Author: Porthyrius, Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2017 10:31 PM, Post Subject: The Phoenix and Lost Flame: Prologue [GO]

Drae smiled and cracked his fingers before he moved to the work table behind his throne where he had some notes scattered. He looked over the papers there, briefly as Sabishii barraged him with his questions. The God of Knowledge smiled at the Phoenix Knight cunningly before he turned back to the great orbs above him that represented Revaliir and its moons. 
"The answer to your questions backwards my friend: yes, fantastic, I'll need you to accompany me to help me pull her through. We will go to a spot where the the fabric of reality is weakest, and use the buildup of magic there to open a hole into the void. Fortunately we don't have to travel far, nor do we need to wait long," he said pointing at the giant central orb which displayed a map of Parvpora. Drae pointed to the Koschei region, which was not far at all from their present location on the edge of the Jasumin Plains. 

"You know the stories of how the Parvpora World Tree fell, correct. When it fell, it left a hole in the pocket dimension where it dwelled here above the Koshei region. That hole has never been healed and allows an unchecked flux of mana to spill forth from the weakened fabric of reality separating us from the void. This is how we get the Void Storms that wash across Parvpora at unexpected times. But they aren't as unexpected as they seem. This magical buildup, I have learned through study, can actually be predicted, and subsequently channeled and or neutralized to some extent. We are going to use the build up of one of these Void Storms to pull your wife from that very place," Drae said. He turned back to his notes. 

"If my theories and research is to be believed… we should be expecting another Void Storm within the next couple of days. After that, it might not be for weeks. So our best window of opportunity is short and rapidly approaching," Drae told Sabishii. 

Author: Sabishii Kouen, Posted: Fri Jun 9, 2017 6:46 PM, Post Subject: The Phoenix and Lost Flame: Prologue [GO]

Sabishii felt his heart sink when he didn't see her in this destroyed, and barren city.  Was she truly gone?  His old home was destroyed, and she wasn't there.  Drae, however, seemed to not believe so.  He wished Sabishii to place his hand on his shoulder.  Sabishii did so, and he imagined in his mind's eye, what Seraphia looked like.  Dark, black curls.  Bright blue eyes.  Curvy hips.  She was gorgeous.  Sera was also a fire elemental.  With all that knowledge, hopefully Drae would be able to find her.

"She's stuck in the void between worlds?"  Drae explained what that meant, that they could bring her to this world without breaking the universe.  They were back out of the vision and back in the Occulus.  Sabishii smiled back at Drae.  "Awesome!  So what do we do?  How do we do this?  Is there anything you want me to do to help?  I'm ready when you are.  You have to pull her out of the void through the hole, right?"  He was eager to start this process, he was eager to find her again.

Author: Porthyrius, Posted: Fri Jun 9, 2017 5:28 PM, Post Subject: The Phoenix and Lost Flame: Prologue [GO]

Drae did as Sabishii directed and steered the vision to the decimated port city. There truly wasn't much left and as Drae came to the spot where this forge was supposed to stand, they found that nothing was left of the forge and house save it be the charred outline and the foundry that the Knight had created. IF she had been there, she was likely deceased. However, as he moved in closer on the ruins, he felt a slight tug. Something lingered there, something with potent magic. Even from this realm he could feel it, but that made no sense. 

"Sabishii. Move close and put your hand on my shoulder. I need to see inside your mind. I need to see an image of her…" Drae ordered softly. 

Upon being touched, Drae delved into the Phoenix Knight's memories, and from them pulled the image of the woman they sought. He took in her aspects her powers and from that he was able to realize what it was he had felt. 

"She is no longer in the realm. But she is not deceased. I can feel her power from here but it is incredibly faint, even for the Occulus. This means that she is not in our realm either. She is stuck in the void in between," Drae told Sabishii. The vision from the scrying spun around them in a swirl of color before it dissipated and the blackness became once again the daylight sky outside. The pair of them floated back to the ground as all was normal again. 

"This is good. It means I can bring her to our realm without causing a major catastrophe. There is already a very large hole from which the void leaks through, and we are close to the ideal place to pull her through. What's more, is that even if we were to do it away from here, I would still have the strength to do it. We would just have to do it at the peak of a Void Storm," Drae said with a wily grin. 

Author: Sabishii Kouen, Posted: Wed Jun 7, 2017 4:53 PM, Post Subject: The Phoenix and Lost Flame: Prologue [GO]

Bingo.  Sabishii thought, when he saw Drae's expression change, his face frozen as he stared at him.  Sabishii had a feeling, if Angela was in trouble, this man would move mountains for her.  She wouldn't accept a man who would do no less, having known Angela for a long time.  Sabishii pulled off the ring necklace, and handed it to Drae, allowing him to take so he could perhaps scry her location.  Sabishii smiled warmly.

"Thank you.  You know, my son told me about his visit here.  He said you could be . . . rough, but you had a good heart.  Now I see he's right.  I brought my son up to treat women with respect.  He'll do Sapphire no harm.  I promise.  Hey, we might even end up in-laws!" he laughed at the thought.  With that thought out of the way, they returned to business.  Drae warned Sabishii he might get disoriented by what was about to happen.  Intense energy engulfed the air around them, lifting Drae and Sabishii to be lifted up into the air.  He was used to being in the air, at one point he owned a suit of winged armor.  A brilliant light show filled the air.

In a blinding flash, Sabishii and Drae were flying through the air in another world.  This land, it was familiar to him.  This was the world he originated from.  He looked around, at the mountains and oceans that littered the world.

"Yes, this is familiar, some things are different, there's a continent missing, some places are gone.  But without a doubt this is my original world.  It feels empty almost, like the familiar presence of the old gods are gone.  I must not dwell on it much.  There is a city over there," he said, pointing to a spot in the distance, a port city that they approached.  The city was in ruins, almost wiped off the map.  As if an orcish horde razed it down, or if some other, worse catastrophe hit the city.  "If I know her, she should be there, in that city.  It's where we made our home.  We had our house there.  It was once a peaceful city.  The laws were strict, but fair.  I had friends there in the city guard.  I had a smithy I ran there, Phoenix Forge.  I supplied arms to the militia and soldiers.  She should either be at what's left of the house . . . or maybe the tavern.  When she was depressed . . . she liked her drink.  I don't know how much time had passed in this world compared to Revaliir."  Hopefully she was all right, and in one piece.

Author: Porthyrius, Posted: Tue Jun 6, 2017 7:57 PM, Post Subject: The Phoenix and Lost Flame: Prologue [GO]

Sabishii's confidence was all well and good, and his plea wasn't falling on deaf ears, but to be frank, Drae wasn't even sure where he would begin with such a request. He rubbed his face, wondering if there was some way he might be able to actually talk down the Phoenix Knight of his request. Opening a gate or a rift in their world was something rather trivial when he had control of the mana flow of the world, however, this was asking to predict the ley lines of a completely different world completely. His powers might not even work outside their realm. He rubbed his face as he listened and thought, and froze when Sabishii said the magic words. "I think you'd do the same for Lady Angela if she were trapped in another world…"

Damn….
Drae actually stared at Sabishii, this time a look of supreme annoyance gracing his features as his grey eyes flashed a luminescent silver for a brief second as Sabishii offered the ring about his neck as something to use as a focus for the required spells. He was reminded of his last act of chivalry and/or nobility, which this quest was indeed one of those, and the soft growl that left his lips was more than enough to bring to his recollection the consequences of such action. Now that had been a simple matter of helping a young warrioress avoid a rather angry werebear. He didn't dare question what the consequences would be if he messed up even a tiny bit in this endeavor. 

He sighed heavily, his gaze still locked on Sabishii. There was no use pretending that he wasn't going to try and do this for a man his wife held in such high esteem. He reached out his hand to Sabishii, indicating that he wanted the ring and waited until it was given to him before he pushed himself up out of his 'throne'. 

"Fine. There is little point in telling you that I am not going to do this. Simply put, it has been demonstrated already what I would do for Angela… and you are right. If it was her and not your wife, I would have done it ten times over with no thought of consequences," he said, his voice almost a low growl as he walked past Sabishii. He cast a glance back at the large man. "Damn you for knowing that my devotion to her is my only weakness," he added in mock annoyance before casting him an almost condescending smirk. He looked up at the dome of the Occulus. "First thing is first, we'd better divine if she is still living and where she is. Brace yourself, this may get a little disorienting," he added as he held the ring in his fist and stepped beneath the floating crystals in the center of the Occulus. He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, his eyes were glowing a bright silver, and magic crackled around the pair of them, causing bodies and clothing to lift off the ground as the intense outpouring of mana distorted the gravity around them. Adraejen floated up into the air, the energy arcing around him like lightning as the dome grew an inky dark purple with purple and blue veins reaching out to connect with the God of the Arcane. There was a swirl of colors and light across the crystal dome. 
They were suddenly flying through the sky, while still within the dome, across hills and mountains that were unfamiliar to Drae. They moved with extreme speed across the scene. 

"Does any of this seem familiar to you?"

Author: Sabishii Kouen, Posted: Sat Jun 3, 2017 10:11 AM, Post Subject: The Phoenix and Lost Flame: Prologue [GO]

Sabishii was afraid that it would be a big deal for Drae to do this. Moliira was able to locate where he himself was being held captive, Sabishii was stuck in some other world held captive in a cage like some kind of animal in a collection. Moliira was able to run a prison break with Hiro to bring him back, along with freeing other people who were held captive as well. Moliira wasn't around anymore to do this though."I understand that.  I don't know if Seraphia is in the old world, or if she ended up somewhere else, like I did. I fell into a portal, separated from my son, and ended up trapped in some kind of prison cell from some person's collection, there were other people and creatures from other worlds there too, but she wasn't there. Either way, I know she misses me and her son, I miss her too. I have confidence in your skill that you'd be able to bring her back here, without causing too much of a disruption in the fabric of time and space.  We're bringing one person, not a whole world of people here.  I think you'd do the same for Lady Angela if she were trapped in another world. I would do it for her, and for you if were in each other's shoes. I might have a way to track her down, if you don't know what to look for. I have my wedding ring, part of a matching pair."  Sabishii reached around his neck and exposed a wedding ring he wore on a necklace around his neck. It was a gold ring, with a bright ruby in the center, instead of a diamond,

"This ring is completely identical to the ring she wears, it's made from the exact same stone her ring is. The ruby she has in her ring, it came from the same rock mine did. Maybe you can use it to locate her, where ever she is. Please, help us. I beg of you."  His words were sincere, he meant everything.  He would do anything to save his wife, and bring his family back together.  Hopefully Drae would understand where he was coming from, and be willing to help him.

Author: Porthyrius, Posted: Fri Jun 2, 2017 10:10 PM, Post Subject: The Phoenix and Lost Flame: Prologue [GO]

Sabishii wasn't wrong, Drae had in fact been watching from the moment the Phoenix Knight had stepped onto the threshold. Not many people came visiting Tar Eisalae wearing full plate and armed as Kouen was. He half wondered if the man was here to talk to him seriously about perhaps the way he had treated his son. He had scared Hiro pretty good, but as soon as Sabishii stopped before the Codex and spoke, though in hushed tones, Drae realized that perhaps he had thought wrong. He sat on his throne (an unusual thing for him, actually) and watched Sabishii on the curved dome of the Occulus, regarding the man with furrowed brows. He was coming in honors, to make a humble, but remarkably heavy request of the God of Knowledge and Arcane Secrets. 

He wanted to be reunited with his wife. Now, Drae had done research on Hiro, and in doing so, had learned a lot about his wife's good friend, about how he had come over in the Timedeath when the rifts were tearing open across Revaliir. He and Hiro had come across, but it seemed just like he had explained, his wife had been lost in the other world. Drae took in a deep breath. He pointed at the central floating platform that was level with the floor beneath the giant floating globes that represented Revaliir and her twin moons, and it descended to the ground floor where it awaited Kouen to step on so it would take him up to the Occulus where Drae waited for him. 

He was leaned forward, his hands clenched together, his fingers steepled in thought. 

"You make a very steep request, Sabishii Kouen," he said slowly. "I have great respect for a man so highly spoken of by Angela, and respect for a man who raised the son that now courts my daughter," he said as he slowly stood up. "But I want you to consider the consequences that may be imposed if I were to do this task you have asked of me," he said regarding the larger man who stood before him. "The Timedeath and the circumstances surrounding the opening of the Rifts is something that I don't even think the Voice could fully explain. You are asking me to recreate an event that no one could explain and that wreaked havoc across the land…"

Author: Sabishii Kouen, Posted: Mon May 29, 2017 10:44 PM, Post Subject: The Phoenix and Lost Flame: Prologue [GO]

Sabishii Kouen, Phoenix Knight, husband.  Could he still call himself a husband?  The woman he loved, seemed lost.  Seraphia Kouen, he met and eventually married her in another world, the world he originated from.  She was his true love, or at least he had hoped so.  When that world ended, or at least changed, Seraphia disappeared, he could not find her, if she remained there in that world, or if she was lost somewhere else.  There were portals popping up, people panicking, hell fire raining from the skies, earthquakes, all sorts of chaos.  There was little time to look for her, but she was not there when he was woken up by the apocalypse.  He had tried to sense her aura, but he could not find any source of it, and he had little chance, he had to save his son.  Maybe she got lost somewhere else, in another world, or maybe the earth swallowed her up for good.  At any rate, he survived the end of his world, along with his son.  But his son deserved his mother, and he deserved his wife back.  If s he still remained in existence.  So he figured the only way to find her, if she was still alive, was to ask the one man who held the keys to every door in existence.

Lord Drae, the Keeper of the Keys.  His son told him about his encounter with Drae, who was defensive about his stepdaughter, Sapphire, who HIro had sought to date.  If Drae had any reluctance to help him, Sabishii knew the way to potentially convince him to assist him in his quest.

Sabsihii made it to the dark stone building, topped by a shimmering crystal dome.  He examined the wall, finding a sign upon it, and no door at all.  Placing his hand upon the writing on the wall, a door opened up, allowing the Phoenix Knight to enter the library of Tar Eisalae.  He walked through the doorway, which closed behind him, not looking back, nor afraid by the door closing behind him.  The Phoenix Knight wore an elaborate suit of red plate mail, with a golden crest of a Phoenix on the chest plate.  He wore a sword by his belt, though of course he had no desire to fight anyone here.

He noticed there was a book on a pedestal, a large thick volume that likely had the names of everyone who had ever walked through these halls.  It likely had his son's name written in there too.  Sabishii walked into the main chamber of the library, looking around he saw shelves and shelves of books.  Enough books to fill an eternity of reading, likely enough.  The God had to know he was there.  He was probably watching him at this very moment, sizing him up, and determining what kind of man he was.  He resembled his son, however, his hair was brown with red highlights, instead of black with red.  However, his eyes burned with the same blazing blue power of determination, if not more so.

"Lord Drae, I'd like to speak to you.  My name is Sabishii Kouen, you know my son, Hiro.  I'd like to request a favor from you.  Hiro and I, we've both come from another world, and there is a third person who was– is part of our family.  My wife, Seraphia, she was lost at some point during the calamity.  When I returned to my home, when the apocalypse started, she was nowhere to be found.  I would like to know if she still lives, and if so, if she could be brought to this world, so we could all be reunited.  One happy family.  I'm sure you understand the desire to be reunited with one's family.  United with one's love."  The loss of so many people of his old world, some people escaped, most did not.  All those people he knew in that town he lived in, they were all gone.  "Please, you're our only hope, Lord Drae."