Hoping to spread the word quickly, Shard gathers as many as will listen in Jayose's library...Shard gazes upon the folk gathered. "So few," he muses, shaking his head, "but if you will listen, I will gladly tell you of the wraith Xathen, and how to destroy him."
Of them, a dwarf is the first to speak. "May we know who you are, for start?"
Meredee, having encountered Xathen previously, is more intrigued. "How do you know how to destroy Xathen?"
"Fair questions," the Nolthrir answers, holding up a hand, and turns to the dwarf Azaghal first. "To answer yours, I was born Shadrius Athere."
"I've heard that you need the blue way to destroy Xathen," Meredee mutters to herself.
Shard looks up at Meredee. "It is true - and there are many other methods, some of which you may have happened across."
"Very well," Azaghal says, "I seem to be at loss here, though - who, or what is Xathen?"
More questions follow. A thin smile crosses Shard's face as their interest grows.
Good. They will not just hear, but listen
... "Perhaps I should start with myself, for I spent many long cycles with the wraith."
"Please do, Shard," encourages Zarre.
And so, the Nolthrir begins his tale. ""I was the only son in my family. My father - a Nolthrir like myself - left before I was born. My mother, a Lemur, raised me and my two sisters in a Labyrinth outpost, but though it the post was small, her duties were not. Often, we were left to our own devices. My sisters roamed the compound, while I preferred intellectual studies and spent much of my time in my room, reading by crystal lamp."
Shard pauses, shuddering. "The wraith came when I was twelve. For a youth who was always terrified of the darkness, the creature was my worst nightmare come to life. I huddled beside my nightstand, bathed in the blue glow of my crystal lamp, and wept as I heard the screams of those outside. The guards could do nothing. The people did less than nothing. Ravenous, he consumed them all." Expressions ranging from skeptical to terrified pass over his audience's faces.
"When he came for me, the door did not fly open. The wraith had no need of doors. He simply 'appeared' from the darkness, staring down at me with ice-blue slits. The image haunts me still... And then, to my confusion, he spoke. The wraith's voice was a sibiliant, echoing hiss that reverberated in my mind in a way I still do not fully understand. He spoke directly into my head. 'You fear me, child,' he whispered. 'Rightly so. Your fellows are ash and dust. But you will not share their fate.' I gazed up at him, but my throat was choked with fear and I could not speak. '...you wish to know why...?' the wraith prompted, seeing my mouth opening and closing uselessly."
Zarre looks concerned "How terrifying for you." An armored Ylian mutters something to the dark-furred Enki girl beside him, her ears twitching in response.
"'Come. Step to the window. What life is left for you here?' I was still too terrified to move, but the wraith backed away into the shadows, giving me a clear view through the bedroom window." Shard nods toward Zarre. "The sight he allowed me was even more horrible, I'm afraid... In some places, small fires burned - torches knocked awry, or Red Way spells cast off-target. A fine dust drifted through the air. 'Your fellows are ash and dust.' he had said. This was all that remained of my mother? My sisters? A cold nausea filled me, and I leaned to the side vomiting. The wraith shook with silent, malicious laughter. 'You understand, then. I have fed well on them - I have no need to consume you, fish-elf. But you may yet have a purpose in your short mortal life. Come with me, and I will show you how to find it.' What else could I do? Feeling numb, I rose and stepped forward."
"The moment I left the circle of light, his hand darted out, and his sharp claws pierced my chest, drawing blood as they dug deep into my flesh. I was certain he had lied, and lured me out only to feed on me - but instead, I felt a rush of power. Icy blue light flared form his hand, and when I looked down at the wound, I saw the same glows reflected in a trio of dots on my chest." Shard growls. "The wraith had marked me as his own." A tall Ynnwn to his right makes a quiet 'hmm' at the words.
"'Yours is a precious gift, fish-elf. Follow me, and I will teach you how to use it properly.' I was lost, confused, terrifed... angry. Most importantly, alone. What choice did I have? I followed him out." Shard drops his head in shame. "It would have been better for him to kill me, I think. And yet, some good did come of all this."
"What good would that be?" Zarre asks.
"Lest you think me his tool, know this - the wraith has since stripped me of his so-called 'gift,' and left me for dead."
Arerano wrinkles his brow.
"You said you followed him out?" Azaghal prompts.
Shard nods. "But while in his service, I became his perfect weapon. I could go where he could not. The defenses other fortresses built to protect their inhabitants... they could not stop me. I learned quickly that the wraith had a dire weakness to certain types of magic and weaponry. With each strike we made, those who knew of the weaknesses became fewer in number. Eventually. I was the only one left."
"How many have fell to your betrayal then?" the dwarf demands.
Shard turns to Azaghal, a sad look in his eye. "Countless dozens - even a hundred or more. Perhaps you will find some redeeming quality in me by the end, however..."
"No force was able to stop you, Shard?"
Azaghal 's wrinkled face softens a bit, seeing the sadness in Shard's eyes. Grai simply mumbles.
Shard looks to Zarre. "Who would know of my betrayal? Aside from myself, the wraith left none alive... but I digress."
"Why do you confess it now?" Meredee asks.
The Ynnwn Suno sighs, cocking his head back to everyone, "The sooner we hear the end of this the better. May he continue?"
The Nolthrir resumes his tale. "There were other wraiths beside Xathen. Tzol Dathos, a smallish Etherwight who favored dropping from the tunnels onto his prey. Kai'Zoth Tuun 'the Mad' - who was forever changing form and whose eyes glowed scorching red. To my knowledge, he was the only Etherwight whose weakness was to the Red Way. And there were many others. Of them all, I realized Ut'Phaere was the most cunning. He was the only one to keep a mortal in his thrall. Where other wraiths saw impassable barriers, Xathen saw a challenge, and his control over shadowforms was both more precise and more creative than any of the others..."
"There were more...?" Suno muses to himself.
Meredee looks puzzled. "You used the word Etherwight few times... what is it actually?"
Shardt looks to Meredee. "Wraith is a general term, as 'elf' is. Etherwight is a proper term, as 'Nolthrir' or 'Dermorian' would be."
"So what distincts them then?" Azaghal asks. Shard merely shrugs in response.
"...as you might guess, I was intent on breaking free of the terrible creature, and killing him if possible. But my moments alone were rare - Xathen was everpresent in the darkness, always listening and sensing, reaching through the shadows of the Labyrinth in search of new prey or challenges to face. My only respite came through my meditations - to sit surrounded by glowing sapphire crystals and focus my own meager shadow abilities to control them better under duress. This was what I told Xathen, that to employ my powers under adversity would make them stronger when I truly needed them... and when I felt his consciousness had stretched too thin to watch me properly, I would study. From every fortress I was forced to help decimate, I salvaged what knowledge I could. Books on metallurgy, on gemcutting, on forging weaponry, the arts of the Blue Way... many others. My pack was heavy before long, but I endured the weight in the hope that it would free me. And little by little, it did."
Grai steps forward and a bit shyly asks "Excuse me.. but how would such a powerful creature leave you dead and not be aware of you being alive nonetheless? The one it owned? It's tool?"
Shard nods to Grai. "The wraith was always present... but when one is Shadowmerged, it is spread too thin to sense everything... and the light of a Sapphire crystal is damaging to them. You see, a sword of platinum will carve a wraith's flesh. The blue way, as you know, will damage and even discorporeate one. And to destroy a wraith utterly, you need only bathe their weakened shadowmerged form in the light of sapphire crystals. They will burn to ash in it, until there is nothing left. This is what spared me the night of my capture - my lamp was formed of sapphires."
Arerano rubs his chin, "And we're supposed to believe that this isn't a mere story? And if it isn't, how to unravel the truth?" he muses. Suno draws out a slip of paper and begins writing on it.
"Oh," Meredee says, "...but where can you get sapphires from?"
Azaghal turns to Meredee. "I know a spot in the Laanx dungeons where they can be dug."
She looks back at the dwarf, surprised. "I thought there were only rubies, emeralds and diamonds there."
Zarre nods to Shard. "Then you hold valuable knowledge via those books that willl outlive us all. Will you share this knowledge?"
Suno looks up from the paper to Shard, "Excuse me, but I believe there is another way..."
Shard glances at Suno. "To destroy a wraith? You gaze upon it." He holds out his blade for examination. The weapon is of unique design, glittering with ethereal blue lights. Its core is a long straight single-edged blade of platinum, set securely into a hilt wrapped with black leather. The core blade extends all the way through the hilt, ending in a loop at the bottom, from which hangs a chain that keeps the blade securely fastened to Shard's arm. A deceptively fragile-looking assembly of sapphire crystals, set into a framework of platinum bands, is molded securely to the blade about a third of the way up from the hilt. On the rear, unsharpened side of the blade, this assembly stretches upward in a long spire - on the edged side, it extends foward in three spikes, giving that portion of the blade a saw-edged appearance. The final feature of note is a finely-crafted eye set into the hilt - made of white quartz and set with another sapphire, it glows with unnatural light, as if the sword were constantly awake and watching.
Grai steps back with an alarmed look on her face. Suno looks down at the blade, then back up at Shard, "I'm not sure, but I've fought the wraith in the past, and I managed to drive it away by influencing it with the Dark Way..."
The aged Nolthrir resumes his story, "I was not satisfied with these pieces of knowledge - Xathen was no ordinary wraith, and I could not content myself with the notion of merely dispersing him. I wanted his vile presence destroyed." Suno's words catch his ear, however, and he glances back, muttering, "The Dark Way? Curious. When I have finished, tell me more of this..." He coughs. "...where was I...? Oh yes - I wished him destroyed. I'm certain I am not alone in this."
Meredee smiles and nods "Yes, you're not alone"
"I have platinum swords," Arerano tells Grai quietly. Suno resumes his writing.
"...as we passed through the tunnels, day after day, I gathered what materials I needed. Sapphire crystals, chunks of ore, strips of leather from my fallen prey (for I needed to eat as well)... in secret, I began to construct a blade that might finally strike fear into the soulless hearts of these Etherwights. Slow, painstaking cycles I spent on this task - for I had to work very carefully, when the wraith turned a blind eye to me. Before I could complete it, however, Xathen turned his attention to the Frostfire outpost." Shard smiles grimly. "That was truly the beginning of my salvation, if you can believe I deserved such.
It took a full day to reach the fortress, and as we travelled he told me what to expect, and what he expected of me in turn. 'The lessons I sought to obliterate have surfaced again,' he growled. 'They surround their walls with blue crystal lamps, edge the doors in wraithbane (his word for platinum metals), and as many as half their number are skilled in ice magic.' I felt sick inside as Xathen told me of his plans to tear the Frostfire fortification apart. He was determined that no place should ever be safe from his kind, and viewed the construction of Frostfire as though it were a gauntlet hurled down in challenge." Behind Shard's audience, another Enkidukai woman enters, speaking quietly with Arerano.
Shard nods slightly in their direction as he speaks. "'You have grown strong in your magecraft,' he continued. 'I have seen how little the crystal lights affect your shadow. Go to their walls, show no fear. They will grant you entrance, and make you one of them.. I will attack twice - on the second day, you will repel me. ON the fifth, when you have gained their trust, shatter the lights.'" The Nolthrir growls as he recalls the last words of the wraith. "'We will show them truth' he said. 'There is no light in this world that does not cast a shadow.'" He takes a long pause, a smile spreading across his face. "My friends... I cannot tell you the joy my heart felt that day. To have five whole days of my own, without fear that Xathen might discover my masterwork? It was paradise, come at last. The wraith took me as a boy of twelve - I was thirty-seven when I tasted true freedom again."
Suno nods to Shard, "I can feel your relief."
"...Xathen's plan worked exactly as he predicted it. The Frostfire guards saw me alone, bathed me in sapphire light, and opened the doors. I demonstrated my skills with the Blue Way, and they were only too happy to enlist me as a guard. After some basic instruction and protocol, of course. The inside of the fortress was clean and well-kept. It had none of the grime or wear I had seen in older outposts, and the commander fo the guard confirmed that it was built specifically to combat the menace of Etherwights in the deep tunnels. Shield, his name was, a Lemur both softspoken and very stern. He did not raise his voice, but when he spoke, everyone listened. I took an instant liking to him. Despite my strong desire, I did not tell them of my shadowmark, that I was Xathen's instrument, or of his purpose for my presence there. I trained twice as hard as the other guards, and worked feverishly with my wraith-killing blade whenever the opportunity presented itself. In those first two days, I lived more than in all my cycles of captivity. I did not sleep - Xathen's relentless presence had worn away my need of it. I could go three days on barely an hour's rest, and Xathen had allowed me a full night's worth before sending me to the gates."
The Nolthrir takes a slow breath. "The wraith was true to his word. On the second night, two hours into my shift, he struck. He came at us like a black maelstrom, shaking rocks from the wals and lashing out again and again with his ethereal shadowmass spikes. But the Frostfire guards were well-trained, and our casters easily countered the shrapnel. The constant glow of sapphire light evaporated his strikes before they reached us. Frostfire outpost seemed impenetrable, and I am certain that even allowing for his plan, he had hoped to cause some distress and perhaps take one or two of us with him - his utter impotence must have infuriated him greatly, for we could hear his cries of rage as the wraith receeded into the darkness.
"Day Two had come to pass - I had only three more before Xathen returned, expecting to demolish the fortress and drain its people to ash. I could spare no more time, and fitted the last pieces of sapphire into my weapon while on duty. Until now, I had worked in relative secrecy, and when the blade was complete, my fellows saw and questioned it." Somewhere near Jayose, Grai sneezed. Shard glances over before continuing.
"I chose my words carefully, telling them how a wraith had killed my family... that I had studied their weaknesses and built my blade to match - leaving the better part of my history with Xathen unmentioned. This satisfied them, and I breathed a sigh of relief. But though the blade itself was finished, my
weapon was not yet whole. To sunder an Etherwight, I planned to combine everything the wraiths found anathemic."
He looks up as Grai sneezes again. "Bless you."
Lolitra passes her a handkerchief, adding her own "Talad Bless you."
Grai rubs her nose fiercely and mumbles "Thorry... and thank you..."
Shard gives them a wane smile, then holds up his sword again. "The blade is platinum, set with chunks of sapphire - but at that time, it was still only a sword, and a fragile one at that. On the third day, when my shift was over, I sought out the most powerful of our mages. It took several hours to explain my goals, and what I desired from him. Were I in any other fortress in the Stone Labyrinths, such requests would have been outlandish at best... in Frostfire, I was surrounded by those with similar ambitions. The mage, Phedreus, was only too happy to oblige me - I still marvel at the power of the enchantments he placed upon my sword. There was one final step needed, however, before I would ocnsider it 'ready' - A step I had only the barest knowledge of. Then... in the final two days before the wraith's next assault, it ceased to matter."
Shard gives an oddly tender smile, a faraway look in his eye. "I lived so long, day to day under Xathen's grim shadow, stealing my precious moments of secrecy, and privately obsessing over a weapon to be his undoing. I had not spared thought for others since my childhood. When Artanis game to me, I did not know what to say. You folks, who have lived among your fellows - Diaboli, Lemur, Ylian, Xacha, Enkidukai, and so many others - will find it difficult to understand... the very concept of a woman was foreign to me. I knew more of an Etherwight's interests than hers. But she did not press me... perhaps knowing I would come to find her when I was ready. And on my fourth night in Frostfire, I did so. I wept when my family was destroyed. I shed tears for every fortress I helped sunder in Xathen's name. But that night, in her chambers, for the first and only time in my life, I cried with joy. Artanis was beautiful for a dermorain, and her touch gentle. She undressed before me - a memory I shall treasure like no other."
"Shadrius, this part of the story I have no interest in," Suno interjects. "I hope you understand." The others mumble in agreement.
Shard gives a trembling sigh... "For those of you imagining that I became a man that night... alas, you imagine wrong. In my fledgling desires, I had forgotten Xathen's accursed mark." He looks to Suno. "I understand." His gaze drifts to the floor tiles as he speaks. "She is important to the story, but I shall spare you further details. Suffice to say, when she saw the mark I bore, I was arrested outright. The morning of the Fifth day, I was imprisoned, awaiting trial. I alone knew Xathen was preparing to attack that eve - and so, I was forced to tell them everything. The whole story."
Arerano mumbles, "Maybe for their own good." Lolitra flounces her mane, and nods at Ararano's words.
Shard sighs. "Thankfully, Phedreus confirmed that my weapon was indeed fit to destroy a wraith outright. They did not trust me, but that eve saw me on the fortress walls, in my assigned place. I shall be concise - we laid a trap for the wraith. I doused my sapphire lantern, knocked out the guard at the next lamp, and let Xathen pass into the court - there we caged him with sapphire lights."
Lolitra wrinkles her nose. "why knock out the guard, if he is part of the trap?"
"We had to convince Xathen," Shard explains. "And his response proved he was adequately convinced. Of all the wraiths that once inhabited the Stone Labyrinths, Xathen alone might have spied a trap - he is no fool. And as I stated earlier, a wraith cannot pass through a sapphire's light unharmed - nor use the shadow it casts to his own ends. This is why such things were employed at Frostfire. We penned him in the center compound, and laid into him from all sides with Blue magic. 'What betrayal is this, fish-elf?!?' the wraith snarled up at me. Raw hatred burned in his cold eyes. 'I gave you your life - I gave you purpose!' I drew the wraith-killer from under my cloak. 'My purpose,' I declared loudly, 'is to destroy your kind.'" Shard looks over those assembled. "That is my purpose here - Xathen was encased in stone that day, by a spell from Artanis' hand... Before his petrification, he stripped the shadow powers from me, and killed me in the same act. I do not know what else became of Frostfire, for my eyes upon waking beheld two flesh-golems standing over me. Death Guardians, I believe they're called."
Suno shakes his head, "I'm glad you made it out safely."
The Nolthrir gives a wry snort. "'Safe' is a relative term... but yes, I live yet. I made a pact with the dark Goddess of that place - bound my life to the blade I now carry. But for my years in service with Xathen, I was cursed yet, and so the Guardians would not help me find the portal back to life. It took me a full cycle's time to escape."
"When you say that he was encased in stone," Azaghal asks, "what do you mean by that? Trapped? I have a strong feeling that he was not subdued for all eternity." Suno glances over at Azaghal and shakes his head.
Lolitra ponders. "Hmm... perhaps it could be mined out.. that would be a tragic thing."
Zarre looks at Azaghal an whispers, "Perhaps preserved?"
"Artanis shaped the stone around his physical form," Shard explains, "and encased him in living rock. The last I saw of the creature, he was half-buried in fallen stone, and from the waist up he was a gruesome statue clawing at the sky."
"Maybe he's telling as a mere story and falsehood... maybe it contains part of truth, maybe not," Arerano says skeptically.
Meredee ponders aloud, "So we dont have to fear Xathen anymore?" Lolitra raises an eyebrow.
"Let him finish," Suno suggests, looking around at everyone.
Shard glares at Arerano. "The tale I tell you is true - only recently, did a kran tell me that the wraith yet lives, hunting in this city. You may ask the Laanx priest if you doubt my words."
"I was there that day," the tall Ynnwn confirms. "The wraith is indeed alive."
"And how are we supposed to believe that you're not still his tool?" Arerano demands, and Lolitra nods her agreement.
Azaghal eyes Suno "You saw the wraith?"
Shard gives Arerano a wry look. "Suffice to say, when I finally returned to the living, I took the name Shard Wraithbane - for it is both my name and purpose. I have since hunted down the wraiths of the Labyrinth, and believed Xathen was dead until the kran said otherwise."
Suno glances back at Azaghal, "I fought it."
"That would be the one who cursed a child, who was taken to the temple, would it?" Lolitra wondered aloud.
"...preparing some trap for us under his order," Arerano mutters.
"Tzol, Kai'Zoth... the others, they are all slain by this blade," Shard declared. "To my knowledge, Xathen Ut'Phaere is the last Etherwight left alive, and when I have destroyed him, my task will be complete. Perhaps then, I may yet enjoy a 'normal' life... but who can say what the future holds? For any of us?"
Zarre smiles. "If what you say is true Shard, then your presence in this city is welcome."
Grai looks at Suno "You fought it?"
Shard looks at those assembled. "Thank you, for listening to my tale. I hope the knowledge I impart may serve you well in the days to come."
Suno nods to Shard, "I shall gather what's needed to defeat this creature."
"Well, is it the thing that caused a child's curse," Lolitra repeats, "who was taken to Laanx's temple?"
Shard looks to Lolitra. "No, dear lady - if you have heard anything of Xathen's passing, it would have been the boy Mahesh he devoured on his first day here. The kran told me of that in detail."
Meredee looks at Grai, "We fought Xathen too, with Fesek.. it was long time ago."
Lolitra covers her mouth, "Oh my, the poor urchin Izzabella's child..."
Shard nods. "He is a dangerous creature. I am glad to see you are still alive."
Grai turns to Meredee and nods "I see. Well, then I don't understand... how would Xathen not reassure himself about the death of Shard?"
Shard looks at Grai, a small smile playing about his face. "That, I shall tell you of in a moment. Now I must ask - for I cannot in good conscience leave you defenseless. Who here posesses a glyph of the Blue way?"
Meredee gives Grai another glance and shrugs, "Well.. it all seems a bit suspicious to me too."
Several in the crowd raise hands or step forward, causing Shard's grin to broaden. "Good. I do hope they serve you well. But to aid your efforts, I have a gift." He opens a small sack of glyphs, drawing out multiple glyphstones with the Cold sigil on them. Some of the assembly refuse, but most gladly accept and give their thanks. When he finishes passing out the glyphs, the Nolthrir looks to Grai. "Now... you asked if Xathen would not confirm my death, yes? I shall impart one last, important piece of information to you all. Wraiths, Etherwights - they cannot 'die' in the classic sense. The Goddess Dakkru considers them unholy and corrupt - when their presence passes in to her realm, she destroys them utterly.
That is why Xathen does not know of my continued life - he has no concpet of the 'Death Realm' as you all know it. Whether a body turns to ash from his feasting, whether one dies naturally, or otherwise passes on - he does not differentiate. To his thinking, dead is dead and gone." Shard gives a sly laugh. "I imagine he will be very surprised to face me again."
Suno holds tightly to the glyph, "I look forward to fighting alongside you, Shard."
Shard gives a slight bow. "My sincere thanks for your patience with me. Do train at least a little in the Blue Way - it will not be enough to destroy Xathen, but he is a predator and a hunter. He will not press a fight he considers too costly."
[The unedited version of Shard's story can be found
here]
