| Necronias' Tale | ||
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Necronias The Planes Histories |
He also continued to work with his magics. By now he had learned that his skills were far different from his mothers. No matter how had he tried he could not open a Witchgate and yet he could spread his spirit across the entire valley and note the placements of every creature, rock or plant. His spirit could taste the wind and and tell what lay beyond the valley. At times it seemed almost as if he could look right past the world around him and see into the planes beyond. Control though remained his greatest obstacle. While trying to call a flame to light the stove he inadvertently summoned an inferno which blew the stove and the rear of the cottage to scrap. That was the beginning of the end of his time in the valley. It was time for him to join the world. The cottage needed so many things he no longer could supply. He had outgrown his clothes and footwear. Lucky he not yet outgrown his mothers boots though they pinched a bit. He fashioned breaches and a tunic as best as he could and climbed the sloping hills. He already knew in which direction people lived. To the south and east a number of solitary cabins stood. There occupants were loners, likely miners or trappers. To the west lay a large homestead where a number of families had bonded together. Lastly to the north and the farthest away, Necronias sense a great number of people. It was either a large town or possibly one of the cities of the Great School. That would be Necronias' destination. He stopped at the crest of the hills that held his home and gazed at the simple valley that had sheltered him for his whole life. He knew the time ahead would be nothing like his years here. It would be filled with the bustle of humanity and the chance to learn. These thoughts intrigued Necronias but he knew he would miss his home. He realized that his home was nameless. He spread himself across the valley, soaking up every taste, feel and memory. It was then the he knew what to call his home. He called the valley "Peace". His journey was easy. His spirit could find easy routes to travel and sources of water. With his mind he could enthrall the beasts of the forest so they stood still as he slit their throats. Since the best paths lay along the rivers he spent much of the time following their flows northward. To his surprise one day he looked into the sparkling water and saw flashes little glints of sunlight nestled on the sandy bed. He reached in an pulled a tiny nugget of gold from the stream. He smiled at his good fortune and spent the afternoon hunting down the golden pebbles. The next day he was on his way once more this time with a small pouch filled with treasure. So it was that he arrived in the City of HammerRill in better shape than he left Valley of Peace. He immediately sought out a bathhouse and a clothier. Clean, trimmed and attired Necronias felt ready to face mankind. HammerRill was one of the Cities that made up the Great School. Every where one looked the presence of magic could be found. Great fountains gated water from across the Shadowlands and hurled it skyward. The globes of light hung in the air waiting to banish the night time gloom. People teemed in the streets. For the first time in Necronias' life he encountered man in all his visages. The villagers that he had met when his mother brought him with her were simple and pleasant. Here he pleasant made up a tiny fraction of the populace. More common was arrogant and aloof, harried and irritable. After a few hours of their incessant babble and trivialities Necronias was more than ready to return to the wilds and never return. He would get a room for the few nights it would take to buy supplies and be gone within the week. It was a good plan but Fate took a hand once more and dropped Allahn into his path. Literally. Necronais was building a list in his head of the items he would need back in the Valley of Peace while a blonde youth with an armload of texts came hurrying from the other direction. The resulting impact was spectacular. Tomes and scroll flew every. The two young men rebounded head over heels, each landing a twisted heap. Allahn reacted first, showing signs that this was not the first time this had happened to him. Still on his knees he deftly snatched the spinning pages from the air. Necronias sprang to his feet. A rage burned inside him such as he had never felt before. He summoned his might and prepared to burn every fluttering scrap of paper to ash. Allahn sensed the magic that was building in the other. Immediately he saw too many things wrong. One, this young man, near to his own age, was calling up unbelievable amounts of might and at an impossible speed. Secondly his magic was unwarded. There were no shields to protect the caster from the backlash nor from outside interference. And lastly the youth was not using the paths of magic decreed by the Great School. "Stop!!!!" the boy hissed just loud enough to get Necronias' attention. The boy, holding his hands palms down, was trying to convey both a need for him to desist as well as caution. Scanning the crowd to see if anyone else had noticed, Allahn whispered, "If they see that, they will lock you up." Necronias was at a bit of a loss. He was sure that in his anger he had called far too much power. This boy stood in peril of death and Necronias was pretty sure the boy knew it. Yet rather than fearing for his own life, the stranger was obviously trying to save Necronias. Necronias reach out with his spirit and looked into Allahn. For the first time in his life he found someone whose soul was like his mothers. Allahn truly cared more about others than he did himself. He did not have Melcynda's surfeit of love for mankind, but he was truly selfless. Necronias swallowed his anger and bent down to help Allahn pick up the scattered lore. While the task was being done Allahn apologized and introduced himself. Necronias gave his name as well. Strangely enough Necronias felt at ease with the other. Allahn offered to make it up by buying lunch. They talked through lunch and for most of the day. By supper they knew that they were to be fast friends. Necronias learned about the Great School. It seemed that there were certain acceptable ways to cast magic. These formulas has been examined and certified by the Great School. Granted the School had researchers working everyday on new enchantments, Allahn admitted that very few new spells ever received the Schools approval any more. Every now and then a Low Mage spell might get certified but it had been four years since the High Mages had anything new to learn (actually 4 years, 6 weeks and 2 days according to Allahn). Necronias was amazed at his new companion. Obviously Allahn was obsessed with the pursuit of new magic and the Schools stagnation as essentially blocking him from his dreams. Allahn admitted the he was not terribly popular at the School. His power was very weak. Necronias looked into the soul before him and oddly found no trace of bitterness. After a time he began to realize that Allahn's talent was something the School would never reward. The sun-haired youth was very skilled at crafting small cantrips of magic. These slight spells of Allahn were far more versatile than the great spells of the School, they merely lacked power. At Allahn's insistence Necronias enrolled into the Great School. The Masters who tested him, started the exams looking down their noses at the untrained youth. They ended the tests in awe. Never before had they found a candidate with greater potential since the mighty Glandryth himself. They offered him the robes and station in High Mage's halls. Necronias asked if Allahn could room with him but was refused. So Necronias turned down the lush rooms of the High Mage acolytes and moved into Allahn's overflowing quarters. Because Allahn's talents were so weak the youth was forced to take on a number of clerical functions in order to validate his existence to the academy. Allahn found this to be both a great honor and enjoyment. Necronias knew that behind Allahn's back his peers scoffed at his weakness and timidity for accepting such tasks. Over time Necronias' skill and power continued to grow. He was revered as one of the greatest mages of the time. To Necronias these false praises fell on deaf ears. His studies consumed him and slowly the light that had filled his youth became replaced by ambition. He knew there was far more to magic that what this foolish institute recognized. His disdain for his fellow man grew each year. Soon they merged into an endless line of chattel. The only enjoyment his peers ever awarded him was their ruin. He began to enjoy tearing down his rivals, doing it ever so subtly that they never suspected who was destroying them. The obdurate atmosphere of the School changed Necronias. He could feel the darkness within himself and instead of forcing it back as he had as a boy, he let it out just a bit. There was so much he could do with that power. He walked that gray line for many years, knowing one day he would have to make a choice, would he return to the path his mother had set him on or immerse himself in the succulent shadows. The decision was made one day when his old companion made a horrible discovery. Even though Necronias was as far above Allahn as he could be and still be a student, Necronias still looked out for his old friend. No-one could understand Protegee's attachment to the Clerk, but in Allahn Necronias found many things that the fools around him could not see. Besides the unjudgemental and selfless face was a very sharp mind. Necronias had already learned almost all of Allahn's cantrips as well as the concept behind them. He had even created a few of his own. While he was not as gifted as Allahn with the little magics, he learned from them. He had the power to take Allahn's little weavings and amplify them. Many of the cantrips collapsed as their nature could not handle the power of the High Magics. Others, after a bit of tweaking became spells of both subtlety and might. Necronias knew spells that no other being in the Shadowlands knew. Many of them could not be countered by any living soul. One day Necronias was in his workroom in one of the far towers (long ago he had moved away from Allahn's overflowing little room.) A knock at the door broke through his concentration. Snarling, Necronias prepared to hurl a curse through the door for the disturbance. Before he uttered the dark spell he caught a whiff of the soul beyond the door. Not only was it Allahn but he could sense waves of anguish from his loyal friend. Allahn handed Necronias a large ledger marked by a black ribbon. "I'm sure this is a mistake. Either the name is a coincidence or there must have been some error. Oh Necronias....", he said faltering. Allahn knew the name and approximate date but he prayed he was wrong. Necronias read the record Allahn had marked. It was the accounting of the questioning and purification of a woman named Melcynda. As Necronias read through the encounter, the gray road he had walked ended. The ebon blackness that had ghosted about his soul became a raging storm. It took all his might not slay Allahn then and there. That was the last humane act of his life. He told Allahn he would looking into the account and sent him away. For weeks no-one saw Necronias. Allahn fretted the whole while wondering if he should break trust with Necronias and tell the Masters of the Great School what he had found. He tried many times to reach his friends tower but each time enchantments would turn him away. He crafted a host of small spells to try and slip back Necronias' wards and let him know if the man within was all right. Even his most gossamer incantation was detected and repelled. Allahn flopped down on his bed tired and worried. He knew that he would have to tell someone what he found for his friend obviously needed help. "You could not just let it be, could you Allahn," a voice hissed from the shadows. Allahn bolted upright. The voice was sort of Necronias' but not quite. "That last one was very good. Almost snuck through. Since I cannot have you learning to much to soon, I'm afraid I'm going to have to put you away for now. I had hoped to use you for to rally the Low Mages but I can see that won't work now." Allahn felt dizzy as the shadows in the room began to weave and stretch. They coiled about his arms and legs, numbing him with their cold touch. "Besides now that I think it through I realize you could never be the one to bring me the Low School. They despise you. Poor Allahn. You have lived you whole life in the shadow of this place. It has taken and taken from you and given naught back. It is amazing that you have not been bleached white. One day when you are old and blind from squinting over their mold tomes,hat never happens. I arrange something bright for you sometime down the road. For now though you will had to echange the cell the School has placed you in for one of my making. Sleep well." Necronias wondered if Allahn could hear his final words. He held up a long shard of crystal and looked to see if Allahns body and soul were visable within the stoney prision. Except for the fact that the rock had taken on a greenish tint, it appear to be no more that point of quartz. Over the next few weeks Necronias made several other visits to the dormatories of the Low Mages. In an odd way Necronias was wrong about Allahn not being his ticket to the Low Mages. It was not Allahn as a person but because for so long Necronias had been compaionable to the Lowest of the Low Mages, the door was open for him. He was welcome to join their groups and was listened to. At first Necronioas did nothing much. He fabricated the lie that Allahn had had enough of the High Mages and had left the School. Without his old Friend Necronias just wanted some place to sit away from the High Mage arogance and greed, but still within the School. he wanted bright minds around himself just not ones corrputed by the tryanical rule of the High mages. Necronias was far more subtle that this. Slowly he sowed the seeds of discord amoung the Low Mages. He would often steer the High Mages into making policies and rulings that would insence the Low Mages. He cut off any chance the High Mages would learn of the dissension brewing in the ranks below. Through it all he made sure that nothing would tie back to him. He also move out of his great tower and into the bowels of the School. Deep in the catacombs below the Great School Necronias
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