Author Topic: Xefr's Adventures: Existential Crisis  (Read 8516 times)

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guest9

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Re: Xefr's Adventures: The grey meatbags
« Reply #60 on: June 22, 2016, 07:43:34 am »
The captain nods in agreement, with a slightly ambitious gleampse in his eyes worthy of a true explorer.. "Perhaps ...all of it could be true! And while old Saint Dragons were not considered divine back then, they were venerated as Gods later. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a hidden crypt somewhere in here even!" Rysannox interrupts him and talks to Xefr "That would be a magnificent discovery  ..but wouldn't thousands of generations already found such relics?"

Back in the crypt...
In the elevator he could see the illuminating paw from before, perhaps if he pressed it, he could(he can) make it move back up. Suddenly he felt a slight chill behind him, as if someone was standing behind him watching, suddenly mixed ghostly voices could be heard in the darkness "She can't" - "The only way" - "No, she's very young" - "She's the last" as if from a memory..
Spoiler: Inside the shard's mind the form of the young female dragon formed again (hover to show)

guest28

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Re: Xefr's Adventures: The grey meatbags
« Reply #61 on: June 22, 2016, 01:24:21 pm »
Xefr tilts his head to the side a bit, with an uncertain look in his eyes. His voice is contemplative, "I'm not so sure about that, considering what the captain said. I believe that since these artifacts were hidden because they were dangerous, they would be hidden well. And since that Church censored the knowledge of the Darkness, it's unlikely the exact method for finding them would still be known. Only those Avalvaxes fellows and any like them could really know, and I doubt the Guardians would reveal that kind of information easily. Or perhaps, they don't know, but may be some of the only ones who can find the artifacts, if they are protected by any sort of strange mechanism. That's all I can think of really, and it's still possible that these artifacts simply do not exist."

--

Turning around in panic at the voices and image, the Shard forgot about escape and simply yelled out into the tomb, scared and confused. "Alright, you damnable phantoms! Who is that!? What do you want from me?! What is going on!?" In his panic, the Shard had completely dematerialized, and his fully energetic form shivered as it waited for a response. 

guest9

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Re: Xefr's Adventures: The grey meatbags
« Reply #62 on: June 24, 2016, 05:13:17 pm »
The captain laughs a bit.. "Hehehe! My wife Edvhyna loves me, but her kin that would know of such things think of me as the infidel that stole their flower  ...besides, thousands of years have passed ever since the Avalvalxes were temple guardians; Edvhy's uncle only mentioned it as some form of secret ancient legend of the family."
Rysannox strokes his beard, looking skeptical while trying to think .. "Also, perhaps such artifacts were not supposed to be found  ..probably so many generations of priests deemed the world not ready for them to be found. I doubt they were wrong, and I doubt they would be wrong now, or ever  ..but I will organise some search parties in the few remaining ancient fire-temples and sanctuaries like this one. Even if they don't find the artifacts, they could at least clean up such places and revitalise them."

--

After the poor shard panicked, absolute silence overwhelmed the dark room; no voices, no visions, nothing. For a few seconds not even the smallest breeze could be heard.
Suddenly in the pitch-black veil of darkness two yellow reptilian eyes opened from affar, looking directly at the shard... "I. AM. THE PASSHT.." The shard's eyes blackened and fast visions of a world in flames appeared in his mind, then small and large winged figures battling each other in the center of the universe. A tremendous explosion and then absolute darkness.
The shard regains his vision, the eyes disappear and the small breeze can be heard again.

guest28

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Re: Xefr's Adventures: The grey meatbags
« Reply #63 on: June 24, 2016, 06:49:07 pm »
Xefr sighs, "Well, that's a shame. I suppose it has been quite some time, so I shouldn't have expected anything. But I do hope you hear more eventually, I find this subject quite interesting.  And that is probably the best course of action. Better to know for certain, than to let it dwell in the back of our minds. If these artifacts are as dangerous as they sound, it's better they do not fall into the hands of reckless explorers who stumble upon them by accident or those with clear, devious intent. Besides, that cleaning up does sound nice. It's important to respect the past whenever possible."

--

Upon regaining his vision, the Shard was certain of his next course of action; panic and get as far from this "past" as possible within the next few minutes. He leaped back onto the elevator and mashed the illumination with his materialized paw repeatedly, his eyes focused on it and determined to not look back into the dark room. He wanted out, damn it!   

guest9

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Re: Xefr's Adventures: The grey meatbags
« Reply #64 on: June 25, 2016, 07:47:34 pm »
Rysannox bows while smiling "Wise words, Xefr my friend! The past should always be respected, for it is part of what makes us what we are now. It is a petty though that you will leave  ..you could stay here; with your enthusiasm and ideals you would make a fine archeologist if you studied the ancient cultures a bit.."
The captain, slightly more down-to-earth than his liege, rolls his eyes and just nods.

--

The mechanism seemed to take its time after all those years of neglect. The voices started being heard again in the shard's head, as if two childish dragons wanted to play with him {{why leave so soon?}} *ghostly giggles* {{we can have FUN! hahahAHAHA}} ...a black dragon materialised right behind him, his giant head about to bite the shard, when suddenly the elevators doors closed and it started rising up, leaving him on the main floor of the temple where Xefr and Rysannox were.

(I really, really feel sorry for that poor shard)

guest28

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Re: Xefr's Adventures: The grey meatbags
« Reply #65 on: June 25, 2016, 09:39:58 pm »
Xefr grinned, though his voice hinted regret, "Ah, I would like to stay as well, your culture is certainly quite interesting. And I'm sure that after spending some time here, I could learn much. But alas, my purpose lies beyond here, and I must pursue it, as unrealistic as it may be. Now then..." The Black Dragon was then cut off by the sound of running and yelling.

--

The Shard jumped right out of the elevator as soon it stopped moving. He then just ran, trying to put as much distance between himself and that chamber as possible. As he did this, he just screamed in terror. He ran straight back into the main room, ramming into Xefr as he went. With that, it seemed that he finally thought himself safe, and started bashing his tail against the ground in rage. His voice rang out, aimed at nobody in particular, "Every single time! Every single ghost, apparition, and phantom always finds me!! Why!?! Why do they always pick on me!? Is it because of my scales? Because I'm not good enough!? I never asked for any of this!" The material Black Dragon merely looked on in his own state of panic, unsure of what to do.

(It was a really bad coincidence really. The Tech Shard got his name because he really only knows how to cope with technology, and he has the weakest Psionic power of all the Xefr Shards. This is also the area from which his set of traumatic memories arises.) 

guest9

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Re: Xefr's Adventures: The grey meatbags
« Reply #66 on: June 25, 2016, 10:57:18 pm »
Both Rysannox and Erixen seem confused and uncertain of what happened. Lord Rysannox approached the shard and he tried talking to him in a soft voice to calm him down a bit.. "You're safe here. Whatever you saw was probably mind tricks ...What do you mean ghosts?" he then turns to Xefr "He seems to be in shock.."
Erixen approaches the shard as well "Just like the warrior guy.. seems Shyr isn't good for dragon shards" he tries to pat the shard, unaware of the fact that he isn't materialised.

guest28

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Re: Xefr's Adventures: The grey meatbags
« Reply #67 on: June 26, 2016, 12:00:48 am »
Xefr regained his composure, "Yes... It does seem that way. I'm not sure what could have done that however..." The Black Dragon's head then turned to look on the Shard, eyes filled with concern, "Don't worry Tech, you're safe. Just tell us what you saw... Then we can send you back to the ship and everything will be fine... Put yourself back together, like you always do, and tell us."

The Shard had calmed down a bit, and while Erixen's pat phased straight through him it still seemed to help comfort him. He was still quivering, but he had stopped smashing the floor by now. Then, he regained his confidence, stopped shivering, and spoke up. "Al... Alright... I was exploring, and I found some... panel? I don't know, there was a paw, I touched it and it did some stuff... Like it showed this writing..." Using the copied version on his arm, he projected a almost holographic version of the clawmark writing onto a nearby wall. "And then, it was an elevator... Before I knew it, I was down in a dark room, filled with a paintings and a helmet made of bones... I don't want to talk about it, but there was also this art..." With that, he also projected a copy of the Artwork concerning the 6 stars and the dragons. He then stopped speaking, going back to quivering at the thought of what happened next. "Bloody Visions... Spirits telling me what to do... Why... Me...?"

Xefr then began to pat the Shard's back, somehow making contact, "No more worries, Shard. We have enough of that already... The spirits won't be giving you any more orders. They'll have to go through me first."

guest9

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Re: Xefr's Adventures: The grey meatbags
« Reply #68 on: June 27, 2016, 06:34:25 pm »
Erixen brought his sword out and walked towards were the shard came from to see if anything was still there, finding nothing, but still standing guard "It's clear Lord Shard, you may  relax, I'll stand guard!".
Rysannox, already perplexed by the new information, stood in shock as soon as the shard spoke of the "Bone Helmet" and showed him the image of the "Six Dragonstars". He gulped and in a shaky voice he tried to explain what was just revealed to him.. "What you saw, the place in which you have been  ...is greater than any dark relic. Greater than anything discovered so far. You stood before the mythic "Great Recall" and the "Helm of Memory" ...I've only heard of it as a child in Urvan folklore songs. It is as if you just found Ayra's wings and Bow  ..amazing, just.. unbelievable." He then noticed the clawmarks and looked at Xefr in confusion.. "These clawmarks are not standard clawmark writing.. ..no, they're older than the Gardax Dynasty, older even than the Saint that this sanctuary was build for.. ..I can recognise a few old Draconic words; 'ATZ' means 'time'  ..hmmm, yes..  'RATI' means 'am' though it could mean 'were' as well.. 'JOQHAN' it means 'lived' and 'KHA' must mean 'who'" he looks at the shar then back at Xefr "...perhaps a Dragon could be more successful. This is unbelievable  ...madness!"

Xefr after seeing the clawmarks can hear a very soft dragon's voice, softer than a feather touching velvet, ringing once inside his head.. "kha rati qoal tlass atz qoal joqhan?"

guest28

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Re: Xefr's Adventures: The grey meatbags
« Reply #69 on: June 27, 2016, 07:43:13 pm »
The Shard seemed reassured by Erixen's actions, and stopped quivering. However, he remained silent, thinking more on what happened. In particular, he placed his thoughts on the image of the female dragon, trying to figure out what it meant.

Xefr walked closer to the images, looking carefully at them. "Hm, this star in particular is somewhat close to Heord... Strange." Xefr pointed a claw at the star in question, and then turned back to Rysannox. "Are you saying we found ancient artifacts of your draconian religion? Interesting... This begs the question, if the shard was able to find these, does that mean more is hidden here?" The Dragon pauses for a second, then continues in a more curious voice, "I wonder... Maybe if I look at this text as I would ancient Heord writing..." Xefr then looked down the writing, trying to use his knowledge of ancient Heordal transcript to see if he could make any sense of it himself.

Xefr was somewhat confused by the voice, but attempted to use psionics to respond, "I'm afraid that I cannot fully understand you, but my name is Xefr. If you can, I would like help in understanding both you and this writing."

guest9

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Re: Xefr's Adventures: The grey meatbags
« Reply #70 on: June 29, 2016, 06:49:15 pm »
Rysannox's eyes are filled with curiosity and ambition for this new turn of events, his tone is extremelly joyful and somewhat in contrast with the shocked shard standing next to him. "It seems like an ancient star map  ..look at the various constellations! ...this star definitely is Taurgha! ..even though a tad bit to the left. I bet my position as echopalad that the other star is Heord's!" knowing that he overdid it a little, he cleared his throat and continued in a more serious manner.. "Yes, perhaps there are more  ...things that only dragons could discover."
Erixen still looks worried about the shard and what he saw, he extends his hand to give him a cigar "Smoke?"

As Xefr focuses on the clawmarks, he can notice similarities  ..perhaps the remaining unknown words could mean something - no; they definitely mean something even in ancient Heord writing! However they seem quite different in many ways  ..as if they were older and alien. As he focuses psionically into what he heard, the clawmarks start shaping, forming patterns in his mind, revealing a small peculiar question in a language belonging to the Draconic linguistic family; "kha rati qoal tlass atz qoal joqhan?"/"Who were you last time you lived?"

guest28

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Re: Xefr's Adventures: The grey meatbags
« Reply #71 on: June 29, 2016, 09:51:06 pm »
Xefr's gaze remained on the writing, but he responded to Rysannox regardless, "Perhaps... I suppose that if your Talmyr allows it, other dragons could investigate other sanctuaries and similar sites, in an attempt to discover the secrets they may hold. This mystery in particular would certainly interest my kind, and I would lying if I said that I don't want to learn more. And this text... It's surprisingly familiar. It bears similarites to ancient Heordal transcript."

The Shard gave a weak smile, and shakes his head. "Thank you for the kind offer, but I don't smoke. This old mind and body don't exactly react positively to such things, you know? Well, I suppose body is the wrong word..."

Despite now understanding the question, the Black Drake was still perplexed. It didn't make any sense to him, but now that he saw some similarities, he wanted to try something. He reached out to the voice psionically once more, this time speaking in the ancient Heordal dialect, "I am Xefr, I know no life before that. Or perhaps I once did, but such knowledge or memories are lost to me." Xefr then waited, to see if his words triggered any sort of response. 

guest9

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Re: Xefr's Adventures: The grey meatbags
« Reply #72 on: July 01, 2016, 02:42:45 pm »
Rysannox made a small clap with his hands, his facial expression being dominated by a wide smile.. "Oh, I'm sure she would, her Greatness is a Draconian after all  ...and as you can see, even some Light-Believers are interested and would like to know more about our..." his head bows a little and the middle-aged steward of the empire loses his smile.. "...our lost planetary brothers. Perhaps there is a connection we have overlooked between Heord and Shyr and the other stars..."

Erixen laughs a bit and smokes the cigar himself.. "Aetherial or not, I'd never stop smoking, or drinking my achjaal! Speaking of.. what are you exactly?"

The black drake's answer triggered no response. However Xefr can feel an unatural and cold breeze running over his scales; He can sense a heavy psionic trail from where his shard came..  uncomprehensible voices trying to lure him there.

guest28

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Re: Xefr's Adventures: The grey meatbags
« Reply #73 on: July 01, 2016, 08:10:20 pm »
Xefr turns back to Rysannox, with a smile on his face, "I would certainly like to meet her, if it ever becomes possible of course. But you are not alone. I too am interested in pursuing this connection, and I know at least a few of my kind shall think the same. I would suggest a joint effort, to investigate these other stars, once we're finished here."

The Shard's smile stabilizes, as his thoughts focus less on his recent experience, "Heh, that's simple. I am a Xefr Shard, but to be more specific, I am a collection of psionic energy and scattered memories brought together and given life. Like a piece of a soul, I suppose."

Xefr snorted at the feeling, and spoke to Rysannox, "And I believe the best way to continue is to take a look at the real deal. I want to see this Helm of Memory for myself, and see if these spirits are open to talking. Though I don't believe it would be best to bring the Shard along..." The Dragon then makes a quick glance back at the Shard. 

guest9

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Re: Xefr's Adventures: The grey meatbags
« Reply #74 on: July 02, 2016, 07:36:15 pm »
Rysannox nods joyfuly as he grabs the arsaz sword hanging from his belt.. "I agree Xefr, 'Drax, nur Lax' as our ancestors said! I will come with you in there and whatever this place hids we will uncover for knoweledge and the safety of future generations.." he suddenly turns to Erixen, speaking in am ore strict tone "Lord Erixen, take care of the Shard as we uncover this mystery". Erixen bumps his fist on his chest and bows his head in agreement...

As the Ghashyr steward and the black drake go forth, the captain brings back in his mind the Shard's words; he seems perplexed by the shard's earlier explanation, yet he doesn't seem to be shocked... "So you're part of that black living-and-breathing dragon's self? I won't even ask how that came to be  ..but you sure seem to approach things differently, even though you're, ehm  ..supposedly the same person."