti reeled back in pain, crying out into the caverns in frustration, pain, and suffering. She picked up her staff and left in such a hurry that she didn’t see the ashen pile of a dying man in the corner. She ascended the caverns once more, seeking to tell them of the living dark flame. She left the cave, not seeing the sinister growths returning to the walls of the cave as she left.

 

What Is It?

The Dark Flame is a set of druidic lore covering a new type of unique “blight”, its weaknesses, the rituals and backstory surrounding it. This lore is designed for medium to large scale druidic event-lines, as well as to foster long term character development and roleplay. It consists of two main parts. The dark blight, and the dark flame. The basic premise is that the blight is unable to be healed through normal druidic blight healing. It instead requires the dark flame, a fire that always needs a costly fuel in order to push back the blight.

 

The Dark Blight of Edan

In the age of the ancient Mali, where wandering seeds covered the forest realms, the dark blight took root. It began with a druid, naught more powerful than you or I. His name was Edan. Only, his faith was weak, and he sought strength more than all. His deepest desire was to control- to rule over others. But who amongst you would follow a weak lord? In his quest for power, he discovered a dark, and most foul ability that defied the very laws of nature. The ability to drain druids of their gifts and connections to the aspects, collecting them like trophies. When his fellow druids approached him, he stripped them of what made them beings of the aspects, transforming them into fiery, blackened husks. Still elves, but shells of their former selves. In each of them, a fire burned away at their hearts. Edan was correct. It did make him a powerful druid, feeding off their lifeforce. But turning the covenant into something so dark didn’t go without punishment. For his crimes against nature itself, his soul grew dark, and his form was corrupted, and it rotted like moldy bread. In one last act of defiance against the aspects, he split himself over the land, defiling it with his very being. In that moment, Edan became the dark blight. And he kept splitting and spreading over the land like a plague. It latched onto plants, animals, and people alike, sprouting black and white husks of pus, consuming their life until they withered away into nothingness. It was a rampant time of unparalleled corruption and loss.

OOC Description of the Blight: The Dark Blight is a black and white pus (See above picture) that feeds off of the connection that animals, plants, people (Especially druids) have to the aspects. It’s an almost a parasitic life form that takes over the body, and when the connection is weakened, it begins to feast off the baser life of the creature until its eventual ending. It has the power to cripple druids, and ecosystems. It has the unique effect of being immune to a druid’s blight healing ability. However, this blight has no connection to any kind of magic user. It cannot be created by any being. It is not meant to be a weapon. It affects all life, not just wood elves, or druids. Another unique property of the blight is that it can be communed with, by powerful druids T4-T5. It can be communed with in either its active or dormant state. However, this connection only speeds the spreading of the blight, so it’s not recommended. However, this opens some opportunities for creative roleplaying and story, as it can give some insight into the character of Edan. It’s also an important thing to note that Edan is the blight. He is present in every piece of it.

The Dark Flame

In the newly created age of disparity, none were spared safety from the monstrosity created by Edan. It had stretched into the very soil of the isles. The druids were pushed to the breaking point. So many had been lost to the blight, over just the past year alone. They needed to put a stop to it. They sought guidance from the aspects, who bequeathed unto them the lost brazier. It was empty but for the thin coat of ashes before. No flame illuminated the halls, nothing. They cried out in frustration for the fading age. Unbeknownst to them, the aspects had already sent the flame down to them, in the form of the druii whose hearts burned with rage at their missing pieces. Those druii that had their connections ripped from their grasp were given one more chance to live for their people. When they approached the lost brazier, their bodies were cast alight in darkened flames that the brazier took for its own.

Thus was created the dark flame, first of its kind. At the moment of its creation, the blight’s spreading stopped, and even began to reverse, being consumed by the flames. But the flame itself was fading, as fast as it had began. In a final act of desperation, they cast one more druid to it, in an attempt to extend the life of the fire. Oh! The woeful cost of lifeblood! Instead of succumbing to the flame, they grew ashen skin and a burning heart. They were named “The Guardian Druid of the Lost Flame”. It was a hidden atrocity under the guise of a saving grace. The flame fed on every last fiber of the guardian’s being over time, but this was unknown to all at the time. The blight was drawn back to the flame, into its very core, and was burned. But flecks remained by, remnants of Edan’s gluttony. Scraps of the great feast of power. The druids sealed the lost brazier, and the guardian of the flame into an underground kiln, hoping to keep Edan’s blight away. They carved the annals of Edan’s reign onto the very walls of the cavern, hoping that future generations would know what to do when the flame needs to be refueled. Eventually, the blight, the kiln, and the flame were all lost to time. Even now, the mali fades with the passing flame.

OOC Description of the Flame: The flame is the blight’s main weakness. It entirely stops the blight, as well as reverses its effects by slowly pulling it into the flame. However, the flame only acts as a sort of containment for it. When the flame fades, the blight is slowly loosed as the flame grows weaker. The flame is fueled at a terrible cost. In order to fuel the flame, you must sacrifice a druid to the lost brazier. This doesn’t kill the druid. It does, however, link the druid’s soul to the fire. The flame, over time, feeds on the druid’s life and connection with the aspects. However, being linked to the flame, the druid technically lives as long as it does.

 

 

[A good visual representation of a Guardian of the Lost Flame might look like]

Guardians of the Lost Flame

Oh how the accursed one wept! Flames lept through his skin, touching the sweet essence of his soul. It caught alight with the same black flame that burned so brightly.  The caustic flame had taken root in his soul, scorching him from the inside. It set ablaze any hopes of bountiful woods within his heart. His soul burned with the flame now, linked forever by the lost brazier. Forsaken now he walks, stepping from the lost brazier. His fate had been seared into the very depths of his body. Damned, he lives now a life cleft in twain, with the purer half cast into the fire. His gifts were now the fire’s to feast upon, like a gluttonous pig. Man looked on his new, wicked form with hatred and despise. The druid’s once holy countenance now took on a burning visage, with gashes that let his igneous blood show. He carried now the sight of demons, though not of the heritage himself.

Even his reward was in vain. He carried now the strength of several men, yet he used it to pull a stone over the entrance to the kiln, to seal the flame from the memory of the woeful world. In his ultimate sacrifice, he doomed himself t’ hundreds of years of solitude. Centuries of feasting on the festering rot boiled the very brains of the withered sage into a rotten jelly. Even to this day his singed flesh boils the very air of the kiln, waiting for someone to cast aside the stone, for he no longer carries the strength to move it aside.

OOC Description of Guardians: Guardians of the Flame are the druids that are sacrificed to the flame in order to keep back the Blight of Edan. When a druid is sacrificed, they enter the flames. But instead of burning them, the flame replaces their heart with a molten husk, which also replaces their blood with fire as well. This process is known as the rite of dark flame, as recorded by the ancient druids. It bonds the druid to the dark flame itself, and it can be both a blessing and a curse. The effects are compiled in this list.

 

Curses:

• “His gifts were now the fire’s to feast upon, like a gluttonous pig.”: A druid’s connection to the aspects slowly wither away over time, and the druid’s progression in magic begins to reverse in tiers. However, there is a loophole here. Re-attunement refreshes the druid’s connection, allowing them to use their gifts once again, restarting the decay cycle from their previous tier. However, this removes the blessing of strength that the fire gives.

• “The druid’s once holy countenance now took on a burning visage, with gashes that let his igneous blood show.”: The flame physically deforms the body in several ways. It starts by replacing the druid’s heart and blood with its fire. Over parts of the body, the veins on the surface give off a glow, and on occasion burn away the skin, revealing the fiery veins inside, creating molten ravines on the skin. Long after they become these guardians, these gashes have grown, almost covering their skin. Note that this doesn’t hurt the druid, but it may hurt others in a close vicinity to the druid.

 

Blessings:

• “He carried now the strength of several men, yet he used it to pull a stone over the entrance to the kiln, to seal the flame from the memory of the woeful world.”: As guardians lose their Druidic gifts and abilities, they find themselves holding a newfound strength in return for their sacrifice. With the strength of the flame, a Guardian could, without any of his druidic gifts, lift and carry things much too heavy for the normal descendent. 1000 lbs (453 kg). This number may seem very high, but it's not even out of the realm of possibilities for a person in the real world to do.

• “Centuries of feasting on the festering rot boiled the very brains of the withered sage into a rotten jelly.”: Perhaps one of the only ways to actually destroy the Blight of Edan, Guardians have the innate ability to devour portions of the blight, incinerating it within themselves, at the cost of their very sanity. This can also be a form of sustenance, as we saw with the first guardian. He lived for years and years off of only the blight in the kiln. Again, re-attunement is a way to reverse this effect.

 

Miscellaneous:

• “In his ultimate sacrifice, he doomed himself t’ hundreds of years of solitude”: Guardians of the Flame and the Flame itself are linked together under one being. This means that the Guardian lives as long as the flame does, and the Flame lives as long as the guardian does. Theoretically, unless the flame is extinguished, the guardian could live much past their lifespan. However, if the flame is extinguished, the druid fades with it. This one may be seen as either a blessing or curse, as it does give the druid the chance at an extended lifespan, but it gives them an Achilles heel in the sense that if the flame is extinguished, they die. It’s up to the individual to decide how to interpret this..

 

Why is this only popping up now? Why haven’t we heard of it?

While the druids recorded all of what they knew of the flame in the kiln, they ordered the Guardian of Flame to seal it off, with himself inside, that the world might move past these atrocities. Fittingly, they baptised their records in a molten bath. For their day to day magics were disrupted by the very thought of Edan’s abominations.  The notion that he might return… it brought shock to the very core of their being, and so they banished every last trace of him from the land. Eventually, like he faded from the land, he faded from memory. And we left, going home to home. But we’ve returned, thankfully, at the fated hour. Unbeknownst to the ame’ circle, they’ve made their home atop the buried kiln. The fire is fading, and the guardian has all but passed. In one final act of servitude, he unsealed the kiln, casting aside the stone with his last bit of strength. Decisions must be made, or the blight will return to the land of Axios.

OOC: Lore wise, After the druids were safe from the Blight, they burned the records out of fear. So, they were safe then, why aren’t we safe now? Well, it’s because the lost flame is dying, and, as stated before, it was only a “container” of sorts for the blight. Thus, the blight is being let out, very slowly. In a final act, the guardian unsealed the kiln, so that whoever wanted to enter could. This also exposes the records. However, I want much of this information to be revealed through event-lines and roleplay. The world hasn’t known about it for years, and it shouldn’t be roleplayed like people know what they’re dealing with.

 

FAQ

• Why doesn’t blight healing or any other way of healing taint work? By extension, the blight is still a living person, merely split to create this blight-like object. It has a conscience, and by extension is a person. You can’t blight heal a person into nothingness. This applies also to druidic control. While it is a living being, you can’t quite control humanoid beings with the magic, so therefore you wouldn’t be able to control the blight either.

• Can more than one guardian exist at a given time?  Yes. However, I wanna have a small cap, simply for the sake of balance. Also, it would just be a bit strange going around seeing this sort of mythical protector everywhere you go.

 

Concept Images

[The Dark Flame]

“In my body I hold the Dark Flame. May my creators have mercy on me”

(PC: Darkfire Concept Image)

 

[The Lost Brazier]

“It’s not even a brazier. It’d almost be funny if it weren’t so symbolic. An altar, in place of a brazier to hold the flame. I’ll laugh anyways. Ho-ho.”

(PC: Google Searches)

 

[Edan’s Blight]

“Good god. It takes after his likeness. Even before it all, he was a dark, festering sort of character… if only we knew then.”

(PC: Fungus- Last of Us)

 

 

[A Guardian of the Lost Flame]

“It’s really you then? Under all that?”

“My dearest, down to my deepest fiber I wish it weren’t…”

(PC: Soul of Cinders -DS3)

 

[The Kiln of Dark Flame]

“Do you know what they did to him? The very man who saved the world? They locked him, and that which he despised most into a room, and forgot him. Not to save themselves.. But for fear.”

(PC: jbrown67 on DeviantART)

[arakrsptec 171]

Good stuff that provides a different aspect to Druidism. Large +1

[Swgrclan 2632]

 

[lev 627]

well written

[GodEmperorFlam 3447]

Thank you for submitting your piece, unfortunately it has been denied. The blessings and curses need better defining, in addition to the fact that there lacks sufficient reasoning as to why/how the Aspects would work in such a manner.

 

Topic moved to Denied Lore forum.