about the life you cling to so dearly || to the veilward remnants

[molly molly molly 1329]

Spoiler

“ᴡʜʏ ᴍᴜꜱᴛ ᴍᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ʟᴀᴜɢʜ ᴀᴛ ᴍᴇ, ᴅʀᴇꜱꜱɪ?”

"ᴏɴᴇ ᴅᴀʏ ɪ'ʟʟ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ꜱᴛᴏᴘ." 

"ᴛʜᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇʏ'ʟʟ ʙᴇ ꜱᴏʀʀʏ."
 “ᴛʜᴇʏ’ʟʟ ᴀʟʟ ʙᴇ ꜱᴏʀʀʏ.”

⫥ ⸶ ჟ ⸷ ⫢

჻჻჻ ⫥ ϗϟ ⫘  ϗϟ ⫢ ჻჻჻

 

ʜᴇᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀᴛʀᴏɴ'ꜱ ᴅᴇᴄʀᴇᴇ. ᴏʙᴇʏ.

 

 

ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴍᴇ. ᴡᴏʀꜱʜɪᴘ ᴍᴇ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴇꜱᴘᴀɪʀ.

⫥ ⸶ ჟ ⸷ ⫢

 

[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErSwDczBYD0 ]

 

Outside the Veilward there is one final missive staked to a wooden post, whose papyrus rattles in the dry wind. Too, do black ravens send the parchment to remaining members of the Veilward. Mages who could not be reached might see the missive nailed at crossroads in the west, and the Crownlands if they were brave enough to pass through. The missive’s author worked tirelessly to ensure this missive would be seen by their eyes. 

 

჻჻჻ ᴛ ᴏ   ᴛ ʜ ᴇ   ʀ ᴇ ᴍ ɴ ᴀ ɴ ᴛ ꜱ   ᴏ ꜰ   ᴛ ʜ ᴇ   ᴠ ᴇ ɪ ʟ ᴡ ᴀ ʀ ᴅ ჻჻჻

 

I write to inform you that the meeting hall of the Veilward… 

 

Has been repainted red! Such a vibrant color. It’s almost sinful, I’d say. Sin, sin.. Perhaps it feels sinful because this paint is drawn from the corpses of the Veilward’s own? Those whose gore now lovingly smear its walls? Those whose blood comprises this very ink? Oh how deeply I am in love with my work. Our, work, I should write.

 

Oh, but it’s not my sin, is it? No, no. That would be Architect’s, your beloved, world-eating parasite! She, who is responsible for their deaths, and those guaranteed to come in the near future. 

 

-⫥ ⸶ ჟ ⸷ ⫢-

჻჻჻ ⫥ ϗϟ ⫘  ϗϟ ⫢ ჻჻჻

 

 

Read, and read well, you primitive sorceresses, and wizards of the Veilward.

 

The Veilward has been reduced to rubble, and its inhabitants slaughtered– as I always intended. 

All remaining Veilward associates who still draw breath are next. 

 

How little you impressed me. Even the most novice of my Shadowsages, fresh from Faern Magthere, infantize your intellect, cunning, and magical prowess. I suppose it is to be expected. You are a primitive people, you wizards of Aos and Eos. How I hated every moment I was forced to spend with you. 

 

Each and every one of you are known.

You will be hunted down.

There is nowhere you can hide.

 

Not the ruinous south, the forests of the west, nor the ice of the north. Not the Dragon’s volcano, nor the Black Church if you are truly that stupid. Not Adria, nor Viru, where I know you flock to. Not the Crownlands. Not Storm Island, or Junmura which you failed to infiltrate.

 

Nowhere will shelter you. 

 

My web stretches to every shadow, every place you believe is safe. 

 

You will die in vain. 

You will die for nothing. 

You will die because the immortal Architect does not.

 

 

⫥ ⸶ ჟ ⸷ ⫢

 

 

 

How many more must die before you are willing to face justice, and suffer your final death, Architect?

 

Kim is dead. 

Macintosh is dead.

Many more will die vain deaths. 

 

They died, and will die because of you.

 

It is only her attempt at playing assassin to blame for why you will die in vain like Macintosh and Kim. Her attempt on the late Emperor Hadrian’s life is why you are killed on sight in every city, every day. Her immortality, and evasion of justice are why this doomed fate is guaranteed. You, Veilward magi, and magi abroad, suffer, and die because of her actions, and her actions alone, while she lives forever. Isn't that twisted? And I thought I was cruel.

 

She– it, is the Architect of nothing but your unceremonious, pointless end.

 

 

⫥ ⸶ ჟ ⸷ ⫢

 

 

Why do you not hate this creature, who has doomed you, and led you to oblivion? Are you stupid? Lucky for you...

 

... it doesn't need to be this way!

 

Abandon all loyalties you may have to Architect. Turn on this creature. Hunt it down. Destroy it, as it has destroyed you. Betray it, as it has betrayed you and your wellbeing. It, who has made this plane inhospitable for your kind, it who has made its denizens kill you so pointlessly on sight. Serve me. 

 

And in return? 

 

You will be spared. By aiding me in ending this creature, you will earn your life. You will not need to hide any longer, and you can continue your miserable, boring lives in peace. The few among you who possess a brain may even be welcomed into my service. Saneral @JustMeMorgan, perhaps. Even the Rimelance too @StingyParrot, if he is not blinded by vain notions of justice. Do write quickly, though.

 

Refuse this mercy? And you will die miserable, pointless deaths as scheduled. If you’re lucky, you may find yourself in a grave, rather than feeding the maggots in an alleyway or ditch somewhere - your head mounted on a spike outside of Rittersburg to rot in shame. If you’re not lucky–..

 

Dread what a woman like myself might have in store for you. 

 

Hunt me. Curse me. Plot against me. Scheme my downfall. You will fail, because you are dull, slow prey. Go ahead. Construct a Tear, as I expect from you of such exceptionally low intellect. Make it easy for me to track you down. Try to turn my allies against me. Hunt me with the Iblessian monstrosities I know you possess, Shadowspawn.  

 

 ⸶ ჟ ⸷

 

I will see it coming. You will be stopped. And when you are?

I will torture you until your lungs give out. 

 

Or– avoid this fate. Aid me, and my allies, in slaughtering this parasite,
who has deceived you in ways I never could.

 

The choice is yours. Choose wisely.

 

Either way,
I win.

 

 

჻჻჻ ⫥ ϗϟ ⫘  ϗϟ ⫢ ჻჻჻

⫥ ⸶ ჟ ⸷ ⫢

 

⫥ ⸶  ⸷ ⫢

ვ ხ Lil' Uyl'udith Golhyrr Ssrig'luin nau Faer ulu Luth ხ კ
ჟ ხ Vin'ult Qu'ellar Istovlos, Vin'ult Vailth ხ ჭ
 

ᴍᴀᴛʀᴏɴ ɴɪɢʜᴛʙʟᴏᴏᴅ, ᴄʜᴏꜱᴇɴ ᴏꜰ ᴠᴀɪʟᴛʜ

ს ა ს ა კ ლ ა ო   ქ ა ლ ბ ა ტ ო ნ ი

 

Spoiler

ooc: tw, mentions of suicide. please read at your own peril.   A letter is sent to Architect, and only Architect. Its wax spidersigil inspires dread. @Animael   ⫥ ⸶ ჟ ⸷ ⫢   I know you read this missive, Architect. Yera, whatever your name truly is -- I don't care. So linger on every word I’ve lovingly written for you here.    I desired you dead the moment I laid eyes on you, when you walked so close that one would think you owned the air around me. Your death was decreed there by Mother Vailth, during Prince Maximillian’s wedding reception. She told me so.   Did you know that Tolun had to physically restrain me from slaughtering you, right then and there? My, I hated you from the start. It’s wonderful Tolun is so strong. I would have ruined everything right there. Foolish, silly me. I have appearances to maintain, you know?    But, I waited. Patiently, for years. Like all wizards, sorceresses, I knew it would only be a matter of time before you did something stupid to justify pursuing your fated death; and when it presented itself, I jumped at the opportunity. My, I couldn’t help myself! I thought my eagerness would’ve given me away, surely, when first we spoke in the Veilward. I am glad you were blind to it.   Can you imagine how much restraint it took to refuse the Mother of Webs for that long? A lot. Every moment I spent with you was worse than the harshest of torture I inflicted in the lowest, and dankest of my dungeons. I found you dreadfully boring for an immortal, extraterrestrial creature. Even my favorite peasant, and halfling are more interesting than you are. Anyways.    Vailth is satisfied, for a time. Her silence is earned.    I, however, am not.   I will not be satisfied until you are truly dead. It is not a matter of ‘if,’ but when. You will always be discovered. You will always die. You must have learned that by now. How long must this Exvin and Isemni game last? That matter rests with you. We can play this game over the next couple of decades, or you can end this on your own terms, and I may spare a shred of real respect for you. So I propose this.    Forfeit your life. End it.   Present yourself to Rittersburg. I will hand you a dagger. My dagger, for you will have earned its kiss of death by that point. And you will use your own hand to bury it deep in your chest. You will push until you cannot push any more, and you are dead.    And I will look at you, smile, and know you are Ienshre. This is the only comfort I will spare.   This is your one and only opportunity to be the hero you pretend to be. Only your death will stop this impending genocide. Face justice- or don’t. Prove to the world you are exactly what it knows you as.   An incompetent, selfish parasite, living for nothing.   Only then does this end. Until then, the bodies will continue to stack. There are now none to blame but you.    ⫥ ⸶ ჟ ⸷ ⫢

ჟ 

[Pegleg_Bob 1107]

In the final moments of my thoughts, I wondered if any of it had been real. Did Zilvira ever truly see me as a friend, or simply as a tool? I think I understood why this was happening, though I could never quite place my finger on it.

 

Did Ark truly do something so foolish as to try and kill the Emperor, or was it a lie fed to the world? I did not know. Would I ever know? Would my children ever know?

 

Did any of it truly matter? Another had betrayed you, Larkin,betrayed you all. Yet even then, I felt no hatred in my heart. I simply prayed that, one day, things would be better.

[Aftrballini 450]

   DEEP in the forests of the Empire.. Where no man or woman could hear screams.. A blonde woman.. or red haired? Or black.. or brown.. This woman adorned in dyes would be busy in her work.. What was a warm motherly smile was naught but the broken curve of the lip. A certain degree of madness struck it's fated purpose across the peaceful Hilda. A teacher turned outcast. She had not wanted violence.. She had sought peace at every turn. But now what was left.. 

  As she twitched the monotone set of eyes to read what a letter she would thusly burn it in the flame of a candle.  No word would be spoken. No thought that hadn't already burned into her mind..

 

'You're three steps behind already.. And I haven't even begun..'

 

She returned to her dastardly work.. Another poor soul questioned at the edge of a knife.

Another ruthless woman returned to old ways. 

God save the young Zilvara who now had those eyes set upon her...

Perhaps the message would reach her soon.. On the near dead body of an elf..

 

'This one is for Mac...'


 

[Kardika 1057]

"so dat's how da veilward got gotten huh, hehehe..." Shamizir chuckled. He and his posse had come by that last missive posted outside the now quiet gates of the magic academy.

"either dese mage-fellas of ours are all dumb as rocks or dis' miss vera' lady's realeh' is as crafty as she claims" he mused, handing the missive over to the attorney general to take a gander. @Javert

"Ya know mark, maybe it was our job ta' protect em, inheritin' em as vassals and all that..." He let the thought linger for a moment, but his ignorant distaste for magicians got the better of him and that notion left as quick as it came. "ehh who am I kiddin, can't save em from 'emselves."

"CLEAR IT OUT MEN, take any resources ye' can find, gon' need it all for the fights ta come..." With the mages all gone, slain or otherwise, the order was given. The carven rocks and the floating fortress would be put to flame, Any valuables too heavy to be drawn in carriage were left to burn.
 

[Morigung-oog 5697]

"I find that I almost pity them, you know. Funny, I didn't think it possible."

 

A pallid elfess confided to her would-be prodige from the security of ivory towers she'd spent far too long avoiding. The words came plainly, candidly, with only the barest trace of solemnity-- it was as though the fennic renegade had locked away any emotion too great to handle. Her gaze lingered on the High Witch of Idunia, as though searching for a sign that Vivien had finally come to grasp the very core of the lesson she'd been trying to teach not only her, but the greater realm for centuries now.  Whether she believed the young mage would provide the correct insight or not was unknown, locked away by the pokerface built on the foundation of the sorrows and betrayals encountered through her lifetime.

 

"They stood side by side, unable to look past the blockade of petty mortal ambitions... Some still possessed an ounce of sense, and yet chose to remain, chose death still when life was offered."

 

Her head tilted askew, looking upon documents finished in all but those final, sealing signatures, quiet and contemplative for but a few, fleeting seconds, as though to allow the weight of Veilward's folly to truly sink in.

 

"One can't help but wonder, Vivien, as to how many more shall perish for their fruitless cause." There was no anger in her expression, no bitterness in the jaded elf's tone, only thoughtfulness amidst logical conjecture. 

 

Her gaze drifted to an urn that sat within her home, settled among candles, flowers and incense, a fallen friend perhaps.

 

"You witness the folly of magi, Vivien. Witness it and witness it well. They thought themselves partners, yet have proven themselves pawns. This is the product of poor leadership. They didn't need to pay the price, and yet through ignorance-- and skilful manipulation-- they unknowingly chose to."

 

Her head dipped, lorraine signed in some show of respect for the fallen. No matter how greatly she despised, distrusted, she would still mourn the mortal souls torn from the plane.

 

"I cannot prevent what comes next. Not anymore. They were warned and now they must reap what they sow."

 

With a swift pivot on her heels, Holy Ser Valithael made off for the bustling streets of Idunia, burdened by the knowledge that she could not halt the wave of death both she and Ark had set in motion. A necessary evil, she thought.

 

"You will visit me in the coming days-- and tell me all you've learned. Record every name of the hunted, of the fallen and know that their immortal souls are the final cost of magely arrogance."

 

@Frisket

 

 

---

 

A missive would be posted beneath Zilvira's for all wayward magi to witness, be they of Veilward or otherwise. The contents were short, concise and undeniably stark.

 

If you truly care for the veil and the balance it protects, report to me in Idunia.

Grant me the names of the guilty.

Repent and you will be spared.

 

Do not mistake my clemency for forgiveness. You have all failed in your duties as magi.

 

This mercy will not be extended a second time.

 

 

Do not squander it.

 

 

[PrimnyaQuorum 3999]

The Pale-Elf mused in idle thought at once of those hateful papers.

 

In some distant, twisted irony, the end of the era of magic came whilst the world elsewhere suffered beneath other sorts of magic. An extermination here, an uprising there, balance in the bloodiest manner- could it truly be claimed to be balance at all?....

 

He could not help but read, however, and carefully stow away those vicious words into the library.

As vile as could be, history was history.

[Frisket 4537]

“. . .Hmph”

 

The High Witch chuckled, her fingers seemingly dipping in the red dye as she prepared to attend a meeting. Her finger dashed across her lips as she listened to Valindra, as she did her make up. This was to her, a valuable lesson. One which she captivated once and now she sees the cultivation of mistakes coming true.

 

”An unfortunate end. They will come to me soon, and when they do…”

 

she hung it there giving Valindra a brimming smile 

 

“I’ll make sure not to disappoint.”

[Daisy 9725]

"Yeah miss Zilvira! You tell em!" exclaims Ser Vigo Bopin, Knight of the Hedgerow, Hero of the Petra, eager for the blood of mages on his shortsword, which is like a longsword to him.

[xo31 3979]

A wicked grin crossed a wandering mage's face.

"She continues to impress me."

[PrinceTheDM 275]

Elijah sat his cup of tea down onto his desk, the many papers beginning to stack in his absence. Letters upon letters piled onto his plate as if he were a glutton for the parchment. Perhaps he was. The cycle was becoming tiresome. At a certain point, one must lay down their sword for their hill to die on- and this was not that hill.

 

From behind him, a small babble could be heard and it quickly snapped him from the whirlwind of his thoughts. He turned then towards the young child and elfess that sat upon the couch. "If you died beneath those stacks of papers, it will take me years just to find your body.." The elfess chided with a small grin. Elijah ruffled back his hair and sighed with a similar smirk, adjusting his glasses and kissing her cheek. "Then I shall hope that the stars guide your way to me, as they always have." She hummed at that comment seemingly satisfied that Elijah now rested with them.

 

Then he removed his glasses, their prismatic sheen dimming.

 

And there his desk lay, empty and barren. The elfess and child fast asleep upon the couch. He got up and lifted the blanket to cover the both of them. He saw the future he was fighting for. He knows what must be done. 

 

"A Professor's work is never done." He sighed, refilling his ink and preparing for the papers to arrive.

[sam33497 7356]

Lanre Cerusil looked at the missive and saw a cruel humor, any nobler emotions restrained due to his undeath.

 

"Perhaps it's time that you properly adopt the cynicism I once imparted upon you, Yera. These useless dogs will never forgive you for your strength, never 'till the day you beat them into helpless submission."

 

Of course, too cowardly to impart this directly, he spoke this unto the night's air.

[Silly Zero 93]

News found its way to the doctor's ears as she’d had a concerned expression adorned on her face at it. Oh how terrible one would think. Thanking the individual who had told her about the news, she had gone home. Stepping in and closing the doors behind her; her expression dropped into a dull one. This was something she had already known about for years. She didn't think it would happen this soon however, Miss Zilvira is quite impressive and amazing

The woman had gone upstairs to her study area to prepare making alchemical concoctions of her choosing. A smile creeped on her face as she thought about how excited her friend may be. FINALLY… The mages that had angered them for so long were gone. At least, the ones who survived were sent into hiding. It wasn’t her problem at the end of the day, she wasn’t making her life surrounded by corruption like those there.

As another individual walked into the room she’d turn around towards him and explain the news. Continuing to boil herbs and extract symbols as she does. “She won, [REDACTED]. Aren’t you proud of all she has done?” The woman would ask with a hum. “And it will only get more and more exciting from her.” She’d chuckle as she’d turn on her heel to face [REDACTED].

“And if they don’t comply and help our cause. Then… Let the slaughter begin.” She said with a dull smile looking towards the one standing in the room with her.

 

Spoiler

@MailC3p

 

 

[Wolfy-D 466]

Astrid watches the crow soar towards her while she travels through the western mountains, wondering if the creature has a death wish before spotting the missive in its beak and collects it as the bird flys by. After reading the words that were apparently important enough to find her mid stroll she shrugs, saying "you can come find me if you want to ask whatever questions you think I can answer" moreso to the crow than anything else as it's the only creature in sight, watching it's wings flap into the distance "I hardly knew them, and the little I do know is probably obsolete as half the names are written here anyways" with the she continues on her way, wondering how long until her visit from this stranger who used someones kindness to kill dozens. Though truthfully she cared very little and forgets about the missive by the time she returns home nearly entirely.

[Baccaaa 490]

"Zilly got them silly." said Uriella upon reading this within the crownlands, all atop her yisar mount.