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No. 74075
Audio
29_-_Repression_(Memoro_de_la_S^tono)_0.mp3
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, 29 - Repression (Memoro de la S^tono).mp3
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As the group gathers around, Torinn begins to read from the ritual scroll. The others feel their minds joined in the communal casting of the ritual spell, and there is the now-familiar feeling of consciousness melting away, as if being transported to a far-flung place and time...
A small, quaint, riverside village. Various humanoids dwell here, simple folk, going about their day-to-day lives--tending crops and livestock. It is late evening, and in the shadows of the fading day, one homely-looking human female commoner slips into a narrow alleyway, alone.
There she is confronted by a figure almost completely covered in ragged robes. She smiles, oddly, and speaks, "Ragrim!" she calls out, and moves as if to embrace him. Suddenly, the robed figure holds up a hand, giving her pause, and though she looks uncertain, her face still holds a look of joy. "I-I'm so glad to see you once more! But these trysts... it's going to arouse some suspicion, soon. I am certain we can find a home for you here, if you are ready for it!"
"...I understand, Cordelia. But that's what I've come to speak of." the voice hesitates, and you catch a glimpse of an orcish figure beneath the hooded robes. "Something... strange has happened, and in my battle against Obould... I failed. My clan is lost. I would live out the rest of my days with you here, but... fate has something else in mind." With that, he holds up his hand and clenches it into a fist, which erupts into shadowy tendrils of energy.
Cordelia gasps briefly, then studies the spectacle with curiosity. Ragrim continues, "It is... dangerous. I must first master it, before it masters me. That is why I cannot stay here... not yet. I must return to the place wherein I was granted such power, and learn control. Once I have done so, I will return. Until then, my love, farewell..."
The human woman smiles as she watches her love depart, and softly speaks after him, "No matter how long, dear Ragrim, I will wait for you... we will wait for you."
You are drawn elsewhere, back into the throne room--but you do not see your own bodies here. Instead, the two storm giants alone are present, and alive, looking at the throne--one that looks quite differently than the throne you observed when you first entered this chamber. Lokradin clutches an orb--the same orb Myn now possesses, angrily, and says, "Traitorous mortals! Our father is lost because of them!"
Calmly, Thorai studies the leyline, which is practically bursting with energy, leaking into a massive vortex of chaos that you recognize as the elemental maelstrom, gathered behind the ornate throne. "Yes... and we will make them pay. But there is great power here. If we could discover how to use it, not only might we be able to undo the damage done by Val'akir, and find the last of the vermin that escaped... we might even be able to accomplish much, much more. We need only a way to master Val'akir's power..."
"Do you desire vengeance?" a voice calls, seemingly from the leyline. Both of the giants look nervously from side to side, and grip their weapons. Slowly, their gaze focuses on the maelstrom...
A ruined village--some of you remember encountering the ruins of his place on your way to Mithral Hall. There is nothing here but bodies, fire, and wreckage--and a lone, cloaked figure, slowly passing through. He tosses the hood of his cloak back, revealing the face of Ragrim Dragonsworn--his skin now nearly black as charcoal, and his face twisted in an expression of grief.
He pauses near one of the houses, and steps into the ruins--picking up a handful of ash, and letting it run between his fingers... before throwing his head back and howling in apparent pain and fury. As he howls, there is an explosion of shadowy power that engulfs the entire house, and washes over the village, reducing what few structures remained partially intact to dust. It gathers into a column that shoots into the sky, twisting the clouds as it seems to part the very heavens themselves. And in the distance, unseen by Ragrim, a figure garbed in red and gold looks on...
Suddenly, you snap back to your senses. The ritual is complete.
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