A Letter from Arcadius

[CountJuno88 230]

*Arcadius paces back and forth in his secret library pondering on recent events in the realm of Aegis. Crossing his arms and nodding to himself, he finally decides that it is time to address the people of Aegis. As much as he and his brothers wish to remain in peace and solitude, the needs of the people and the threat of Iblees far outweigh any other priority. Striding over to his book-covered desk, Arcadius sits down with a heavy sigh and dips his quill in the inkwell beside a fresh peace of parchment.

Dearest Brothers and Sisters of Aegis,

These are surely dark and terrible times indeed. The Wandering Wizard, servant of the Creator and guardian Aengul of Aegis, has been lost to us. The relics that were under his protection have been soaked in his blood and stolen by the evil servants of the great darkness known as Iblees. Not even we Sages, void of our powers and incantations, could stop these events from happening, but it still seems that we have been returned to Aegis for some purpose. What this purpose is, though, remains a mystery to us, but we still have our strongest weapon. We still have hope.

Now I know that hope is no mighty sword or great magical staff, but it is still something of true power. We Sages knew that Iblees could never truly defeat us as long as we maintained hope in the light and hope in goodness. We also knew that hope in each other as a people would be key to our survival. As I walked the King’s Road, I witnessed acts of violence, banditry, and kidnapping. All I could do was run. No one would come to their aid and if I sought out assistance, many would not come or simply ran away themselves. The crime is not what worries me most; however, it is the complete disregard of life and the unwillingness to lend aid to one’s brothers and sisters.

In the end, it is not the Undead which will be the cause of our destruction; it will be our unwillingness to stand together as one unified force that will surely guarantee our annihilation. As I have stated countless times before, if the nations wish to stand apart and fight one another, then the Undead will sweep us away with but a swipe of their staffs. Iblees wants us to fight one another. An oppressed enemy is much easier to destroy than a unified and strong enemy. If you wish Iblees to rule over all, then continue to fight your petty battles. If you wish to be free of the slavery of Iblees and the oppression of the Undead, then no longer raise your swords against one another. Raise the banner of peace! Raise the banner of unity! Raise the banner of hope! I implore you my brothers and sisters, join my brothers and I in our mission of unification. Only when we stand together will we stand a chance to fight back the threat that is Iblees. Listen to his lies no longer. Rise up! Stand with us! Show us the mighty courage that Horen, Malin, Krug, and Urguan showed so long ago when they, together, stood against Iblees and sealed him away!

Your humble brother and servant in all things,

Arcadius

Arcadius, the Elder One

*Arcadius finishes with a final stroke of his quill and replaces it back into the ink well. Satisfied with his work, he exits his secret library and hands the parchment off to Preceptor Shoi. Reading it over, she nods in approval and begins copying the letter to other pieces of parchment as well. Upon completion, Shoi stamps them with a silver, mongoose-shaped emblem, rolls them up, and hands them over to her messengers. The messengers run with haste to each nation and post it on their notice boards for all to see.

[Ned Lud 1260]

*eyeballs the message on the noticeboard in passing and sneers derisively, chortling under his breath.*

Me hope him bring a mighty sword.

[Thrym 188]

*reads the parchment sent by Arcadius and ponders*

I 'ave not 'eard such wisdom since the death of Martin. What the sage says is true. By Aeriel and Hrithgar we need peace among ourselves to win the war!

*says a prayer to Aeriel and Hrithgar*

Please convey my gratitude to Arcadius fer givin strength ta the ideals that had weakened in me.

[TeaLulu 1783]

*Upon returning from places unknown, the Elven maiden spies the parchments decorating the notice boards near Krugmar. So much happening, far too much for her to concentrate. She had been busy with her return, what had happened on her journey, and Krugmar's current state of affairs. She let out a sigh, taking a copy of the parchment to carry with her. She had been gone too long, missed too much. And before her absence, in a way, she had been blinded. Old blood feuds, as it were. That the Ascended and the Undead both contributed equally to throwing the world out of balance...perhaps this was no longer the case. Perhaps, it never had been. It was time that mistakes were admitted. Old differences set aside. Arcadius, at least, was one who had proven himself time and time again. If he believed in the others, surely she could as well? She tucked the parchment neatly into her bag, glancing up at the setting sun. Perhaps it was time to make the journey, to pay a visit to old friends, allies, and teachers. That is the Orc way, is it not, she thought? Actions. Not words. The time for judging on beliefs was over. It was time to judge on actions, past, present, or future.*

[KarmaDelta 969]

*reads it*

Seems like we need to step up and kick some undead ass! Who is with me?

[Rilath 3719]

*reads the paper, chuckling as he does so. He crumples it up and tosses it to the side*

The sages. What a bunch of fools.

[Old-Rattlesnake 1534]

Delaselva is handed the letter by a courier in Alkhazar and reads it like a child opening a Christmas present

The Sages have returned? I told everyone there was still hope, and there it is in black ink!

"We still have hope."

Delaselva then has an idea and jumps to his feet, he moves with purpose to the Nawari camp

[Seventh / Ryan 93]

*Seventh notices a letter tied to his pigeons foot, and quickly opens it andb egins reading.*

Aegis is better united, than apart. Arcadius, I've served Aeriel since I was born, and I will serve her to my dying breath. We are all citizens of Aegis, and we will unite under one banner, to be able to bring Aegis back up from it's darkness. I say now, I am with you Arcdius, and the Knights and Archers of Aeriel are all behind me. For Aegis. For Aeriel.

~Seventh

[stiason 0]

Delaselva is handed the letter by a courier in Alkhazar and reads it like a child opening a Christmas present

The Sages have returned? I told everyone there was still hope, and there it is in black ink!

"We still have hope."

Delaselva then has an idea and jumps to his feet, he moves with purpose to the Nawari camp

With more people like you, we can be back to full power and one big alliance in no time.

We must band together my brothers and sisters. I may be an elf but I have found the joy in mining and drinking next to many a dwarf. I have fought alongside orcs and held council with many humans. We are all of one being in the eyes of Aeriel. Let us rejoin our great alliance and once again stand as the most powerful force in Aegis. For if we all stand as one, then there is nothing the undead can do to stop us. "FOR AEGIS!"

[Skippy 2466]

*Skippy and his orc friend, Vuugush read the note*

Skippy: Aye, we will not give up hope, right Vuugush?

Vuugush: Yub! We will not give up no hope!

[DarkSoundwave 70]

*Bito reads the letter walking from one end of Aeriels Keep to his bunk*

Then its time... *cracks his back and neck preparing for whats to come reading all books he can find*

[AllenTheGreat 286]

*Wrothgar watches from his perch, as a man can be seen running towards his position. As he nears, the drops of sweat become apparent on his forehead, and the sight of a long parchment protruding from his clenched fist. He clumsily stumbles up the the brick stairs, and bows down infront of the gate. After seeing Wrothgar nod his head, the black haired human stands up, studdering out his words.*

"Lo-o-ord, I pass-sed the message boards of Al'kha-a-zar, the Sa-a-ages have returned from Ae-i-riel."

*He drops the crumpled paper on the edge of the stairs, and walks backwards, staring warily as Wrothgar reaches out his bony fingers, picking it up, and reading over it. After a moment, he let's go of it's grip, letting the letter be blown by the wind into the nearby bubbling pool of magma. Adjusting his sight back to the Human, his cracked lips slowly move, as a succession of quick words seem to reach into the depths of his mind, clouding his thinking.*

"Your presence is not required here, Mongrel, this "news" is worthless, the Sages were nothing when they were here before, and are even weaker now, as it seems what powers they had have been taken by their precious Aeriel. If they come, they will burn, and none of their talking will be able to save them."

*Seeing that there is nothing else to say, the Human sets a block of gold on the walkway, and runs back from the area.*

[Rom 59]

*Romulus sees the letter ad reads it, suddenly filling with hope*

"If we want to win the Undead, we'll have to do it as one nation. Otherwise death and destruction is certain..."

[Samson Option 9652]

Drawing his head closer to the Letter and feeling his own lips curling into an admirable smile, Gaius lowers his head in a nod of respect and chuckles. Resting the palms of his worn hands and his head laid aloft all upon the hilt of his zweihander, Gaius begins to talk to himself...

The wizened Sages have come forth from their self-exile, perhaps their values can purge the sloth from the Ascended. So vital, so spurred by their demeanor for what Aegis should have had, they actually took action. I am no optimist, but neither am I a pessimist; I am merely a calculated man. It seems the odds look much better with men such as Arcadius returned to the World and surely he must take the helm now. I hope he enjoys the staff that I returned to Lady Shoi and the others at Aeriel's Keep, now that he is back, I would have much rather have given it back to Arcadius and had walked alongside him to acquire upon his words of the world as of now and perchance identified some common ground with him.

[Destroyer_Bravo 1054]

*Taking a trip of memory to the Keep, he finds this note written by Arcadius, after meeting him in-person* "So, that Arcadius is the real deal... This may 'elp to turn us around. And, the fact t'at he ended a war by talkin', an' with no sword, I'm gonna stick wit' Arcadius t'is time 'round"