| Latest Posts | Zaelia - Correspondence with Duke Galahad
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.. ... OFFICIAL CAMPAIGN LOG A small group of Campaigners out of Faudree, unaffiliated with any Guild or faction, look for odd jobs to fill their bellies, when something much larger falls in their laps. . ( = ) major events . 1... A SUMMONS FROM CAPTAIN ILSE The party is tasked by Faudree's Guard Captain to oversee the construction of a fortress on the perilous road between Giblund and Faudree. The road lives up to its reputation, as the party's stone cart is attacked on the first afternoon by an enormous bear that has been afflicted by the Black Evil. With some expert fighting and careful spell placement, the beast is put down, and the party makes it to Quarter Hill without further interruption. However, the leaders of many villages along the road do not want visitors present. Rumors of the Black Evil are swirling, and fear has drawn much of civilization inward. There is one point of interest at the hill, however; a group of well armed knights known only as "the protectors" who have offered their service to keep Quarter Hill safe until the fortress is built. 2... SEARCHING OUT THE PROTECTORS Early the following morning, Fabian and Sayf take off toward the western forest. Fabian is able to find some game paths that lead them toward foot traffic. They meet two of the "Protectors", who identify themselves as "True Heirs of Bulund". They claim to be a protectorate against dissension against the crown and "possessed beings". After agreeing to a drink, Fabian and Sayf travel to a small guard post house along the forest path. There, the two True Heirs attempt to ambush them. The Mystic-hunting fighters fall to the hands of the war veteran and tempered woodsman, but they do not go down without a "bang". A strange glowing blue vial crashes to the floor as the last True Heir is killed, resulting in an explosion that nearly levels the building and afflicts Sayf and Fabian with strange effects. The pair scout ahead to view a larger encampment of the Heirs before going back to fill in the others on their findings. 3... A TWOFOLD ATTACK The group decides to make an attack on the True Heirs outpost in the western woods. At dusk, they depart, creating a distraction by way of Oskar's Valley chanting. With the advantage pressed, the group makes quick work of every Heir in the outpost and begin to interrogate one when they notice smoke at the Hill. Back on Quarter Hill, Fabian and Aernthor find two additional True Heirs setting flames to the crops to smoke out the workers. They kill the Heirs, and Faudree's Guardsmen from nearby villages gather the info gained from the assault, telling the group to get back to Captain Ilse in Faudree at once for debriefing and "whatever debt you owe". 4... THE DUKE'S HAND Back in Faudree, the group discovers their punishment to be a sort of "banishment" from the city due to disobeying Captain Ilse's orders. The Captain admits it is out of legal recourse alone that she is administering the punishment, and she introduces the group to Duke Galahad Corbenic who enlightens them a bit more on the True Heirs. Having chased the True Heirs personally for some time, Galahad is excited about the prospect of sending a small force into the Stronghold Valley to sniff out the leaders. He provides the skill of an additional member, a clanswoman named Isolde, and the group is entitled the "Duke's Hand". Their mission is to find and disrupt True Heir activity in the Valley. The organization is powerful enough to threaten the King's rule, which is already under fire. Galahad gives the Hand a map and the known locations of Heir Keeps, then requests that the group goes after smaller outposts first. 5... RUINS OF TYNWOLD The Hand travels west, into the Valley, and on their first day of walking, an outpost is visible from atop a hill. Mina is sent in to inspect the layout, and what she finds is disturbing. The entire compound has been burned about a week prior. There are bodies in a pile and more bodies strewn about in the mud. With no signs of life, she returns to the group to inform them of the chaos. They go back to inspect the carnage and find signs of a battle, though the only dead appear to be on the side of the Heirs. Oskar is given a vision from the gods, and he sees the battle that took place, along with the burning of the outpost by a small group of fighters. Sayf finds a letter written to the leader, now missing, which states the outpost should send 'vessels' to another outpost east of the 'Jarl's village' on the River Hil. 6... DISGUISE AND DISCOVERY The Duke's Hand continues traveling west with news of the next outpost. Before they can make it to a suitable campsite, Isolde unknowingly steps into a small game trap. With an injured leg and her shouts of pain, the group decides to move quickly off the road and into a small cave to make camp. Sayf and Aernthor remove the trap while Oskar mends her leg. The following morning, the group travels north along the River Hil until they find a couple of houses of True Heirs disguised as a small farm. Sayf sneaks in to copy over some information from a map onto his own, but things turn sour when an Heir goes to check out the room, and the group is forced to level one of the houses and kill the other occupant to avoid being discovered. The knowledge gained, however, will bring them to the last two outposts before facing Tynwold's Sanctuary. 7... BEST LAID PLANS Splitting up after the farm, Oskar and Isolde head south to the camp while Sayf and Mina go east into the forest. They creep along until finding the next Outpost. There, Mina is able to sneak around and get a good look at the entire compound while Sayf throws rocks in order to keep the attention away from the rogue's approach. Mina discovers a stone building and a wooden barracks, into which she is able to deposit a poisonous mixture that should bring any who drink from the waters to their knees in sickness. Furthermore, she notes the changing of the archers' rotation in the tower, right at dusk. The whole ordeal lasts two minutes, enough time to get a jump on those within the outpost. Mina and Sayf battle wolves and frostbite on their way back to share this information with the others. 8... A TRAP SPRUNG The Duke's Hand carefully executes on their plans, encircling the Outpost in the early afternoon and waiting until dusk to strike. Aernthor and Mina are first, taking out both the archers as they change shifts in the tower. From there, Sayf and Isolde sprint inside the main square to battle the spearmen until Aernthor and Oskar comes to their aid. In a surprising move, Oskar uses a cursed Black Dagger against an Heir that results in an explosion of Essence-like mist, inflicting damage on everyone in sight. Once the battlefield is cleared, the group heads into the cellar, which turns out to be a torture chamber for Mystics. The leader of the outpost, Geiss, transforms himself into a time-limited Mystic in order to defeat the group, but their combined power is up to the task. With sights set on the next outpost, this encounter has certainly brought to light new questions regarding the Heirs. 9... NEW KNOWLEDGE The group interrogates the captive Heirs and searches the outpost to discover more information on the Valley and the purpose of the clandestine sect. The Heirs have outposts scattered through the Valley, now marked on their map thanks to Mina's shrewd sight, and they are capturing and torturing Mystics to extract Essence for some sort of ritual meant to gain immortality. A note is found concerning the last outpost. "Geiss, you are to take the tribute to Tynwold's Sanctuary. The Conqueror has commissioned one of his own as well as one in the southern outpost to attempt the mortal exit. The vision of Huleel's Crossing has given us hope. Have bandages ready for transfer; the mortal shell must remain intact." With this information, the groups heads out. 10... ENEMY OF MY ENEMY Splitting into two groups on the south side of the Hil River, the Duke's Hand heads for a nearby Faendyr Village with Sayf, Oskar, and Isolde while Aernthor and Mina head into the forest during a blizzard to scout the last Outpost of Conqueror Tynwold's domain. The scouting party fails to find the Outpost, however, and instead has a strange encounter on the edge of an obviously magical forest with a group of unseen speakers. Back at the village, Sayf, Oskar, and Isolde are greeted with hostility and questioning. Instead of Duke Galahad's words of "possible war", the climate in the Valley appears to be that of "imminent war" with the Crown. With things heating up, a pair of Clan leaders, the Jarls Nors of Faendyr and Ulgrum of Goernel have met in this village at the border of the two territories to discuss something of great importance. The Duke's Hand is summoned in full to remain within the village's confines until a decision is made as to what will become of them and their mission. 11... MIXED INTENTIONS After being sought out by the Faendyr riders, the Duke's Hand is regrouped in the Village of Gunnar. Sayf's might is put to the test by way of a ritual sparring session in the "pit" against a large grey-skinned hairless behemoth, a Gowern known as Buriq the Champion of Clan Goernel to the south. With the "pleasantries" out of the way, Gunnar the village leader accepts the group into their territory for the time being, sending for a Seer to judge their intentions before they are allowed to venture out into the Clan's land once more. The Seer, a frightful wisp of a woman named Mother Birgit, examines each of the members alone, giving them a single question and reading their responses with the aid of some magical substance. Her findings, given over to Gunnar, prove the goodwill of the Duke's Hand, and furthermore, Mother Birgit commands that the Clans of the Valley help the group in their cause. Gunnar sends word to two additional Clans in order to summon troops as aid. 12... EYE OF THE STORM (a.) Continuing along in their quest, the Duke's Hand sets off for the final outpost of Conqueror Tynwold's command before the attack on his sanctuary. Oskar makes use of a newly given power to alter the weather, reproducing a stronger version of the storm that dumped several inches of snow on the Valley and locating this one directly over the outpost. With the driving wind and intense snowfall, the outpost is blind and deaf, giving the group a distinct advantage. Even against greater numbers and armored foes, the Duke's Hand is able to clear the outside of the fort. All that remains is a handful of Heirs inside a beacon tower and the main house. 13... EYE OF THE STORM (b.) The Duke's Hand enters the house to immediately find greater numbers than were expected. Another half dozen True Heirs confront the heroes to thwart their efforts of getting to the true prize of this outpost, which turns out to be a strange ritual occurring on the second floor. Ascending the stairs after the initial battle, the heroes find an Heir hurriedly throwing parchment and other items into a roaring hearth fire as a heavily bandaged man lay gasping for air in the next room. Sayf recovers the last documents as the others take down the armored Heir, and Oskar witnesses the culmination of what is called the "Blessed Ascension", wherein the bandaged bloody man disappears in a flash of blueish white light, leaving behind only bloody rags. With new questions and only a handful of papers to answer them, the group sets their sights on Tynwold's Sanctuary. 14... THE BLESSED ASCENSION As the group recovers from a difficult fight in the last of Tynwold's outposts, they split up and scour the area. The notes from upstairs are coupled with some findings from a cellar torture chamber, and the Duke's Hand is able to come to the conclusion that the Heirs are siphoning blood from captured Mystics in order to store up a sort of "astral projection" that will then feed one person, whom they refer to as their leader. When this leader gains immortality, they expect that he, as a newly created deity, will pull all of them upward to himself, making an army of immortals. In a brutal fight to dispatch one of the first "Blessed Ascended", Isolde is gravely injured. Mina flees to Gunnar's village nearby to gather riders that may help while the others meet a Dwarf ranger named Adder, a spy for the Duke who has come with news. Multiple Conquerors are assumed dead, leaving only Tynwold and Huleel to deal with now. In order to stop war between the Crown and the Valley, the group must defeat these Heirs before they can grant immortality to their leader, who is placing himself in an important position. 15... TYNWOLD'S HILL (a.) The Duke's Hand travels with Adder back to Gunnar's Village of Clan Faendyr, kin of Oskar and Isolde, where they stay for a night. Speaking with Gunnar, they decide to take advantage of what little surprise they may hold and attack both Tynwold and Huleel's sanctuaries immediately, pushing forward their timeline of hopeful success immensely. Gunnar will send word to their Clansmen allies to have the warriors attack all of Conqueror Huleel's outposts in five days' time, giving the Hand that many days to dispatch Conqueror Tynwold and regroup. They leave Isolde behind for now; her injuries are too severe. Replacing her spot in the group is Adder, one of Duke Galahad's personal Valley spies. The group travels toward Tynwold's Sanctuary, and in an effort to move swiftly, they attack. Oskar and Mina sneak east along the southern cliff face before starting a fire at a storage barn that explodes in tremendous fashion, sending wood, snow, dirt, and blood high into the air. Using the chaos, the group meets at the western cliff and begins the perilous climb. Adder, Aernthor, Mina, and Sayf make it up to begin their fight on top the hill while Oskar elects to stay below. Chased by a few more Heirs, he runs back to the site of the explosion, into the sight of several more armored True Heirs, over whom he immediately conjures a devastating thunderstorm. 16... TYNWOLD'S HILL (b.) Beneath the surge of electricity, hanging low over the hilltop battlefield, the Duke's Hand faces off against Conqueror Tynwold and his horde. With peals of thunder erupting like drums, the fight takes two fronts. Sayf, Mina, Aernthor, and Adder make their way inside the tower by laying waste to Tynwold's men. Sayf personally puts the Conqueror down with several wounds, but then has to fight him twice more as the Heir continues fighting long after losing life and even body parts. In the tower, Aernthor and Mina hold off Ascended guards after Adder is struck with a deadly blow to his throat, leaving him gasping for air and nearly dead. The group manages to keep a few of the Ascended Offerings from entering a portal, where they would join several others in giving their mortal life and power over to Riordan's Astral projection. However, upon leaving the tower and the hill, the group finds Oskar ( fabletop.com/chatlog/snippet/2165/oskars-sacrifice ). The Mystic fought valiantly to give the others a chance to get into the tower, taking on over a dozen men by himself. Oskar was able to put down every single blade and bow raised against him, but it cost him his own life. Fleeing the destroyed fortress, the Duke's Hand regroups at Gunnar's village, only to learn Isolde has taken off into the night with many wounds and only her axe. It is now up to Sayf, Aernthor, and Mina to somehow take out the fortress of Conqueror Huleel before the True Heirs can grant their leader, Riordan the Black, immortality and send Bulund into an impossible war against a demigod. 17... GHOSTS AND PHANTOMS (a.) Sayf, Aernthor, and Mina depart from Gunnar's village after a brief stay, heading into the frozen morning in search of Isolde and Huleel. After hours of walking, they find clues. First, a column of Faendyr fighters marching on a wide road between two wooded areas, singing songs and trading rumors of a "White Wolf", a "Ghost Wolf", and the very apparition of Vargen himself aiding the Valley Clansmen. After trekking onward, the group runs into a series of corpses in the expansive woods south of Huleel's sanctuary. They are True Heirs, and they are severely mutilated, each sporting various axe wounds and bit marks. There are notches in the trees, similar to the markings left by Adder to lead the group through the forest toward Tynwold's sanctuary. Taking this as a sign, the group presses forward, hunting Huleel before he can create an immortal, and Isolde before her luck or anger runs out. 17... GHOSTS AND PHANTOMS (b.) The Duke's Hand makes it to Huleel's sanctuary. Skirting the perimeter, Mina manages to put down two True Heir spies acting as Valley Clansmen before she discovers Isolde's axe. Fearing the worst, the party regroups and heads into the main field of the sanctuary; Sayf and Aernthor call out the Heirs while Mina sneaks around a fence to find out more information. It takes a set of magical necklaces to finally see the sanctuary grounds for what it truly is. Rather than a sprawling set of abandoned ruined buildings, it is in fact a pristinely well kept fortress under a powerful disguise. Mina works to pick off True Heirs one by one that would threaten Sayf and Aernthor as the two battle against armored fighters out in the courtyard. Before long, the odds turn against the Duke's Hand, however, as Conqueror Huleel emerges from his chapel holding Isolde by her throat, a dagger in his hand. The stalemate causes all action to cease. 17... GHOSTS AND PHANTOMS (c.) The hostage negotiation fails as the group cannot kill Huleel in time. The man slits Isolde's throat and tosses her into the pit in the courtyard. After a savage fight above ground, Mina finally falls into the pit as well in her attempt to keep the True Heirs from "sacrificing" Huleel's dead body so that he may Ascend and be part of Riordan's immortality. Eventually, Aernthor and Sayf enter the pit as well, and the group falls forever, slowly dying and landing on a platform in the abyss of the Ascension Plane. Mina, Sayf, and Aernthor are surprised to discover that while they have no flesh, no organs, and no life, they can breathe and speak. They are even more surprised to find Oskar here. The Mystic helps them by navigating the strange abyssal platforms in pursuit of Huleel, who is stalling by toying with the group in order that Riordan (or Darinor, as Huleel calls him) may have time to become completely immortal. In a terrible twist of fates, Mina ends up in the hands of Huleel, and another standoff ensues. The Conqueror holds another Halfling, and he threatens to send her into the chasm below, ending any chance she may have of returning to the mortal world. 18... SO ABOVE, AS BELOW Mina surprises Huleel in a feat of strength by pulling him hard enough to switch their positions, just as Sayf dashes across the gap, closing the distance and putting a blade into the conqueror's chest. After dispatching the last enemy standing between the Duke's Hand and the true enemy, they enter the last chasm and face off against Riordan/Darinor in his Astral Form. Riordan appears first as a dragon, and the fight rages as he flies through the abyss and spews molten fire onto the skeletal heroes. After striking him down, the group must face what emerges from his draconic shell: a viscous pile of blood and muscle along with several skeletons, a body pile of sacrifices that keep the form together. Riordan uses these bodies to his advantage in a hivemind mentality, nearly killing Oskar by fighting through Isolde's physical form. Sayf is likewise threatened when the body of his father appears to him and tries to push him off the edge. In a combination of tactics by Mina, Aernthor, Sayf, and Oskar, the group destroy the hivemind and reveal Darinor, the Black Commander beneath. It only takes one instant for Oskar to reduce the man and the ground around him to ash. With the battle over, the group return to the surface thanks to Isolde's spirit, a raven that guides them up from the pits. They discover that nearly two full Visions have passed while they were in the Ascended Plane. They did stop a war, but only just. Riordan attempted to kill the king and his priest at Frostgate Village, a feat that would have worked if not for his mortality remaining firm. Please log in to add a comment. |
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THE STRONGHOLD
If the Fertile Plains Cities make up the Heart of Bulund Mainland, that would make the Stronghold its stomach and, more importantly, its arms. The Stronghold is, geographically speaking, a harsh landscape of rocky hill terrain, choking dense forests, and cold impassable marshland that are all surrounded by the circular towering Taurus Mountain Range. Early Bulund history books note that one does not thrive in the Stronghold, but merely survive.
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A map, commissioned by the Duke himself and updated by the party: i.imgur.com/JCAJzCm.jpg
Sanctuary of Tynwold: i.imgur.com/Hsot1Yu.jpg
Sanctuary of Huleel: i.imgur.com/BqD3Abv.jpg
Sanctuary of Alten:
Sanctuary of Verale:
Sanctuary of Cahad:
A Letter, from the Great Duke and Commander Galahad Corbenic in Watercrest to King of Civilized Bulund, Bos Tau IV, by way of owl and falcon
2nd Harvest Vision, 8489-S
Lord King,
Rumors swirl in the major cities concerning the disbanded Fighters of Commander Darinor. While our war against the Black has been long over and the Commander has been stripped of titles, land, and rule, there are those who continue to act in his stead. I ask for a detachment of two hundred riders to search the Withered Shore for evidence of Darinor's supposed return.
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A Letter, from the throne of the King of Civilized Bulund, Bos Tau IV, to Commander Galahad Corbenic, by way of courier
3rd Harvest Vision, 8489-S
If the King speaks to remove title, land, and rule of any living being on Bulund, then there is no effect that man may have on others. Your request for two hundred soldiers is denied until further proof of the banished Darinor is brought to light. The King does not wish to spend a Festival season chasing ghosts and keeping families apart.
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A Letter, from the Great Duke and Commander Galahad Corbenic in the town of Center to King of Civilized Bulund, Bos Tau IV, by way of owl and falcon
2nd Spring Vision, 8990-S
Lord King,
I commend your graciousness and benevolent actions toward your people during the Festival season. I am pleased to report no casualties were suffered by the men during the caravan's delivery, and only thirteen dead were counted among those who assaulted us on the road between Watercrest and Giblund. I give thanks unceasingly to the Brothers for their protection of you during your return.
Once more, I write to inform you of rumors. I understand your position and wish for fifty men in this new year to help me track down the whereabouts of Darinor or his followers. I fear a cult is growing, and if it is not snuffed, the flame may swallow the minds of many.
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A Letter, from the throne of the King of Civilized Bulund, Bos Tau IV, to Commander Galahad Corbenic, by way of courier
1st Harvest Vision, 8490-S
The King wishes the Duke to know we have entered a decade of the Wolf, and as such, the delivery of mail should be held for letters of the highest urgency. Your post is hereby changing, and the King's personal guard Captain, Gorwin of Taurus Keep, will meet you in Giblund to discuss. The King will hear no more talk of Darinor unless there is a legitimate threat to His people.
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An URGENT Letter, from the Great Duke and Commander Galahad Corbenic in the Stronghold clan of Faudree to King of Civilized Bulund, Bos Tau IV, by way of Clansman Spy
3rd Sowing Vision, 8495-S
Lord King,
Darinor is alive. I send Bahram of Clan Faudree, ally to the throne and close friend of my own as well as the former Commander Orril Blackland, to you now at the turning of the seasons, to request aid. I have avoided all suspicion. I have left behind my men and gear to slip away from Bulund's cities to come unarmed and unwanted into the Valley, only to find a friend by the Brothers' intervention. Bahram of Clan Faudree knows the location and name of the clan's last Champion, who personally saw to the hunt and attempted execution of Darinor, now called Riordan.
Good King, This "Riordan the Black," of whom word has surely reached your ear, still rules over forts in your own lands, here in the Valley. His men are numerous, and though they have changed in look and rank, they are very much the same legion who saw to the mass murder of a splotch of black ink covers the end of the sentence I beg of you, lend me five soldiers, for I am a marked man and cannot enter one of these True Heirs forts without raising alarms. I need five men to find this Riordan and bring him to justice.
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A Letter, from the throne of the King of All Bulund, Bos Tau IV, to the Disgraced Galahad Corbenic, by way of bond servant
1st Harvest Vision, 8495-S
The King wishes you had not lent your ear to Stronghold Valley usurpers and summons you formally and immediately to the Keep for judgement. In a time of wavering peace, someone in such esteem as the Corbenic family holds should not be seen without guard or title wandering through the ranks of the disloyal. Come at once to Taurus Keep, and do not mention Darinor or Riordan to any along the way.
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MISCELLANEOUS FINDINGS
NOTE: The papers recovered by Sayf from the last of Conqueror Tynwold's outposts include handwriting from several individuals in at least four languages. What little information the group can glean so far is outlined below.
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NOTE: The first page includes anatomical drawings with lines pointing toward major arteries and notes explaining how to open these arteries for prolonged blood-letting without killing the "repository".
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The Calloused Entreatment, H08
"In tandem with Alten's findings on Prolonged Storage (manuscript A14), Huleel's eighth treatise addresses the collection of a heretic's Essence, and specifically the amount of daily extraction that can be withstood by the physical repository. Cleansed glass vials, rubber tubing, and fired needles are to be used without exception, unless in the case of discarding a repository, at which point extreme measures such as slicing the throat or opening major arteries along wrists for quick expulsion may be used (figures 1-3)."
"Extraction is to be performed in accordance with Huleel's methods of discretion under Veil of Zaelian Sanctimony (manuscript H06). As the methods are outlined there in great detail, this treatise will not review them. Instead, we shall discuss timing and measuring. The following chart shall be used with figures 4-7."
"One will notice that Dwarves and Half-Dwarves (even heavily Human-blooded Halflings) are omitted. Thus far, findings have not shown these races to contain heretical blood, and as such are considered pure. This should not dissuade additional testing, nor does this finding lie counter to religious points made by Verale in manuscripts V09-V13, A Compendium of Curses from the Brothers Toward Wayward Souls."
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NOTE: The rest of the paper includes charts and drawings that brutally outline amounts of blood to be extracted from different races: Humans, Elves, Half-Elves, and Gnomes. The page itself is dotted with brown smears, indicating that it is heavily referenced while performing the exact actions it describes.
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NOTE: One of the most peculiar pages is a long prayer or chant, written in what is found to be Old Bulundian Common, perhaps to avoid the average literate person from stumbling across it and immediately deciphering its contents, or in an effort to give weight to the words by its speaker. Old Common, by nature of heavy consonant parsing, must be spoken slowly and deliberately. In the final worded prayer, an oddity is discovered, beginning at "Acceptance". The mouth movements used to form words in the prayer change from full-mouth to only the tongue and teeth. One reason may be that the "Ascended" person is either losing the ability to move the lips and full mouth, or by that time in the prayer has shed such organs as skin.
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Ritual of the Blessed Ascension, H16
"My penultimate accomplishment, a precursor to our leader's Magnification itself, is the Ascension of his loyal army. Building on the work of my brothers, the completed works of Masters Verale and Alten (may their bones lie peacefully until the leader can summon them once more to himself), as well as the incalculable contributions of Cahad, I and Tynwold shall commit ourselves to diminishing in order that our leader may grow stronger. It is only in the purposeful decrease that we will, in time, increase."
"All the Blessed Chosen (T11, C07) who endure the pain of Scarred Atonement (H12) shall memorize this invocation, and should their resolve be strong enough, they shall Ascend in part, thus bisecting their soul into corporeal and incorporeal, the former to aid us now and the latter to strengthen our leader once my final work is complete."
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NOTE: The rest of the page is translated from Old Common. The first words of each line, however, are untouched, having been left in Standard Common by the Heirs. The only exception is the last line of the prayer, which includes the Old Common word "Nocht".
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"Rights - I LAY THEM DOWN. I CAST THEM OFF, MY LABOR A WORK OF LOYALTY, MY PAIN AN ACT OF LOVE, MY SACRIFICE AN ACT OF ATONEMENT FOR ALL."
"Intercession - I PLEAD FOR OUR LEADER. MY WORK IS FOR HIS GAIN. MY CONSCIOUS DECISION IS NOT WITHOUT CONTEMPLATION."
"Order - MAY OUR EFFORTS NEVER BE FORGOTTEN. MAY NEITHER TIME NOR THE ATTEMPTS OF THE HERETICAL FEW PLACE AN UNDUE STAIN ON OUR IDEALS."
"Refusal - I DISCARD AND DISDAIN THE ABILITIES OFFERED ON THIS SIDE OF IMMORTALITY. I RECOGNIZE ALL PRESENT STRENGTHS AS WEAKNESSES IN COMPARISON."
"Decision - I AM RESOLUTE. UNWAVERING. SHOULD THERE BE DOUBT PRESENT IN ME, I INVITE UNENDING DEATH THAT WILL CAST MY SOUL IN MAW."
"Acceptance - THERE IS NOW NO RETURN. THE ANGUISH IS NEAR ITS END. WITH A WHOLE HEART AND STEELED INTENT, I RELISH EACH WOUND.
"Nocht - SHOW TRUE GLORY TO ALL IN ILL STANDING. SHOW TRUE STRENGTH TO ALL IN RESISTANCE."
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NOTE: There is, written in Common, a note near the end of the incantation, following "Nocht", that reads "If the offering is acceptable, the final word will be spoken."
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"Now to you, my promise kept, and thus I become weakened."
"And with this we speak unto our Order freed of slander."
"I offer you a flame, and to forever reign, a beacon."
"And so be that beacon, our sword, our leader, our Commander."