Vardian Custodio
Beings from Beyond
Avatar of the Lord[M:0]
Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly
Posts: 74
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Post by Vardian Custodio on Sept 28, 2007 21:42:12 GMT -5
ooc: Yeah, as long as you’ve got a means of actually being here, considering it is an island far from Tarantara. Like, flying or swimming or a boat or something… anything…
Anyway…
Vardian circled around the top when he reached it, seeing the beast’s body which Ceriden had obviously killed. She’d made good work of it too, as he looked down he could have sworn that every drop of blood it had was outside its body.
And I was anxious? he asked himself. He looked around around, not seeing the Selkie anywhere, but what he could see was the girl running away swiftly. He figured the chieftaness must have gone after her.
With just a second’s backwards glance, he turned and sped off in the direction of the girl. He didn’t see Ceriden anywhere on the way, but he knew she wouldn’t be far behind. As he neared the child, he saw that she was sprinting with speed benign of her size and age. He frowned slightly and pulled ahead of her, turning and landing in her path.
The girl stumbled to a stop and looked up at Vardian. Her eyes were there brightest gold he had ever seen, and there were crystalline tears falling from them as she looked up at him. ”Its okay little one,” Vardian knelt down in front of her, his wings folding behind him. ”No-ones going to hurt you here…”
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Post by Ceriden on Sept 30, 2007 0:07:30 GMT -5
Ceriden finished her climb down as she say Vardian fly after the girl. She sprinted after them, her feet pounding against the hot sand.
It took her a little while, but she managed to catch up, puffing slightly as she stopped behind the girl. Vardian was knelt beside her, but she still looked terrifyed. One could almost see her heart beating through her chest. The girl whirled around at the sound of Ceriden, but Ceriden knelt held out her hands, open-palmed, in the universal term for meaning no harm.
"Your safe with us, we won't hurt you. The beasts chasing you are gone, and they will do you no more harm." She said, her voise soothing and calm. There was a few tense minutes of silence, but the girl had begun to relax. Her gold eyes flikered back and forth between the angel and selkie, and then, without warning, her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and she dropped to the ground with an exhausted shudder.
Ceriden started, and was instantly at her side. The child's chest was still rising and falling steadily though, she had just feinted. Ceriden sighed and looked at Vardian.
"We should set up camp somewhere and see that this girl gets some food and water. She must have exhausted herself into oblivion." She scanned arond her again, and saw a few large rocks lining the shore of some tide pools.
"We should get her over there..." She pointed to the rocks, which were dry and sheltered, and were far enough away from the cliffs.
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Vardian Custodio
Beings from Beyond
Avatar of the Lord[M:0]
Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly
Posts: 74
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Post by Vardian Custodio on Sept 30, 2007 1:50:31 GMT -5
Vardian nodded, "Yes my queen." He went to Ceriden and picked up the girl in his arms. She felt so light and fragile in his embrace, he felt fulfilled just by holding her.
He took off and flew low to the ground over to the rocks. The ground beneath them was well protected from the wind and evening sun, so he set her body down there, lying the child on her back. ”There you go…”
He got up and looked back at Ceriden coming over, ”I’m not sure how much further we can get tonight. My belief is that if there are any Ancients in the area then they will be on the surface. Or they’ll be hiding somewhere close to it, obviously to get away from these beasts.”
He scanned his blue eyes across the barren, pitched landscape with a sigh. ”Tonight I’ll see if I can find anything. You should stay here to protect the child. If she wakes, she may have some vital information for us.” He leant down and patted the child’s dirty and unkept hair. He was extremely curious as to why she was down there. And he wondered how long it would be until more came looking for their scouting party…
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Post by Ceriden on Sept 30, 2007 12:14:52 GMT -5
Ceriden nodded. "Thats a good idea. If you see anymore ancients, tell them that we found one of their children, and she is currently under our protection and care. Good luck searching" She replied.
It was getting to be evening, but there was still a few hours of the sun left, and its bright golden light hit the dry earth around them. "Vardian, try to be back here before daybreak. We still dont know what other creatures live here, and if the scouting party was the only thing after her. It may be better if we were both here during the day. Besides, we will need to figure out our next move."
She looked at the girl for a minute, her pale body curled up in a tight ball, stirring occasionally. It seemed that now she was just sleeping, not unconsious. Hopefully she would sleep the majority of the night.
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Vardian Custodio
Beings from Beyond
Avatar of the Lord[M:0]
Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly
Posts: 74
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Post by Vardian Custodio on Oct 1, 2007 2:30:02 GMT -5
Vardian walked over and hugged Ceriden. "Stay safe my queen. I shall be back soon."
He disentangled himself from the embrace and walked a little ways from the campsite so that he didn't blow any of the dust around him into their eyes, spread his wings and took off into the darkening sky.
He spent what seemed like hours flying around across the plains and deserts, but he couldn't find anything. After two circuits of the island, all light from the world had gone, and it was the dark of night. Vardian could still see due to his higher perceptions to normal beings, but here even his sight was clouded. He tried not to imagine what Ceriden must be going through.
He landed on a high plateau, easily the highest point on the island, and extremely defendable. If they were anywhere, strategically, he believed that they should have been here. But now as he looked across the flat expanse with darkened eyes, he knew his folly.
But maybe they lived beneath the ground like the beasts… they were high enough to still be away from their foes. He circled around and walked to the side, stabbing the ground with his glaive like before, but here it was just thick rock. He tried in a few more places but the result was the same.
He thought he’d try in the exact centre of the plateau, and was hardly expecting his glaive to pass right through into emptiness. His heart leapt and he widened the hole with his glowing blade, and looked inside. His chances had to have been one in a million.
He had struck a narrow mouth to a spiral staircase heading into the plateau, and he could a warm glow crawling up the stairs from somewhere close by. He almost cried out in joy as he descended into the home of the Ancients…
… it was nearing dawn when he emerged again, but he did not exit alone…
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Post by Ceriden on Oct 1, 2007 18:10:14 GMT -5
Ceriden hugged Vardian back, her fingers brushing the white feathers on his back. "And you as well, Vardian," she said, confidence in her tone. She believed that Vardian would find what he was after, and that they would figure out what to do.
She sat down next to the child, and rested her back against the rock gnarled rock, worn down by the ceasless beating of wind and water. She drew her knees up against the slight chill that was coming on, and pulled out a small water-proof casing of flint and tinder. She was just about to light a fire, when she decided that the smoke would attract unwanted enimies. It would be better to deal with the cold and be safe than be warm and dead. The girl below her shivered slightly, despite the cloak around her, so Ceriden wrapped her arms around the tiny body, drawing the girl into her own, keeping her warm. She was more used to the cold, because of the frigid currents of the water, but this girl seemed no used to the ouside air.
With her eyes facing the ocean, the selkie queen watched the sun set. Dazaling rays of gold, auburn and pink grased the sky, and the firey sun sank low into the azure water. The selkies believed that the sun went underwater during the night, and two giant whales pulled the extinguished sun through the water and back to the other side, where their collosal spouts propelled the sun back into the sky, where it lit again. The momentum of the spout would propell the sun al the way to the otherside, where it set and the cycle began all over again.
A few hours passed, and the moon was high in the dark blue sky, the tiny sliver set amid thousands of dazaling stars. There was a few black clouds here and there, but other than that, the sky was clear. The child below wrapped in Ceriden's arms was beginning to stir, and the selkie looked down apon her just as the girl opened her gold eyes. She still had the groggy look of sleep, but she did not protest to Ceriden's warm arms. In sooth, she snuggled in closer, and sighed slightly, the sound of a contented child.
"What's your name, little one?" Ceriden whispered. The girl's gaze never wavered, but it took her a few minutes before she replied.
"Allhania" She said, the word rolling off her tongue with ease. She didn's say anything else, but her large eyes seemed to question Ceriden.
"I'm Ceriden" She replied. "And the angel that you saw before, his name was Vardian. We're new to your land."
Allhania nodded, and sat up slightly, wrapping her cloak around her tightly as she left Ceriden's warm arms. "Thank you for helping me," she said, "I probably couldn't have ran away from them if you hadn'tve stopped 'em." Ceriden nodded and smiled gently.
"You're welcome. We actually came here to see if you and your people knew of a way to fight those beasts, because they are now attacking our homeland."
"You mean the Ignataeus?"
"Is that what they're called? Hmmm... we didn't really have a name for them. What does the name mean?"
"Beast"
Ceriden laughed slightly, happy that these ancients could think of no more of a name than they could. But at least Allhania's sounded better.
The Ignataeus. Now the Tarantarian's could name their foe, now they could do damage. By using the name, they coul instill confidence to their warriors. They were no longer fighting as nameless evil, but a tangible race, like those of any other. They were not invincible.
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Vardian Custodio
Beings from Beyond
Avatar of the Lord[M:0]
Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly
Posts: 74
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Post by Vardian Custodio on Oct 5, 2007 17:22:51 GMT -5
Vardian beat his wings proudly through the morning sky, the sun hanging low and amber in the east, casting magnificent shadows of mountains across the jagged plains. He knew the general direction Ceriden had been, and now he found himself longing to see her again, hoping she was still safe.
And for the first time in millennia, he did not fly alone. An Ancient in the form of a tall man with skin as black as jet flew along beside him, yet he had no wings, and he looked as if he was propelled by the winds, despite the still air. Seeing a man fly with nothing but his mind to propel him was something Vardian had never witnessed before, it made him feel like he was flying beside his angel siblings again. And not for the first time since he had come to Earth did he feel a surge of home-sickness.
”She is waiting just down here,” Vardian called back to him, rolling in the air to get a good view of the Ancient, just behind him.
”Then let us return to the surface, Avatar,” was his only reply. They had given him that name, even though he had clearly stated his name as Vardian. He wondered what this Ancient would name Ceriden. And he had learned that they never looked directly at you, always past you, as if they were blind. It was only after that he realized they were to the normal light. They saw on a higher plane than Vardian even, more by the light of life than anything else, whereas Vardian’s was a mix of both.
He had found ten of the Ancients in that stone chamber, heavily fortified just beneath the surface, yet miles above the ‘Ignataeus’ as they called them. He found out that this was just an outpost; their true city and home lied many miles inland, and inside a mountain range for protection, with only two secret entrances. The entrance to which known only by them.
Of all ten of them he had seen, nine were ‘defenders’, which was equivalent to a Human soldier. This black man, whose name was only Anale, was one of those defenders. The tenth child they had told him was missing, and they had rejoiced when Vardian had told them he had found a child on the plains.
Although when he had mentioned the Ignataeus, they became silent and solemn, and he was able to decipher very little from them on that subject. Their minds were impossible to read, and all of them would have easily been able to overpower him. They looked so much like Humans, but they were nothing alike.
Vardian landed heavily on the ground, but Anale seemed to touch the ground with barely a sound. The angel frowned by didn’t think any more on that, and instead jumped onto the rock their camp was under and leapt down into the Selkie’s midst. ”Good morning Ceriden. I’ve returned, and not alone. I found the Ancients, well, some of them anyway…”
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Post by Ceriden on Oct 5, 2007 20:29:51 GMT -5
Ceriden looked up at the sound of wingbeats, and her heart rejoised at the sight of the returning angel. Despite her confidence in his abilities, she had been worried, and was very glad to see him back saftly. Allhania too looked up, but her joy was in seeing the man beside Vardian.
"Anale!" She said, and jumped to her feet. She did not run to embrace him though, she just stood there, her head hung. "I'm sorry, Anale. I have failed you." Her long hair shifted in front of her face, and her golden eyes were compleatly hidden.
After seeing no responce from Anale, who barley acnolaged her precence, Ceriden stepped in.
"Dark One, I am Ceriden, of the Sea, Chieftainess to the Selkies." She bowed low, and then looked back up at him. "I'm sure Vardian has explained our plight to you, and I hope that your kind can teach us."
Anale looked up at her, but there was something strange to his gaze. She felt as though he was not looking at her, but gazing at the landscape behind her.
"What is your name, Dark One?" She asked, questioning not only his name, but in subtler tones, his purpose.
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Vardian Custodio
Beings from Beyond
Avatar of the Lord[M:0]
Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly
Posts: 74
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Post by Vardian Custodio on Oct 6, 2007 3:53:40 GMT -5
Vardian looked around, making sure they hadn’t been followed, but he knew the Ignateaus could not run that fast… Or at least he hoped not.
Anale was looking past Ceriden, yet speaking to her at the same time. Something which could probably be taken as rudeness, and indeed the meaning behind it was one of their supposed superiority over mortal people. They wouldn’t even look at him as an equal.
”My name is Anale, Sealskin. And I am only here for the little one,” he waved a hand to indicate Allhania, who was still standing in that same pose, moving not but for the wind in her hair and the frequent shivers from her body.
His whites of his black eyes were bright, and looked strangely out of place on his face, dark as night. ”Your plight, has been mentioned to us yes. And our direct input has been decided to be… minimal.” Vardian shook his head in silent dismay, a motion which Anale caught out of the corner of his eye.
”However you have saved one of our lives, and our honour strikes deeper than anything mortal can hope to. As her father, I will take one life for you, no more no less, as a token of your rescue of Allhania,” Vardian wasn’t expecting that.
One life!? How was that supposed to help them!?
”Instruction I will not give you, though you are free to travel to our home if you desire to seek out an Ancient who will.” Something in his tone made Vardian think he was mocking them, and that no Ancient at the city would want to help them at all.
The angel stepped forward after was finished with listening, ”We should head for this city my queen. We may hope for some soldiers, or at the least some sort of weapon to fight these creatures with…”
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Post by Ceriden on Oct 9, 2007 23:12:20 GMT -5
Ceriden nodded her head, but silent dismay had entered her heart. So these ancients would not help them? They would just have to watch, and see what they could pick up in this city.
"Yes Vardian, lets go. Anale, would you show us the way?" He nodded, and motioned for them to follow, and he made sure that Allhania picked her feet up before he moved foreward.
"By the way, what is the name of your homeland, this land?" She asked as they started walking.
OOC: Akkk! Sorry, I can not write today. That was aweful! But if you come up with the name, Ill make some boards for this land and we can post there.
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Vardian Custodio
Beings from Beyond
Avatar of the Lord[M:0]
Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly
Posts: 74
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Post by Vardian Custodio on Oct 11, 2007 3:15:45 GMT -5
Anale obviously wasn’t pleased at being grounded, and not flying. But to him he thought the Ancient children couldn’t fly until they hit puberty. And besides, Ceriden could hardly fly with them. Although maybe Vardian could have carried her if it came to that.
Anale called back to them as he walked on, and Allhania fell into step beside him, “Keep up Avatar.” He paused a moment, considering his words. “You may call my home De’or Volya, Sealskin. That name I believe will suffice for the likes of you.” He continued without ever breaking step.
Vardian turned to look at Ceriden, ”To De’or Volya my queen.” He waved a hand after Anale, then dropped his voice to a whisper as he walked beside her, a ways behind the Ancients. ”And pray our reception there will be better than here. We need troops. Or a weapon, or knowledge at the very least.”
Vardian sighed as he looked past Ceriden’s straight, black hair to the horizon, ”We need something…”
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Post by Ceriden on Oct 11, 2007 19:01:11 GMT -5
Ceriden frowned slightly at the hidden insuly in Anale's words. She had a strong dislike for this man, but if he could show them the city, where they could possibly find help, she would tolerate him.
She turned to Vardian as they walked, agreeing fully with his words.
"I hope the rest of the Ancients are more eager to help... you are right, we do need something, or Tarantara is doomed... the Igntaeuswould quickly over-run us at the rate we are fighting them." She sighed, and kept walking, her eyes shifting to and from the three figures next to her. Anale was leading, a good five feet ahead of them, and no matter how many times Ceriden picked up her pace, he would alway remain that distance. It was as though he would not lower himself to walk with them.
Anhallia on the other hand, was behind them, slowly falling behind. Ceriden stopped for a minute, waiting for the girl to catch up. She smiled down at the weary girl and picked her up. She was surprizingly light, even for her small figure.
She quickly lengthened her strides and caught up with Vardian and Anale, Allhania drifting off into sleep on her shoulder.
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Vardian Custodio
Beings from Beyond
Avatar of the Lord[M:0]
Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly
Posts: 74
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Post by Vardian Custodio on Oct 12, 2007 2:52:26 GMT -5
Vardian fell into silence. What was there to say? He looked over at Ceriden carrying Anhallia and smiled. They looked almost… serene… perfect. He followed on without a word.
The trek must have taken hours, and the angel had watched the sun rise in sky, sit at its peak for so long, and now it was almost halfway down its descent, the shadows lengthening again. He thought it had been hot when they first came here, but they hadn’t experienced the midday swelter. He now understood why everything was so dead and desolate on the surface… because of the heat.
Finally, Anale stopped and turned to look at him, or past him rather. ”We’re here.”
Vardian looked aound, but there was nothing here at all, in fact, this place looked barer than the other places they had been walking through. Just sand and withered, leafless trees in all directions, rocky mountains looming ominously on the horizon. ”Here? But where’s your city? There is nothing here.”
Anale shook his head slightly, ”I had thought you would open your mind more Avatar. But I was wrong, and for good reason. You choose to take the form of a man, and henceforth you are blind as they.”
Vardian frowned, he had never been blind. Not even in his life had he been blind, so many eons ago. But Anale continued regardless, ”To enter, you must want, but more importantly, you must be wanted.”
He took another step onto the sand, ”Just, open your eyes… for the first time.” Vardian took a step back in shock as the black Ancient disappeared into the sand, swallowed in a heartbeat, and nothing remained now. Nothing stirred. It was as if he had never been there at all.
”Gods…” Vardian breathed, and he walked over to where he had disappeared, but he found the ground solid, and unyielding. ”Open my eyes?” He closed his eyes and opened them again, to no avail.
”But, they already see…” Everything he wanted he had already laid eyes upon. He couldn’t think of anything he hadn’t seen that he didn’t want… except for an end to this war. Whatever that took. He looked over at Ceriden. ”I just want freedom.”
The breath was knocked out of him as he felt his feet shift, and the next thing he knew he was falling through the coarse earth, falling, deeper, faster… towards light…
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Post by Ceriden on Oct 13, 2007 13:57:35 GMT -5
Ceriden now stood alone, still holding the drowsy Allhania. She looked at the sand below her, very confused. How could they have just dissapeared? She played Anale's words over in her head, she would have to see to get in. But would it work with Anhallia with her? She gently woke the girl and set her on the sand.
"We're here already?" She said, rubbing her eyes "The other two must have gone in already. Ill meet you below." And Alnhallia sunk beneath the sand.
Ceriden looked up in dismay, wondering how in the world she would get down there. She looked again at the sand and tried to imagine what the city would look like. She close her eyes and pictured an earthy place, with strange dwellings and many ancients walking around. She really truly wanted to be there, to see if any of the ancients would help them.
Suddenly, she felt a very peculiar sensation, and sand was all aroundher. Then there was a slight drop, and she was on her feet next to the other three. Then she opened her eyes, and the city met her gaze.
"Wow..." was all she could say...
((Do you want to start a post in the new board for the city?))
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Vardian Custodio
Beings from Beyond
Avatar of the Lord[M:0]
Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly
Posts: 74
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Post by Vardian Custodio on Oct 16, 2007 3:16:17 GMT -5
Yeah, you can start it if you want. You know the boards better than me, and you can describe the city however you want
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