Report: The Blazing Aurora - by Piknim
Cracklespark
a leather-bound book embossed with a skull motif
<>:| TABLE OF CONTENTS |:<>
01. Table of Contents
02. Blazing Aurora
03. Bright Haze I
04. Bright Haze II
05. Bright Haze III
06. Bright Haze IV
07. Thread of Shadow
08. Thread of Silver Light
09. Silver Ascent
10. Augur of the Innocent
11. Darkfinder's Notes
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<>:| BLAZING AURORA |:<>
A blinding arc tears across the horizon in a limitless aurora of divine
fire. Breath comes difficult here as the air is gradually lost from the
lungs through heat and absence of all moisture. Vivid hues of light reach
across the horizon, sweeping down on gusting currents as it streams across
the empyrean domain. Far off in the distance, ivory spires reach downward
toward the Aurora's central mass where a vortex of intense silvery flame
gathers. The terrain almost resembles sweeping and rolling hills covered in
partially translucent alabaster grasses and azure shrubland that define the
otherworldly landscape.
The air shimmers below with lines of heat, obscuring the forest far below
that has begun to change beneath the Aurora's influence.
Intermittently, threads of light swirl as a vortex descends from the Aurora,
the shaft of blinding light to sweeping through the forest and leaving a
trail of purified vegetation in its wake.
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<>:| BRIGHT HAZE I |:<>
A bright haze seems to eddy about, gently wafting this way and that.
There is not One Ethos
but many by which those
who aspire to a life of goodness
might safeguard the Light.
Many will not understand,
and some will doubt and
their faith questioned.
But Valor and Honor dictate
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<>:| BRIGHT HAZE II |:<> >f
A bright haze seems to eddy about, gently wafting this way and that.
For when valor is lost
and honor is taken
how must it be reclaimed?
The world sits upon
the blade of a knife,
wickedness and indifference
its twin cutting edges.
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<>:| BRIGHT HAZE III |:<>
A haze bends the light around itself and rises upward on a thermal.
And so through my Crown,
my Lance, my Shield,
and my Purifying Flame,
will all shadows be
driven back and struck low.
The heart of darkness
is capricious and steely,
and thus our vigilance must
never again underestimate it,
nor may we rest on laurels.
For darkness ebbs and
flows like a starless ocean,
whose depths remain unthinkable.
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<>:| BRIGHT HAZE IV |:<>
A haze bends the light around itself and rises upward on a thermal.
"... And so in the death of my Brother, She is now forever unbound and
become a foe more dangerous and powerful than we could have reckoned. The
scales of Balance are dispassionate, and worry not over the suffering of our
creation. So it falls to us, and they may oppose what we do. But can a
Father ask such a thing of his children? Providence cannot choose, for that
was the Accord that binds we of the Three. Thus the Stair was sealed by my
hand to spare Algoron from suffering - should one day desperation or grief
overpower me. Yet it is the best option to heal these maladies, and restore
faith in the Gods, then go mortalkind must.
In these lessons, it is my prayer they learn it is not one or the other, but
by the totality of righteous Light that together this Pilgrimage must be
overcome."
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<>:| THREAD OF SHADOW |:<>
"... The Scales ever tended to their own notions. War for its own sake
despoiled the land as the Warp ran free and its corruption spread and
faithlessness ruled. Those who had accepted it within believed themselves
immune, denying what they had done. And as the lands grew blighted, the
Forestmother's tempest swelled and threatened to wash away the mortal races
that despoiled her gifts. The Creator watched, content to instead think
upon his next project should this one fail. The Keeper of Scales
reallocated the weight time and time again, and this futile cycle only bled
on.
With each drop did the wicked swell like an overwhelming tide that no
breakwall or bastion might contain. Tendrils crept far and wide as plans
lain ages ago and remembered only in the minds of Gods and Ancients bore
themselves out.
A soaring tide of darkness at which even the wind cried left all awash in
the blood of the wounded earth.
The events of my imprisonment have changed many things but these towering
waves must break, even if we few stand alone to break them and endure our
pain with grace."
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<>:| THREAD OF SILVER LIGHT |:<>
Spiraling threads of silver light reach upward, weaving between one another
in a graceful form. Composed of an usual script one sections is able to be
deciphered:
"... Before Father and Son of Honor did the Shepherd Geirhart gather his
Pilgrims Raimbaut, Bragin, Rahynia, and Timmel along with their enlisted
allies Faeryn and Penelopina. To the other, Ivarr Vorigern gathered
Nadrik's own and their allies Kyrlynn and Agapitos. And seeing the
disparity between the two, the Lord Knight Thasgerd did join Nadrik's
faithful.
Nadrik to them thus spoke: The darkness which hath gathered extinguishes the
Light wheresoever it is found, these embers are but a symbol of that
wickedness. Three of white, three of blue will reveal servants of the
Wicked that work their corruption upon the lands and in the hearts of men.
And the Father Austinian followed: Each will pursue their embers, and
reclaim them from the creeping darkness. Having done so, those that return
to this place with three in hand will find the fourth and final key to the
Silver Stair before them.
So the Pilgrims set off and strove to gather their embers first. But they
were presented with a false choice in which one must triumph over the other.
But rather, the true test was to join in arms and see the Deed accomplished
as one.
The corruption was purged and embers gathered, and Austinian's pilgrims
arrived triumphant to deliver the embers to the Father. In so doing, the
embers of Nadrik's pilgrims did expire and their potential to heal the land
with them and other means must be sought.
Thus did the Father then bestow his Flame and trust unto the Lord of Valor
to lead the Light forward through the darkness so that in victory, Nadrik
might heal himself.
He would strike at the darkness that tormented him with the Lance of Light,
a craft of Kantilles' genius and wit drawn from the hopes and prayers of
mortalkind reflected in mirrors of white.
Raising the lance over Nadrik's head pure lucent energy reminiscent of the
mirrors swelled from its tip and scoured the corruption from Taliena's
temple. The symbol of Chaos that had blighted it did fracture and break
apart as years hate and malice slowly became unwound and the temple washed
white as it was purified of corruption.
Lance in hand, Nadrik delivered a message to the foul darkness that raced
through the sky and up into the dark heavens. The lance of light collided
with something in the night sky, exploding with a concussive force that
shook Algoron below. Javelins of light rained down, revealing the Black
Moon for all to witness its illimitable surface.
The protection of Drakkara's moon was shattered for a moment as eruptions of
light ripped across its surface before it was cloaked in a shell of Darkness
once more. For a moment, all seemed quiet as streams of light lazily fell
back to Algoron. But each gathered upon one another as lucent pillars fall
from the skies overhead. Plummeting like a spear, crashing into the
bastions of darkness and corruption as Nadrik's wrath was made manifest."
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<>:| SILVER ASCENT |:<>
Gusting currents draw the Aurora upward here where the light gathers about a
central vortex of divine fire some distance above. From this vantage, what
appeared as ivory spires from below are revealed to be an expansive
fortification, the tapered points of each pointed downward at the realm
below like a hundred nails poised to be driven. Around the circumference of
each spire a battlement rings its exterior where distant figures
occasionally can be seen transiting through portals of light.
A burning arc of fire shimmers in the air, winding like a spiral staircase
leading beyond the flames and to the distant ramparts.
(White Aura) A lone sentinel holds vigil, judging the innocence of any who
would approach the arc beyond.
A blinding light swells from the arc of fire as you reach the Ascent. The
golden eyes of Augur of the Innocent flash as it silently judges the burdens
of sin upon your heart.
DARKFINDER'S NOTE: A swirling aurora gathers in a bright display to form an
unusual convergence within its center!
A swirling aurora holds:
a delicate empyrean bijou
Try as I might, I cannot retrieve the item! Curses!
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<>:| AUGUR OF THE INNOCENT |:<>
(White Aura) A lone sentinel holds vigil, judging the innocence of any who
would approach the arc beyond.
A blinding light swells from the arc of fire as you reach the Ascent. The
golden eyes of Augur of the Innocent flash as it silently judges the burdens
of sin upon your heart.
This graceful being appears to be sculpted from unblemished marble of pure
white. Tall and lean with a head that strongly resembles a jackal, a long
sharp snout and angular ears that rise straight above its head reinforce its
aura of vigilance. Empyrean armor of gold and white trim its powerful form,
melding seamlessly with the Augur's body. A golden mandorla of fire
encompasses the being, linking it to the arc that it safeguards.
A piercing golden stare reveals the depth of sin of all who come before the
Augur of the Innocent. It waits with both arms outstretched and palms
turned heavensward in receiving.
When defeated, the Augur of the Innocent departs the realm into the aurora,
but leaves beyind an idol of light that contains empyrean script. One such
idol has been provided to Warder Kesepton for delivery to Chancellor
Kesepton.
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<>:| DARKFINDER'S NOTES |:<>
The blazing aurora manifested on the hidden trail through the thick forest
south of Verminasia's gates on 8/30/2022 by the old calendar. Lucent
threads of the aurora shine a harsh and blinding light down upon the forest
below. The once shadowy embrace of the canopy is pierced by scouring rays
that illuminate even the darkest recesses of the dense wood. What first
appears to be a trick of the light, becomes clear that the brush, trees, and
ancient trees themselves have been turned subtle shades of pristine
alabaster, transformed by the aurora and pillars which moor it.
The heat of the aurora parches the air as the light gathers above in a
blinding display that tests the limits of its reach.
The blazing aurora has three levels thus discovered. The first level
features four bright hazes of light, each bearing a message. The second
level is small, akin to the landing of a staircase, and features a thread of
shadow and a thread of silver. The third level consists of a single room,
the Silver Ascent, which features the Augur of the Innocent, a swirling
aurora that contains a delicate empyrean bijou (DIBS), and another arc of
fire that cannot yet be entered, at least not by one of the Darkness.
This concludes my preliminary report.
- Piknim Cracklespark
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