Microsoft Zone Archive/Asheron's Lore/A Brief History for Travelers/Repercussions

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Castling--Seedsow, PY 13 (June, 2002)		N/A

Original Link (now dead) - http://zone.msn.com/asheronscall/ASHEhistory07-02.asp

Repercussions

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by Brent Schmidt
Turbine Entertainment Software

Dereth: Leafdawning PY 13 / Earth: July 2002

The scene would forever be etched in the minds of those in attendance at High Queen Elysa's final ceremony, held at the Midsong Festival Stone. . . Asheron slumping to the ground, his lifeblood spilling down his chest. . . The appearance of Gaerlan and his unleashing of a titanic Golem on the assembled, all the while boasting of his manipulation of Martine and defeat of Asheron… How Elysa drew her bow and fired, again and again, first at his Golem servant, then at Gaerlan himself. . . The desperate flight of the Queen, using the time provided by her people's attacks to escape with Asheron to his castle. . . The corpses of those killed defending their Queen staining the desert sands blood red. . . And the sound of Gaerlan's furious roar at Asheron's escape, echoing throughout the world.

Above all else, those attending would remember Gaerlan's parting words:

"You are a pathetic race of creatures. Insignificant and worthless. But his heart is devoted to you, I have seen that much.

"Well, then, I shall destroy his heart and then consume his soul.”

The target of his rage out of his reach, they heard Gaerlan declare that all Derethians would be the means of his revenge on Asheron. Thus his assaults began at various locations, destroying any Derethian in sight. As the month of Seedsow closed and Leafdawning opened, these assaults continued and intensified, culminating in organized bands of elemental creatures focusing their attacks on Derethian towns. At the head of these bands of elementals were materialized aspects of the Essences. The four Essences had once been swirling fields of formless energy floating in rings of stone. The people of Dereth had believed these Essences destroyed when the cisterns located deep below them had exploded in an overflow of elemental energy. However, Gaerlan's magic had channeled the Essences' energy into four physical forms, one for each element. Gaerlan dubbed these creations his Generals, commanding them to lead the assaults across Dereth.

Elsewhere, adventurers paid a visit to the hollow construct that called itself Dranith Menacet. In months previous, this construct had been found in a facility created by Martine's servants. When the creature had been first discovered, it had been of enormous size and possessed of unprecedented power, able to throw back all attacks launched against it. After Martine had been driven into catatonia by the revelation that Gaerlan had manipulated him, adventurers found that Dranith had shrunk in size and power. Later some theorized that Dranith was a direct reflection its master, and with its master's mind broken, it lost its power. Therefore, the first people to encounter him found him easy to destroy. As the creature died, it wailed that it had failed its "father,” Martine, and, through its death, opened the way to his home.

The way to Martine's home appeared in Rithwic. Those who entered the portal found a hidden town below Rithwic populated by the outcasts of society. Martine's hidden past was slowly revealed to the newcomers, and they found that Martine hadn't always been the destructive force infamous in the rest of Dereth. The town's residents told tales of Martine's kindness to them in providing a home for them in a new world they couldn't comprehend. One resident in particular, Josef, told the new arrivals that Martine had changed once Gaerlan suddenly appeared in the town. Somehow, Gaerlan had been freed from portal space by Martine's creation of the portals to Marae Lassel. Although Josef admitted that Martine had never been entirely stable, he explained that Martine's instability had grown under Gaerlan's influence. He said that Gaerlan had capitalized on Martine's irrational hatred of Asheron to force him on a path to attack the man. Gaerlan had also twisted Martine's longing for the wife he had left behind on Ispar into an irrational love of Queen Elysa. Martine's plan to assassinate Prince Borelean as a means to strike at Asheron had particularly shocked some of the town's residents, especially Josef. However, Josef related, other residents seemed to be displaying the same effects of Gaerlan's corrupting influence, becoming his willing servants.

Deeper in the town, the adventurers found Martine. Attempts to speak to him were met with dead silence, but two of his most loyal vassals stood at his side, providing details on how Martine might be healed. One claimed that reminding him of his lost wife and home would help him shake off his stupor, while the other claimed that only by calling to his mind the power and strength given to him by the Virindi could he be awakened. In searching the town, the newcomers found two chambers, Martine's studies. One study seemed to be an expression of Martine's humanity, and on a desk in this study a letter to his wife was found. The other study appeared to be an expression of his Virindi side, a twisted room filled with the objects of Martine's hate. On the floor in this study, adventurers found a folded Tusker husk, the remnants of the first Tusker Martine had killed using his Virindi-enhanced magic. The newcomers found themselves with a choice, to remind Martine of his past on Ispar, or of his past on Dereth.

All the while the travelers to Martine's hidden town agonized over their choice, the assaults on their homes on the surface continued. Each assault was led by one of Gaerlan's elemental Generals, and only by defeating this General could the attack be halted. However the defeated Generals were not truly killed; they arose again and again, until the final assault on the town of Yanshi. Elemental creatures of all types, along with all four elemental Generals, besieged Yanshi. The town's defenders cut their way through rank after rank of elemental until they reached each of the Generals, finally slaying them. In spite of this victory, a mysterious portal appeared in Yanshi immediately follow the defeat of the last General. Those that traveled through this portal discovered an elemental sanctum deep below the town. Standing in the middle of this sanctum, in an area completely inaccessible to those brave enough to enter the sanctum, was Gaerlan.

The walls echoed with his mumbled incantations, incantations that were cast over the forms of his fallen Generals. In listening to these incantations, the people of Dereth were shocked to find they had actually aided Gaerlan by defeating his Generals. The incantations revealed that he had always planned to sacrifice the Generals, the physical forms of the Essences, and unite them into a single form comprised of pure elemental force. It became apparent that Gaerlan had used the General's attacks simply as a useful distraction. With the people's attention focused on the Generals, Gaerlan was able to complete his preparations to summon the Harbinger, the name he had given to this final pure elemental form.

Although Asheron still lay mortally wounded, and the dazed Martine remained sitting in his retreat below Rithwic, a quiet settled over the towns of Dereth as Leafdawning closed. . . A quiet broken only by the muttering of incantations, deep below Yanshi.

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