[PK] The Price of Principles

[Keening 1264]

Spoiler

PREFACE: Ironically, this is longer than the actual post itself. That's hilarious. Also, it's two months late. Enormous L on my end.

I was given Khel'rost almost at random by @Cozy_Tea around the middle of Aevos and, to be honest, had no idea what I wanted to do with him. I eventually settled on doing typical elf wizard larp, but that gradually shifted away to being a pseudo-Cleric of Tahariae (in spirit) after finding the White Book and meeting an actual ex-Cleric named Mae'lyrra (@Deer__) IRP. At first, he kept wielding voidal magic 'in service' to the codes of Tahariae - though, of course, the holy magic itself was still shelved and Tah' didn't actually have much influence on the world. Eventually, though, Khel'rost DID completely cease using the void; I dropped all his magics and he started wandering around as a freelance surgeon. I designed several RP items that were built to pay homage to Tahariae and gave out a few compasses to people Khel thought were cool; they were linked to a lodestone I had in my clinic, essentially serving as a guide to free healthcare. Not once did Khel'rost charge people for medicine or aid he provided in-person.

 

In that time, he met dozens of interesting people and, by pure chance, he stumbled across @The King Of The Moon's wraith, Azazel, who delivered a captivating introduction to Xionism to him in Haelun'or. He criticized Khel'rost for almost resorting to violence out of fear, which gave him pause, then he took this opportunity to start asking a series of questions. A templar happened across them towards the end of the conversation and, as if to lend credence to Azazel's words, immediately tried to fight and kill both of them despite being given the same opportunity to ask questions. This was a pivotal moment for Khel'rost and his entire world-view shifted after that.

 

OOCly, I knew nothing at all about the beliefs of Xionists and had never actually read the Primeval Man post, so I was able to engage with something that was truly new to me both in- and out-of-character.

[Sidenote, during that CRP is where I met @Iulius for the first time. He was still a pinktag and it was his first(?) CRP, but he was incredibly good faith and took every emote in stride; me and a person I was chatting with in VC were honestly cheering him on for being the most powerful new player we'd seen in recent time. I'm glad to see how far he's come since then- taking leadership positions, looking after others, and generally being a cool dude.]

 

Khel'rost had very little conviction beforehand. It was an important aspect of the character, as he genuinely didn't know what to do with his life. He lived to look after his family, but when most of them disappeared (via quitting, dying, or otherwise) he needed something new to believe in, in order to motivate him. Tahariae's ultimate goal of a pure world inherited by mortals and free of deific and dark influence was interesting to me - and the fact that Azazel was essentially regaling Khel'rost with the methods by which that goal could be achieved? It led to a very interesting and seamless transition. Khel'rost adopted a belief system that he wouldn't stray from, even if it killed him - and it eventually would - because of this random chance meeting.

 

Spurred-on by this introduction to Xionism and having been told about the four Heralds of Xion, Khel'rost sought the other three - since Azazel was one of them - so he could pester them about their beliefs, too. He wanted to hear from them directly, to learn of their beliefs through word of mouth, not paper or parchment, because he was invested in trying to understand as much nuance of these beliefs as he could. It was through a second random encounter in Petra that he met @Hawkeye_Gough's stone giant, the Palelord Zu'e, who happened to be the Herald of Strife. He introduced Khel'rost to many other concepts he was unaware of and showed him to Lumbridge. While he didn't do much there before it exploded, he managed to leave a positive impression on the Xionists there and they later welcomed him into a fledgling group they made elsewhere in the aftermath. There, Khel presented his interest in meeting the Herald of Oaks (@rathat) and from Makabian he learned even more about Xionism and a bit about wraiths. He met Ciradyl (@faust) around this time and she later became his partner; she was one of few people Khel'rost felt he could comfortably lower his guard around and was one of his main motivations for staying alive as an ordinary person. Her many friends (@silariathas,@thejack, and several others, I apologize I can't find every forum profile atm) became his, too, and they helped remind Khel'rost of how to live a relatively ordinary life without spending every waking moment as a theologist visionary. They were critical in restoring his humanity at times, considering the company he often kept otherwise.

 

The last Herald Khel'rost met was Kasavurr (@femurlord) which was, again, by chance. I found a random mirror on a tree in the savannah and it said to DM him, so I did. Lo and behold, the Herald of Umbrage turned-up. The interaction was relatively brief and it taught Khel very little about Xionism, but the method of interaction (random mirror in the woods) served as a big inspiration for me to create my own way of interacting with others at a distance - something which I'm still ironing out and expanding on, since my first attempt with a series of books and an arcane relay was a failure.

 

Anyway, I've rambled quite a bit. I'm going to stop now. The last part of this section is going to be a bunch of pings at people that made playing Khel'rost as a mortal worthwhile. I am grateful for all of you.

@__Hergh @Arianthe22 @Hodgeling @TheHuntedRaven @Nagisa02 @Xergarok @Vocturne @VerumLupus @WizardWhisper @Baccaaa @StingyParrot  @MonteGiant @PufferfishTrash @RockyTheWolf

I'm sure there's plenty more, but my brain is melted rn and I still have to fix the formatting of this post afterwards. I'll edit more names as they come to mind.

 

 

Khel’rost’s arm burned and his throat was hoarse. Every breath came labored from behind the high elf’s faceplate. 

 

He hauled himself backwards with what little strength remained in his body. Beads of crimson kept welling from his right forearm and shoulder where many small, yet awfully sharp blades of slayersteel had bit through fabric and flesh.

 

Though weak, the voidal sorcerer still managed to stand and level a humming arcane scepter between himself and his opponent. It was too little, too late. The coil of blades around his upper arm was suddenly wrenched back, which dragged him closer and caused several sharp edges to carve deeper into his pale skin. The scepter fell from his grasp and pierced the ground where it remained embedded by its spiked crescent.

 

His opponent covered what little ground there was between them and struck towards his remaining leg with a steel sabaton. It drove into the kneecap and crystal shards exploded backwards across the grass like the other had mere minutes before. Every crystalline sliver cracked and melted into a haze of dark blue smoke. With his atronach leg destroyed at the knee, his unsupported weight tumbled backwards into the ground a second time.

 

The slayersteel lash slithered back at the behest of its wielder. They wrapped it around the felled wizard’s throat and he felt the cold metal tighten to a suffocating, splicing grip against his flesh. The high elf was dragged upright, his head held in place by only blood-slaked blades. He managed a few venomous words to the fellow combatant as their blades dug deeper. The syllables escaped him in a waning cacophony of three voices - not one - but their vitriol was paired with underlying somberness.

 

“You’re scared- terrified of what our beliefs might cost you.”

“You are a slave to power, not principle.”

“You, your Forlorn Way, are utter rot.”

 

The sharpened barbs withdrew from his throat, allowing the fatally wounded elf to strike the ground in a graceless heap. From where he lay, the victor could be seen peering down upon him through a metal visor. Their response came in the form of an admission as they rendered aid to his wounds. To their dismay, the lacerations and blood-loss were quickly discovered to be far too extensive.

 

A few gurgles escaped the bloodied sorcerer’s throat; a final utterance in a harsh and grating tongue.

It was a revelation of self. A declaration of faith. A pledge of unyielding resolve.

 

“O’kuram daz’uluar godar-agetsak Khel’rost; pa’sna al’org-harhala disidyz aemus.”

 

He succumbed to unconsciousness afterwards, followed quickly by death.

 

ᴍᴀᴀɴ’ᴅᴏ-ᴘᴇ  |  ᴜɴᴜʟʟᴀ  |  ꜰʀᴇʀʜᴜʀ  |  ʜᴇʟᴍᴏᴅᴠᴀ                          ᴅᴇꜱᴛɪɴʏ  |  ʜɪꜱᴛᴏʀʏ  |  ᴍᴀᴅɴᴇꜱꜱ  |  ꜰʀᴇᴇᴅᴏᴍ

Khel’rost awoke beside two faded silhouettes in what seemed like utter darkness. It flooded every corner of his vision and felt like an impossible weight which threatened to crush his chest. Only then did the wailing pierce his ears; the boundless horror, seething rage, and unbridled desperation of a dissonant sea. He willed himself towards its surface and the shackled souls beside him sought to do the same, but every foot of progress was reduced to inches by the threnody of waves. The cold and creeping dark descended upon them again, delivering the shattered trio down beneath the deluge.   His sense of time was the first to go. Every breathless second resembled eternity. The hope of resisting this erosion followed, for it was slowly chiseled away by the endless tides. They wore upon him and he soon began to dwindle.   Then there came a glimmering light from above; a glimpse of hope. He felt an unusual pull towards the surface, and so he clawed and flailed with energy anew. The sorcerer and his pale shades journeyed upwards until they breached a placid surface. There, they discovered a lull in the endless song of the sea.   They had been beckoned by acquaintances yet-living; their faces were but a blur to him, but every voice carved through the horizonless squall. Each syllable came as a reminder of a place less loathsome. For as brief as it was, Khel’rost had experienced a sense of peace as well as hope. With it came clarity.   He would not wallow, merely wait.

 

[MonteGiant 891]

r

[faust 54]

Spoiler

I'm khelly's #1 fan btw guys I'm a huge fan khelrost massive fan of this guy 

 

[thejack 198]

Grieving is an act reserved for those that are dead, and by Nareau’s own words, Khel’rost was not dead. She knew he would return. It was the first thing that crossed her mind once she learned that his 'mortal' life had ended.

 

…But, wasn’t it taking an awfully long time for that to happen? Shouldn’t someone like Khel’rost be top priority, brought back at the first moment? Why was he still absent? He would not remain dead, she knew this, and yet she couldn’t help but worry. That's the extent of her thoughts on him.

 

Spoiler

 

...At least, that was all she was thinking at that current moment, when he passed through her mind. She's missed him. Why else would she be reflecting like this? She misses having someone around who she could just go to and 'exist' with. They weren't particularly close friends, but she'd still carved out an area of her heart for him. 

 

[Hodgeling 403]

Yelena clung to a shade-piece hat as she stepped into the narrow office. Featureless red-violet eyes scanned the walls, where countless designs and writings were pinned. An incomplete mural. Years of his work, no doubt. She held one page of parchment between two lithe fingers, read over the writings, and then snagged it free from the wall.

‘Vhere’ are you now, friend, but a place beyond light? Beyond claim. I should envy you of this.

They shall reach for you and shall fail.’

As though she were a passing eclipse before an immense voidal light, Yelena upturned her hands and swept the room in anguished flames. Hungrily, they devoured upon the papers and unfinished wonders. Smoke rose to blacken the red-timber ceiling into a dark sky.

And as that darkness choked out all light, Yelena vanished from the burning office with a snap of imploding voidal energy. 

 

‘As here we burn, soon so too shall you.’

Edited April 3 by Hodgeling