A Druid's Story {Graphic Violence, Some Sexual Content}

Simply breathtaking, outstanding, magical!! I'm not a native speaker but even with words in it I didn't know (and didn't want to interrupt the magic of your story with looking them up) your story came to live, I saw the places, the battles, I felt with your characters . . . if writing is like painting a picture you are truly a Da Vinci amongst the writers. Please do not stop and close the circle for us. Thank you so much.

I'm started on the next chapter, but it's going slow as heck. Dunno when it'll come out, but I'll get it to ya eventually. Thanks for the comments guys. I don't know how to express how seeing someone appreciate what you do makes you feel. Thats the stuff that keeps me going on this long after i normally would have just lost all interest.

Edit: Bout a quarter of the way through the chapter. Just working on it when I get ideas. My brain feels dead lately.

Can I just say...OH MY GAWD!!! That was...and she was...and then they.....MORE!!!!!! /faint

For my people on Blackburrow (if any of you still read this story)...Let me know through mail/in-game and I'll put my story on books for your home free of charge (You supply the books). (Two-Three books per chapter, btw)

Chapter 33: Sacrifices

Sound came back slowly. Next, a lightening of the darkness around her crept over her consciousness. She felt the pain of dozens of small cuts and some larger ones. Ger body felt battered and more than a few bones felt broken, especially over her chest, where her healing powers hadn't had time to fully take effect. Her thoughts were naught but a jumbled mess, random flashes of horror and blood.
As dawn slowly slid over the land, her vision began to return. At first she saw only a blur, then came the full return of her sight, hindered only by a slight fuzziness around the edges. The tumbled ruins of a blasted cityscape and a desolate wasteland surrounded her for as far as she could see.
With sight came awareness, followed by a sense of loss so deep she thought she would drown in it. Her memories rushed back in a torrent of misery. Her daughter, a defiled hunk of meat, had been incinerated in the fires of her rage. Her friends' torn and broken bodies had been consumed in the same manner. Her sanity was holding on by a thread even now.
One fleeting memory was all that had stopped her rage, and possibly saved the world. Tunare's loving words of wisdom and insight had showed her a way she could perhaps change the final outcomes of those she cared so much for. For a moment, nothing came to her other than the memory of Tunare standing before her in spiritual form, beseeching with her voice and eyes, to put a stop to the madness.
A second passed while Elhonna glared at the goddess, the fires of a thousand pyres flaring in her eyes, warning her without words not to stand in her way. Then a wave of pure and unconditional love flowed to her from Tunare, calming her.
She saw visions then of the things within her power, and she felt hope flare in her heart. She released the last of her power then, into the earth, dissipating it rather than unleashing the raging typhoon that she had been about to scour the area to the bedrock with.
Moments later, she floated slowly to the ground and slumped over, exhausted to the point of unconsciousness.
She sat there, her memories playing through her mind, for an indeterminable amount of time. It might have been minutes, or hours, or even days. A pallor had fallen over the area where once Cazic'Thule had stood. Ash and dust thrown up by her magical assault blocked the sky for many miles around.
Her mind flitted about randomly, picking out memories of Ereviz, and her daughter. The determination on his face when defending his brother's honor what seemed like a lifetime ago. The light catching the blue flecks in the brown of her daughter's eyes the day she left her on the steps of The Lightbringers' hall in Qeynos.
So slowly it was as if she were dreaming, Elhonna stood and glanced about at the wreckage of the city. She saw flickers of power at the edge of her vision where the land struggled to reabsorb the energy she had ripped from its bosom.
She closed her eyes and centered herself. Her heartbeat slowed to match the rhythm of the world's. Scents became clearer, and her hearing extended out, far beyond a normal living creature's listening range. As she became more attuned with the living world around her, she also started seeing flickers on the edge of her vision, a breaking down of veils between the living world and the spirit world.
All around her, momentary glimpses of ghostly figures could be seen. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw what she had been looking for. A tiny spirit was wandering around, her ghostly blue robes floating a foot off the ground as she hovered aimlessly about. The spirit appeared half-elven and her large, pale eyes looked about in confusion. The spirit drifted across Elhonna's line of sight. Following closely behind the little girl's spirit was a group of four ghostly beings who seemed to be following the girl cautiously, as if afraid she might spook. Even in death they stick together...I shall make sure Loriana gets to become that close to someone...
She sent her power out, the smallest tendrils of energy, to blanket the area around the five souls. They all started, as if goosed, but apparently they could not part the veils of the spirit world to look out on her living body.
Elhonna sent more of her power through the tiny tracery of power surrounding her friends' and daughter's spirits. Faster and faster, her life energy pulsed across that cord, penetrating the mists of death, and slowly but surely draining her life in return. As the people within her sphere of power grew more substantial, she faded, her mighty powers traded for their rebirths.
At the last moment, she lanced out with a streamer of fire, etching a message in a large stone lying nearby on its side, and imbued a small amount of her remaining power into the stone to make it glow to those able to see magical auras.
A small smile on her face, she gave herself to her power and her body exploded. Before the gore could stain the ground red, her component matter turned to dust and blew away on the wind.
Moments later, a small whirlwind caught up that dust and swirled it around the stone she had written on. A blinding dust storm rose for a moment, then dispersed, leaving five piles of loose soil sitting in front of the stone. A second later, a hand thrust out of the surface of one of the piles, clutching a massive warhammer...








(Note: I'm not sure if I will be adding more to this chapter or not...Might just start a new one to keep going) - Elhonna Kaer'lisk 90th Druid of Blackburrow

I'm pretty late to the game, but I've been working on reading this story, and it's very entertaining so far. I couldn't help but skip to the end to see if it was completed. It looks like it's been a while since it was updated, but there have been longer breaks in this story. Got any more up your sleeve?

Yeah there's more to it, just haven't had any reason to write since no one's responded to the last chaper til now. Am unsure if anyone likes the direction the story is taking, but I don't feel like going back and changing things that much.
I thought up a bit of story arc for a couple of other characters for eq2, but not sure if I want to dedicate the time to writing if things are going to stay as dead as they have been on these boards lately.

Yeah it's kind of sad; it seems like everything was done around 2007, then just petered out. As I've been going back and trying to find the best stuff to read, too many times I've gotten into a story only to have it abruptly stop, then I check the date and it's from like 2005.
It seems like everyone was in awe of this Kinslayers story by Ekuth, but it looks like it got deleted after what appears to be some kind of forum drama. Bah. Bah I say!
Anyway, it's up to you of course if you want to continue. I haven't made it all the way to the end of what's been written so far, but what I have read has been really good. A lot of the stories I've read here have been really inspiring me to work on my own.

I'm also a little late to this story but WOW! Awesome story! Even if you ended it here it would be FANTASTIC! I'll have to keep checking the boards to see if it ever goes on!!

Finally got a start on a new chapter after all this damn time...Don't know if anyone still keeps up with this story, but I've also been working on editing the first however many chapters are in 1st person. Gonna eventually make em all 3rd person, like the second half of the story, which I feel was much better written.

Edit: BTW I am Ferunnia, lol

Its sad to see how dead these forums have become. I my self haven't even looked at them in months. used to be a regular reader on here. but over time, many of the great storys that inspired people to write have been deleted by user, Abruptly ended or just givin up on.

Makes me happy to see even one writer left still. I think with all the drama that happened in the last couple years. not many want to even bother writing about characters they are unsure they will be playing in a few months time.

i'm afraid the great days of the Round Robins, Epic Chronicals and forum fun are gone from the land of Norrath.

Haven't read much of your story. but i will. i need a good jolt of the old days of story telling.

Yeah. We had quite a little community back in tha day. I came back and now just raid 4 nights a week...I go out and get trashed the other three, and work 6 days a week. In case anyone has been wondering what the hell happened to me finishing this damn book.

Book 5: Recollections of a Broken Past


Prologue


The tavern was quiet long after the story-teller finished her tale. Outside, the rain-slicked streets were drenched by yet another downpour. The plains of Karana still kept to their stormy ways. Thundermist Village, nestled between two small chains of mountains, was buffered by storms on a regular basis, especially now, during the rainy season.
Lightning flashed, fully illuminating the candle-lit room. Travelers and locals rubbed elbows, the place was packed to capacity and beyond, as word of the power of this stranger's tale raced through the town, drawing dozens of people to the inn to have a listen.
On many tables, drinks sat untouched. For once, the barkeep didn't mind, as he had been drawn in by the long tale as well. His mind still flashed with images given near-life by the stranger's eloquence in relating the tale. He could nearly smell the ashes of the jungle, taste the despair, then joy of the last few moments of Elhonna's life. Looking around, he saw that most of the people in the tavern were caught up in the same kinds of thoughts. There were tears on the cheeks of many, their hearts nearly broken by the loss, the irony of a goddess dying for her child that she would never get to meet.
After a couple of minutes, the crowd seemed to come out of its reverie. Drinks were ordered, quietly. None wanted to be the one to break that fragile peace, none wanted to disrespect the power of the tale.
“I find myself curious, then, to the fate of those involved,”one man sitting near the stage asked after a while.
The cloaked stranger stirred in her seat, rearranged her long, pale-colored hair about her heart shaped face, and spoke again to the crowd so raptly staring at her after the long tale.
“The stone read, 'Fate Shall One Day Reunite Us. Until Then, Protect That Which I Hold Dear.' As far as I know, Elhonna has never been seen again. These events happened over a decade ago. Ereviz is a High-Captain in the Knights of Bristlebane. Maggie, Noris, and Fiona returned to Qeynos with their charge, and finished raising the girl.”
“And what of Loriana?” the same man asked.
“She spent years recovering from her ordeal. She could not remember most of what transpired, but occasionally, images, fleeting moments of her torture, would flash through her mind, bringing her screaming out of her sleep, or dropping her to her knees when awake, leaving her cringing in fear. The rest of her childhood never came. She was forever changed by what happened to her. She became withdrawn, cold and distant to those around her.
“The little girl that died there in Cazic-Thule was not reborn. What came back was a shell. No one who knew her before recognized her, other than the way she looked. Her mannerisms changed, completely. She was stronger, in many ways, but broken, as a whole. She spent the rest of her adolescence hiding from the things that had happened to her, forever looking over her shoulder, expecting at any moment to feel a scaly hand on her shoulder, or to have a bag drawn over her head, before someone dragged her into a dark place to do it to her all over again.” She stopped to take a drink at this point.
“Did she ever recover?” The same man asked again.
“That is a tale that could be long in the telling, sir,” She responded.
Shouts of 'More!', and 'Finish the tale!' rang out as the crowd sensed her hesitance to continue.
She sat quietly for a moment, obviously deciding whether or not to continue. As she looked out over the crowd, she met the eyes of a man sitting quietly in one corner. Brown eyes stared across the room and met her blue ones, and she felt her pulse calm, her nervousness pushed into submission. He nodded at her, peaceful, caring eyes supporting her silently, and she turned to gaze back out at the crowd.
“Listen closely, then, to the tale of one girl's fight against the darkness inside of her soul, listen to her pain, her failures, her triumphs.

Chapter 34: A Step Back in Time


Red flashes of memory, blood splattering the walls around her. Tortured faces caught in a rictus of pain screamed silently in her head. Claws scrabbled in the dark, scraping across the floor. She tried to crowd herself into a corner, but the room was round. There was no escape, and as she frantically searched for a way out, a wide-grinning mouth appeared out of the darkness baring rows of blood-covered, needle-sharp teeth at her. The face moved suddenly at her, maw opening wide, as if it meant to bite her head from her shoulders.
She screamed, and abruptly grunted, as she rolled, thrashing, off the bed and face first onto the floor. She lay there, curled up on her side, blood dripping from her nose, a massive headache building behind her eyes. The marble floor cooled her body rapidly, and she came to her hands and knees, bruised and shivering. She looked over her shoulder, past the small bed and out the window. It was still pitch black outside. She'd managed less than a few hours of sleep, and felt the lack.
Standing wearily, she brushed her nightgown off, though her room here was kept spotless, and there would be no dust to wipe away. She stepped to her wash stand and grabbed a small rag to hold to her nose as she tilted her head back, waiting for the nosebleed to stop.
Tears of fear still ran down her cheeks, but these soon became tears of anger, as cold rage ran through her. She was frustrated, it had been years. She was so tired of waking up every other damned night to these nightmares. She looked down, moved the rag, and the blood had stopped. She met her gaze in the mirror. Eyes the color of richest sapphire gazed back, and pain showed around them, both from falling on her face, and from living in constant fear.
She was almost seventeen years old, nearly ready to begin her mastery studies as a mage, and she still woke up screaming like that twelve year old that had sat there in the dark in Cazic-Thule, getting mutililated. She looked away from the mirror, disgusted, and lay back down.
Outside, a peaceful quiet permeated the city of Qeynos, it was a city at sleep, for the most part. Crickets chirped and frogs croaked from the banks of the small lake surrounding the Mage Tower. In the distance, she could hear the steady clop-clopping and smooth bumping of a horse-drawn carriage driving along the cobblestone road a ways distant from the tower.
She lay there for a long while, staring up at the ceiling, listening the the peaceful sounds of the night, trying to calm her still-racing heart. She looked to her left, out the window. The moon was full, and she sat up, staring at the way it reflected on the water below. With most of the torches along the roads damped for the night, and being far enough away from any taverns to not have the night hazed out by light, she could look up and see the endless number of stars, and the shattered remains of Luclin spread out across the sky. She lost herself in the serenity of the moment, her tiredness forgotten for a while.
She emptied her mind as her masters had taught her over the years, and didn't so much reach out as she just stopped holding back her will to keep the flows of mana around her out. She could see the thousands of weaves of magic permeating the stones of the tower, and where Earth mages had used their powers ages ago to help lay the stones and foundations of the city itself.
She could see currents of Air, weavings that permanently moved the air around the city away and moved new air in, keeping the city smelling as fresh as possible, keeping disease vapors from settling over the populace in times of sickness or plague.
Water controlled as it came into the various aqueducts feeding prodigious amounts of water to the city's populace. The power used at the far distant sources to call the life-giving fluid to the surface still showed to someone with enough skill to read old tell-tale signs of magic.
Fire was used to heat homes, guild halls, public buildings, and to provide light for night travel and to cook food.
All around her, power swirled, and she let her mind free to float upon the currents of power, reveling in not being attached to her fleshly body, not being weighed down by her broken past. She gleefully soared across the city, drifting from element to element, when something made her stop. On the currents of air she was riding, she could sense a child weeping.
She shifted her concentration in increments, zeroing in on the source of the sound, jumping from air current to wall to fireplace to candle light, until she found the child. A small boy huddled in a corner, behind the dead body of an adult male human. The mage jumped a final time out of the candle into the very air of the room, her awareness taking in all that was happening at once.
A dark elf female, short and clothed entirely in black leather, was drawing a knife from the man's body and turning to a woman that had just came running down the stairs, a wood axe in hand and blood and intenstines falling from her vivisected stomach,. The assassin contemptuously flicked a hand in the woman's direction, and a dagger sprouted from her eye. The assassin turned back to the child, smiling evilly, and Loriana plane-shifted her body to the room.
She arrived in the midst of a violently buffeting wind that threw the assassin back on her heels, directly between the dark elf and the screaming, weeping child. She turned cold eyes on the assassin, and threw a hand up as she detected the slightest movement from the dark elf. The air between them solidified, and halfway to her throat was a small crossbow bolt. Before she could do anything else, the dark elf had turned and sprinted back up the stairs the woman had came charging down.
“Are you the only other person in the house?” Loriana screamed at the child.
“Yes,” came the watery reply.
“Good,” she said, and raised a hand toward the stairs. A sheet of flame raced out to immolate the stairway, and the stones in the house screamed their death agonies in her elemental-attuned hearing as the heat melted the rock of the stairwell. She charged behind the wall of fire, protected from her own work, but cursed loudly when she realized the assassin had teleported a short distance away as soon as she turned the corner. A few hundred yards away, she felt a teleportation spell build to its peak, then vanish. The assassin had escaped.
She ran back down the stairs to see what could be done to help the man, but when she turned him over, his sightless eyes stared up at the ceiling, and she knew he was gone. The child she left huddled in the corner during this, not knowing what to do for him regardless. When she was sure the two adults were done, she turned to the child and asked him quietly, “Do you have someone you can stay with? Other family in Qeynos?”
He nodded his head.
“Okay. Come with me then, we can't stay here, she might come back for you,” she said coldly.
The child walked to her, tears running down his face, and she grabbed his hand and teleported them to the nearest City-Guard outpost.

Just an fyi if there's any people out there still reading this...post damnit. I don't post it here for my own amusement. I can read it on my comp a lot easier than here lol. Let a brotha know you hear me...don't be shy.

Ah've just started reading it, and find it interesting so far (just got to the part after Elhonna got vaporised and found out she was from another Time)
Just finished one great story and the start of a new, but ah feel Loriana's story should be told seperate from her mothers

YAY!!!! So happy you're posting again! It's always so easy to immerse myself in your stories..and this one looks to be no exception...can't wait to get more!!

I read your story today and I am in awe of your writing skills. I made a new toon (a fury) after reading the story and I am loving it. Thanks for such a wonderful story.
Druidism - 92 Fury
Freeport Server.

Glad you enjoyed it. I keep thinking about writing more, but I have a ton of crap going on in real life that doesn't facillitate time for writing. I barely have time to raid anymore, heh.

I just spent the last two days reading the story, and I love it.
It would be great if you could continue it, at your own pace, of course