RuneScape Forum Archive | Fall From Grace

Jul

2020

Serene End

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The ceiling, just double their size, was designed with carving of elegant designs. To what those carving meant was a mysterious to those who did not understand what it meant to be a Lamian, to understand who Lamia was and what she meant. The deep, profound mystery that her presence presented.

And of course, all beside them were the hundreds of statuea, all of the same woman over and over. She truly had a absolutely significant impact upon the lives of the Desert Assassins, this precious queen, this “Drág Essa”, this Lamia. Daevarro couldn't help but to look up at these statues as he passed them, couldn’t help himself but to be a little curious.

Calvin, walking abreast of Daevarro, couldn't help himself but to notice Daevarro’s staring. “Hey, shady,” Calvin said. “Sorry ‘bout ol’ Shakir up there, guy’s a bit-a emotional case, y’know?*

Hearing the assassin’s voice speak to him. Daevarro ripped his eyes off of the statues and onto Calvin. “It’s all right,” he responded. “but I don’t understand... He had such hatred in his eyes when he stared, in his voice when he spoke."

Calvin rubbed the side of his head, attempting to figure out the best way to proceed into this discussion. “Yeah, well...” the assassin replied. “That ain’t you he’s hatin’ on, but the Cult-a Lamia’s reputation among my brothers an' sisters.”

“Was my family so horrible to you all?”

Calvin shook his head swiftly. "Not at all," he adamantly denied. "It’s like I told ya before, we 'ad respect fer one another ‘cause-a our mutual faith in Lamiaquil’a, but were very different in our ways-a expressin' it. We 'ere typical are more subtle wit' our worship, but the Cult was, well... pretty radical."

“They were sacrificing people, right?” Daevarro’s voice came out, detailing the statement made by Calvin, then held his pendant up. “To power up this?”
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20-Nov-2014 19:39:13

Jul

2020

Serene End

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“Yep,” Calvin returned. “Most-a us were just glad dat there were others like us out there, others whose lives were touched by our drág Essa. But then, there were some-a us who weren't so welcomin’, like Shakir. The foundations-a our order start all the way back ta when she came ta this world, an’ she freed a group-a humans from their captors. She passed on her knowledge an’ ways ta dose humans, in hopes dat she might keep the memory-a her children -- the Neheztelians -- alive. One-a the laws she passed was easy an' simple, "Do no harm, if only to defend yourself. All life is sacred, precious, in the tiniest insect, in the tallest oak, in our most beloved child, and in our most hated enemy.""

“And doing harm was exactly what my family was doing,” Daevarro concluded, but then another question came to him, one he wished to speak. "So, wait... if my family was hated for their practices because it involved human lives, what of all you? You're assassins, right? Killing people is something you do regularly, and that's taking lives needlessly."

“Right,” said Calvin. “but not all-a us down 'ere are assassins, just some-a us. Those like Shakir only respect me 'cause-a my title 'cause it basically means I'm the boss' wingman, her sidekick. 'Cause both sides don't oppose her bein' the embodiment-a our queen an' 'cause she rarely speaks ta anyone 'cept yours truly, I'm pretty well received amongst the community."

Calvin sighed. "I suppose there's a difference 'tween us an' the Cult," he went on. "We ain't dishonorin' Lamiaquil'a by killin' people in her name. It's-a pretty high-up-there reason as ta why people like Shakir resent an' outright reject yer family, callin’ 'em “Laacrán cazae,” or fallen ones. ‘Course, ya still 'ave the Avae'vatu, so ya, like me, should be pretty loved ‘round 'em.”
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20-Nov-2014 19:39:38 - Last edited on 20-Nov-2014 19:42:05 by Serene End

Jul

2020

Serene End

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"Let me ask..." another voice came suddenly barged into the conversation, a red-headed archer whose eyes shifted to his left. "Have any of you even met this "Lamiaquil'a" or whatever when she was alive?"

The lazy assassin's pale blue eyes shuffled to the source of the voice, gazing at the back of Shinon. "Nope," he casually answered. "Our founders died off some couple-a decades ago."

"So, you guys have no idea if this woman even existed?" Shinon then asked, his voice putting up a wall where spears of laughter attempted to poke through. "You have, what, books and parchment that any normal man could write to tell you that she did?"

"Oh, she existed," Calvin corrected, then began shaking his head. "Nah... she exists."

"And how do you know that?"

"The proof's all 'round us," Calvin wholeheartedly believed. "Take shady 'ere fer a sec."

Daevarro's face reflected his reaction to Calvin's comment, raising an eyebrow. "Huh?" he uttered in his confusion.

"Havin' the Avae'vatu means so much more than just havin' her presence," he explained to Daevarro, looking right at him. "It means dat ya got her favor, her protection. She stands beside ya, walks wit' ya, both figuratively an' literally."

Daevarro shuffled his head quickly side-to-side. "S-so," the dark robed young man nervously stuttered. "she's here... right now?"

Calvin smirked. "Yep," he replied.

"Oh, that's a bunch of garbage," Shinon then cried foul.

Calvin shrugged his shoulders. "Take it as ya see it," he brushed off. "I can't change yer mind if ya ain't willin' ta listen, but I think ya'll see soon enough."
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20-Nov-2014 19:44:55 - Last edited on 20-Nov-2014 19:45:31 by Serene End

Jul

2020

Serene End

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Their conversation was enough to walk them down the long, statue-filled hallway. Their odyssey across the thick, tropical air passing, being rewarded with a cool, beautiful oasis. That open space, covered by mysterious ruins and flowing with water. The floor was a mixture of stone-brink, sand, dirt, and just beneath the sun's eyes would grass grow. Its blades stood amongst palm trees and ruins, a vibrant green shining.

The walls jagged with rock, unlit torches stood just before them. Shelves draped with books stuffed off in many places, opened pathways leading to different parts of this place off to the east side and west side. The Neheztelian goddess appeared once more in the far back, standing tall and looking down to her right.

Her statue offered a hand to anyone who needed to be relieved of this place, who needed to be shepherded. Her fierce yet kindhearted gaze inspiring, flowers and food laid out as offerings at her statue's feet. Off to her left and right did crisp, white, shimmering waters fall. She stood upon a small island, this water pooling around her.

The flowing, rigid stream cut the room in half, being caught between tall obelisks and swaying palm trees. Fingers of radiant light cascaded downwards through a large opening in the rocky ceiling, its warm, alluring touch turned the water into gold, causing it to glister vividly with a glowing dance.

It was as though the sun reached its hand down into that hole, attempting to find something, stealing the breath of anyone it could with its dazzling, almost multi-toned skin. These sun rays fell down upon the statue as well, shadow hanging off of her beige-colored skin like icicles, but the beautiful, shining light clung like moss. It was the perfect place to be in this desert, a place of serenity and respite.
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20-Nov-2014 19:46:05

Jul

2020

Serene End

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Several dark-clothed bodies stood in this place, some old and some young. A few were in the back, their knees and hands digging into the stone before Lamia's statue, their faces down kissing the ground. Others hung around books, studying up upon the books that marked the birth of their religion.

Calvin quickly turned to the company behind him. "Whelp, I gotta go an' check up on somethin' real quick," he told them, waving his hand. "Make yaselves at 'ome."

Calvin stepped away from them, walking off to their right. Telvern's steely gaze followed very closely behind the assassin, his vision clinging to him so desperately. Something stirred in the genius that pressed on him, demanding that his feet make a move. The assassin departed from their presence, leaving them behind with others who didn't even seem like they acknowledged their being there.

Telvern simply sighed, attempting with great effort to push off the strong distrust he felt towards Calvin. He walked over to the nearest wall, dropping down to his knees and placing Raphael against it. Still, Raphael wouldn't even so much as look at Telvern, look at anyone. His head hanging low, his eyes apathetic and uninterested in anything.

Telvern just stood there on his knees, looking upon Raphael. "You're safe now," he mumbled to the silver-haired young man.

The genius then felt it again like a tug on his bloodied doublet, the part of him grabbing and pulling at him to move. The urge growing, stripping his eyes off of Raphael. His brown eyes flipped to his left, peering upon an opened door that the assassin had walked down. This door led downwards, and the further Calvin became, the harder this other self of Telvern pushed on him to go.

Daevarro, just off to Telvern's right, looked down at him with a curious but concerned look. "...Is everything all right?" the young man asked, clenching a red book in his hand.
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20-Nov-2014 19:47:33

Jul

2020

Serene End

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"Yes," the genius answered without care, slowly raising to his feet, his eyes not even taking a second off of Calvin. He gave into his impulses of suspicion, his feet beginning to take their move. "I'll be right back. Stay here with Raphael, please."

"U-uh, sure..." Daevarro replied, watching as Telvern walked away, following behind Calvin.

Telvern couldn't stop it, his eyes staring upon the pathway that the assassin took. He was many steps ahead of him, walking down a stairway. The genius' step a haste, but he made sure that he didn't make much of a sound at all. They walked down a long stairway lathered in stone brink, a stairway that was adorned with small pillars.

Those pillars stood on a landing that appeared every few steps on their respective wall, a candle in a candlestick carried upon the inner side of them. The genius hid behind these pillars if he got too close, tailing behind Calvin rather slyly. The assassin didn't even so much as suspect, didn't even look back.

He peered around the pillars, watching carefully as Calvin kept on walking. Telvern just went from one pillar to the next, a routine it seemed like he almost practiced. Although Calvin appeared like an unidentified figure, a blackened, distorted, blurry person-shaped shadow to Telvern. So, he used his other form of sense: his hearing.

This stairway was long and went deep before they reached the bottom, but eventually, the two entered a large, open space. Most notably of this place was its acute darkness, the torches that aligned the path acted as the eyes for those who tread carefully upon this ground. Holding them in its loose embrace, their waltzing flame guided them.

The ceiling was an unknown, like a black void hanging, reigning over them all. It was very cave-like, the walls rocky, parts of the ground rose up with stalagmite. Before them was a vast, plateau-esque landform, down below at the base of this landform was water with spears of rock coming out from it in random places.
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20-Nov-2014 19:48:31

Jul

2020

Serene End

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An arch bridge stood between them and that plateau, a bridge made of stone brink and lined with torches. The railing of the bridge was thick, the bridge's tile like triangles. But beneath the bridge was a very long way down, outpours of water flowing out from many places and crashing down upon the water far down below. Its sound in constant replay, but it was a soothing melody to many.

The air was charged with moisture, its smell like crisp, fresh water colliding with the raw smell of stone, infiltrating the nostrils of all who entered this place. Calvin began walking across this bridge, a bridge kept very much up-to-date. Telvern snuck on just behind him, hiding rather cleverly behind the beginnings of the bridge's railing to mask him. Several steps were offered to the bridge, allowing Calvin to pass.

His feet now bore down upon a decrepit stone path, one that was barely even there. It was one akin to that of the first hallway, the one leading into this domain of black sheep. The assassin's eyes now cast upon hut-like dwellings, they were like beehives in shape and were large enough to accommodate several people.

They were made of aging, faded dry stone, their appearances battered and shabby. Standing beside the doors heading into these buildings were torches, one for each side. Critters of all kind ran about, scattering at the presence of a threat. This place was very quiet, despite the falling water all around them. This area resonated with a powerful serenity, able to put to rest even the most restless person, able to subside even the most terrible of storms.

Calvin's path before him alight with torches of worn out wood, staring upon a dozen homes. The flames of the torches he passed popped and crackled, its burning smell flowing freely into his nose, his footsteps echoing throughout the environment. Very small, rectangle-shaped windows in the walls of these buildings revealed the flicker of a candle's light. And in some places, the shadow of a person.
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20-Nov-2014 19:49:14

Jul

2020

Serene End

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The area echoed with this strange feeling, just as the ruins at the entrance room, so ancient that it felt as though one was in the presence of thousands with so many years of history to tell. Each building marked with a number, but Calvin found the correct number. He followed the path that turned off to the left, and Telvern behind him began to question. His eyes widened as he came to realize which house the assassin stood before, surprised by his choice.

Calvin turned to that hut, his pale blue eyes glued to its elderly face. The number which was wore upon this building was "23," a place that surely had some place of memory within Telvern. The building itself appeared less cared for than the others, its hardened skin uneven and even missing in a very select locations.

The genius just kept on watching, keeping an eye on Calvin as he made his next move. With care and caution, the assassin gently took a step into the building. He entered a space that looked like a typical family home, though it seemed more than just a family chose to live here. Several types of insect made themselves home here, spider webs hung out in many locations just to prove it.

But otherwise, it was a regular family home, though most of the rooms were hollow and emptied-out. A portrait leaned against the center of the left-most wall, but its front was turned into the wall. The house was dark, no light save the one pouring from the outside. Everything looked like it hadn't been touched in years, chairs were tipped over and even empty plates were left as though air were being served for dinner.

Calvin stepped with care into this house, his shadow draping over a large, double-sized bed. This bed was completely out-of-place, making this place a mere place for rest. Beside that bed was a small table, an empty glass cup and half-empty jug of water on top of it. He walked slowly over to the left side of this bed, seeing a person wrapped up in bedsheets.
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20-Nov-2014 19:49:50

Jul

2020

Serene End

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Along his way, he heard a woman be a victim to a fierce assault of coughing. Being at the side of the bed, he slowly lowered his body down upon his knees. Calvin's pale blue eyes taking a glance upon the face of the person in the bed, full of compassion as he stared down her face. Her face was familiar, it was the one whom Calvin referred only as "the boss."

The fearsome pounding upon Libitina's lungs then lulled like a tide, her throat stinging as she felt a hand grab lightly upon her her shoulder. Wanting to know who it was that appeared before her, Libitina's closed eyes were revealed. They were a brilliant vermilion, but there was no trademark Solasúian glow to them to penetrate right through the trunk of this flame-lit blackness.

The moment her eyes looked up at him, a warm smirk rose upon Calvin's face, His eyes upon her, seeing as her skin rushed with sweat. She appeared impuissant and grim, her face protruding with her cheek bones. Calvin just wanted to do whatever it took to help her, she was a very important person to him. "Hey," he greeted her in a mumble.

Libitina looked up at him, her weakly face glazed. "Who..." she spoke weakly, unable to get her words out. It took a moment to assemble enough strength to speak, but eventually she managed to get out her words. "...Who are you?"

The assassin sighed with a heavyheart. "Still can't retain your memory, huh?" Calvin muttered under his breath, his voice in a state of frustration. "You know what, don't worry about it. I'm just some guy that's here to make you feel better, got it?"

Libitina stared upon him in a daze, yet it felt as though she were legitimately trying to remember him. She walked upon uneasy ground, but like a bear stepping upon a trap, something so suddenly and painfully snapped and ensnared her. She swiftly jolted out of her skin, sitting up from her rest. Her right hand fastened tightly around her forehead, her irises shrinking, her voice grunted with suffering.
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20-Nov-2014 19:50:48

Jul

2020

Serene End

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Her face sickeningly contorted in agony, her body shedding bullets of sweat. Her mind flashed with images she couldn't quite fathom, images of Calvin and the several escapades they've went on together this past year. Calvin quickly reacted to her movement, attempting his best to comfort and consult her. He wrapped his right arm across her back, grabbing onto her right shoulder. "Relax," he advised with effort. "Don't try to force it, you're only going to hurt yourself that way. Just relax, it'll come back to you in time."

Although she truly wanted with everything to remember him, Libitina recognized the message that Calvin handed to her. Indeed, if she just gave it time instead of impatiently trying to force it, it would come back. Her muscles ease up from their seizure, her face loosening from its firm, agonized hold. She simply calmed down, her hands falling down back to her sides.

Calvin shook his head, elated to see her pain recede. "Good," the assassin said to her, turning to face what was behind him.

Calvin grabbed ahold of that jug of water upon the table, beginning to pour its content into the empty cup beside it. As he filled up the cup, Libitina began to feel like her whole world pulled off of her right. It was a rather strange feeling, feeling as something drew her in, something beckon for her attention. "...I can feel it," she mumbled. "It's here... It's here... I can feel it..."

His ears caught the sound of her almost senselessly babbling, pulling his face over to his left to look back at her. He saw her peering over to her right, the direction which led back up to the world. He turned around, his front facing the bed again. He shook his head. "Don't worry about that," he told her, holding the cup up to her, her face looking back at him. "Just focus on getting better."
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20-Nov-2014 19:52:55 - Last edited on 03-Dec-2014 13:50:25 by Serene End

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