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The Black Pentagram

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Dantalian

Dantalian

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Seated on a frozen branch of a nearby tree was a human boy, who looked to be around the age of twelve. Despite the cold he wore only a silver-white tunic with a purple cincture around his waist. The boy possessed red eyes and silver-white hair, and had no visible supplies with him. Upon seeing the elf and Guthixian approaching, the boy jumped down from the branch and stared at them, his eyes full of innocent wonder.

“Who are you?” asked Selene, perplexed by the child’s sudden appearance.

“My name is Aion le’Colombe,” replied the boy, staring at Selene, “Lady, are you an elf?*

*Um, yes,” replied Selene, “What are you doing out here Aion?”

“I’m an adventurer and am questing!” the boy exclaimed.

Jayson laughed after hearing the boy’* exclamation and said, “I’m sure you are, but don’t you think that you should be questing in an old barn instead of somewhere dangerous like this place?”

Aion immediately began pouting, and turning to Jayson said, “You’re mean! I’m a real adventurer and probably a better one than you!” However, this declaration only caused the Guthixian to laugh harder. Fighting back tears, Aion turned to Selene and said, *I don’t like him, but you seem nice elf lady so I’ll tell you a secret; there’s an army nearby! It’s been heading north for a couple of days now and I’ve been tracking it!”

“Come on Selene,” sighed Jayson, “We don’t have time to play with this kid and his imaginary armies.”

“It’s not an imaginary army!” Aion whined, “It’s real, I swear!”

“Aion, could you give me a few moments with Jayson here,” Selene said sweetly, “He and I need to have a little talk.*

*Okay,” said Aion, sounding unsure.

Selene quickly grabbed Jayson’s arm and pulled the Guthixian out of Aion’s earshot.

“What is it?” asked Jayson.

“Do you humans ever use your brains?” questioned Selene. "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

04-Apr-2009 05:08:24

Dantalian

Dantalian

Posts: 3,434 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
“Hey!” protested Jayson, “What’* that supposed to mean?”

“Think about it!” exclaimed Selene, “Do you know of any villages within a day’s walk of here?”

Jayson paused, before replying, “As far as I know, there aren’* any.”

“Exactly!” sighed Selene, “And think about it; what are the odds that a human child would travel through the bitter cold in only a tunic for more than a day; on top of that, one with no visible supplies or weapons?”

Jayson’s eyes widened and he turned to look at Aion, who was currently amusing himself by drawing in the snow. “Duly noted,” said the Guthixian, “Even if he were lost, I imagine he would be too hungry and frightened now to make up stories…”

“Precisely,” said Selene, “There has to be more to that child than meets the eye… We should let him show us this army, but stay alert, who or whatever that boy is, he might be up to something.”

“You’re right,” sighed the Guthixian.


Having had their discussion, the two adventurers once again approached Aion, who looked up from playing in the snow.

“Jayson has agreed to come see the army you’ve been tracking,” commented Selene.

“Good!” Aion happily exclaimed, “Follow me!” So saying, the boy led them through the snow laden forest, skillfully keeping his balance on ice and snow with little difficulty, something that even Selene had trouble doing. After several minutes of traveling, Aion suddenly motioned for them to stop, and pointed out of the forest. Selene and Jayson quickly noticed what he was pointing at; a medium sized camp, patrolled by demons and bearing standards which displayed the symbol of Zaros.

Selene noted that Jayson had turned several shades paler and was clutching his amulet as if hoping it would protect him from the troops he saw. She was about to suggest they move away from the camp, when the flaps of the largest tent opened and a mahjarret stepped out. Selene recognized the mahjarret immediately; it was Sliske. "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

04-Apr-2009 05:10:43

Dantalian

Dantalian

Posts: 3,434 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
“They’re probably heading toward Rhyn’s tower,” muttered the elf, “This could be trouble.”

“I agree,” said Jayson, “I don’t think we could handle all of these troops, especially not when there’s a mahjarret with them… unless, you have a suggestion, Aion…”

The child looked up at the sky, apparently lost in thought, then slowly said, “Maybe… I was traveling north of here earlier, and I noticed a mass teleportation device, similar to the ones you find scattered about the wilderness. Only this one could have its destination changed… I think I could figure it out enough to teleport this army somewhere far away… but I need to lure them to the device first.*

*I think I could handle that,” said Jayson, smiling slightly, “Just make sure that device works properly, because otherwise we’ll have a horde of angry Zarosians fighting us.”

“Alright,” agreed Aion, “Quickly, come with me, I show you were the device is.”

Without waiting for a reply, Aion once again made his way through the woods, with Selene and Jayson following. "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

04-Apr-2009 05:12:18

[#4NOKTSX8A]

[#4NOKTSX8A]

Posts: 7,404 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
I'm finally able to reply once more thanks to the good will at Jagex headquarters to give F2P players the ability to post on forums ^_^

It was a long absence but I've been avidly following your soty nonetheless Aquaregis, and I certainly am glad to be back...

Across these weeks you've surprised on the course the story as taken, so different from the past. I was also surprised by the background you have entitled Selene with, I'm really proud to have contributed with her and I only hope you continue this. Your imagination never ceases to amaze me :)

09-Apr-2009 13:08:56 - Last edited on 09-Apr-2009 14:18:34 by [#4NOKTSX8A]

Orcris

Orcris

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Well well, seems that I can return at will now. That is good, very good. For once Jagex did something right, maybe this will continue and Runescape will be returned to its former glory. It is still unlikely I would return to playing avidly though.

Anyway, on to the point, this is quite good Aqua. It is very different from before, almost not the same thing at all. I'll be honest, I liked some of the old stuff better, but you can't please everyone. I liked the old Caihoc better, but of course that type of dragon-kin does not exist so restarting the story for the sake of lore and keeping him the same would have been a bit of a paradox. I also believe I liked the old Orcris, starting out as a worm and working his way up, instead of absorbing a lot of power from the very beginning. Many characters I haven't seen enough of to comment on, but the other ones who have been in the story I believe I liked them(though at the moment I can't really recall all of them).

Also it seems like you have split the characters into two obvious sides, good and evil, unlike before where it was just a bunch of people fighting over this and that making it hard to tell who the real bad guys were if you didn't really know Runescape lore and had just started reading the story. I'll be plain about that, it is a good element to have because then you don't know who is going to win in the end, good guys always win(maybe not until the very end, but they do it) so keeping everyone seeming the have their own motives was good. I realize that you know what will happen in the future of this and I don't and you are setting it up the way it should be, but that was just my advice.

Well, I am glad to be back, I hope it remains this way, and I am glad to see many of you as well.

~Orcris~
~Est sularis oth mithas~
~Courage is the magic that makes dreams into reality~

09-Apr-2009 13:43:44

[#4NOKTSX8A]

[#4NOKTSX8A]

Posts: 7,404 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
This is indeed a great day if it brings all the passionate gang back once more. Some of us have strayed away so far from each other... (Me for example, as I've not played in quite some time and have forgetten most of the ********* that allowed me to contact all the friends I've made within this very forum.)

I'm inclined to believe that even though Aqua cannot please us all, his creativity still captivates us and I'm sure that there's still much room for surprises in the near and far-off future.

Age, you should not consider them as being two groups separated by factions of good and evil, each character have their own beliefs and faiths and even though they're united now by a single goal in mind, equal to that of those around them, it's not particularly open to us what will be their next move or the path they will choose to take. The world is still pretty much open in this new beginning, so many paths that can lead each of us away from the other.

Tay, is a very good example, we know his past story, and the conflicts inside him, but who's to say he'll follow the same path, attracted by the Light...? As for Orcris, you'll always be the honorable Dark one I look up to, being the stubborn and relentless fighter I am when it comes to reaching my goals... I laughed particularly hard at the fact that Selene is currently traversing a terrain so harsh for her own kind out of shear stubborness and curiosity.

For all the gang, I'm hoping you guys come back. I miss our discussions on all the themes Aqua grants us with... Particularly my fights with Age :P

09-Apr-2009 14:29:49 - Last edited on 09-Apr-2009 14:51:02 by [#4NOKTSX8A]

Dantalian

Dantalian

Posts: 3,434 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Kain and Ageemperor, welcome back, it's been too long.

Anyway, about your comments... First, I apologize for the shift in Orcris' past. When I first wrote "Weapons of Destiny" I had a policy that I would never turn down a bio. To be honest, if I did not have that policy in effect, I would have probably turned down the bio for Orcris. If I recall, it consisted of a name followed by a single paragraph with absolutely no capital letters in the entire bio. There was no real background nor a description of personality, only a description of his heritage (being half-elf.)

When I accepted that bio, I was certain that Age was one of those annoying people that used to (and perhaps still do) jump from story thread to story thread submitting half-baked bios, without ever returning to the threads they had previously visited (and rarely reading them to begin with). As such, my intention was to have Orcris as simply a minor character. He was to serve as a tenuous link between the Zarosians in Kandarin and the elves of Tirannwn, and a low ranked officer with little power who held a primarily bureaucratic position.

However, I came to know Age better through his subsequent posts and conversations in-game. And, for better or worse, I often endow characters in my story with some of the traits of the people they are based on. As such, while remaining in a nominally low rank, Orcris still inherited Age's sharp mind, his keen perception, and his strong sense of honor.

When I started the original Black Pentagram, I found it difficult to recast Orcris as the nondescript Zarosian who simply followed orders and acted as a go-between** for Lathas and Iowerth, he was, even in that story quite powerful (recall that he did manage to destroy the elvin village in that story singlehandedly as well.)

Anyway I have been rambling, so I will now simply apologize to Age for any changes in Orcris he found displeasing...

P.S. Kitty says hi, (and wants to talk to you Orcris and says she loves you) "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

10-Apr-2009 04:28:00 - Last edited on 10-Apr-2009 08:29:31 by Dantalian

Dantalian

Dantalian

Posts: 3,434 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
And now, about the apparent polarity in the the characters: As its name suggests, this story focuses on the Black Pentagram, and even the original had fairly clear cut groups (far more than Weapons of Destiny.) This is simply because there are only two possible outcomes; either the seal known as the Black Pentagram is destroyed, or it isn't. So the story is focusing on those who either directly want to stop this from happening and those who wish to cause it.

However, as Kain pointed out, the characters are acting on various beliefs. Selene and Seth, for example both want to prevent Zaros' return, but for very different reasons and even the Zarosians have different reasons as to WHY they want Zaros back.

I would also point out that the lines are not as clear cut as you seem to have suggested. Rose, for example was orignally in the group trying to prevent the return of Zaros, but switched sides at least temporarily to destroy the Threads of Fate, aiding in Zaros' return.

Likewise, if we were to term all those who have worked toward causing Zaros to return as "evil" and all those who have tried to prevent it as "good" it would appear that the followers of Armadyl, Saradomin, and Guthix are evil, and those of Zamorak and Bandos are good. An odd situation, considering that the followers of the first two are most likely to proclaim themselves "good", the followers of Guthix would of course say they are neither, while the followers of Zamorak are more likely to proudly call themselves evil, and the followers of Bandos have never interested themselves in things like "moral principles."

While it may be that this story continues to possess what appear to be clear cut lines, I will happily point out that when "Weapons of Destiny" is remade the lines will quickly blur until even those with proficient knowledge in Gielinor's history will have trouble deciding who is in the right and who is in the wrong. "He appears in the Form of a Man with many Countenances; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one."

10-Apr-2009 04:47:44

[#4NOKTSX8A]

[#4NOKTSX8A]

Posts: 7,404 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
As I recall, when I posted my bio, in my past it was a pretty decent bio with lots of description and a created past, however being the present person I am, I think I over-exagerated quite a bit in my rush to create a character fantastic enough to bea part of the story you were creating Aqua.

We all had our forumer's pastafter all. I still remember my first posts when I first discovered this particularly neat tool. Poor grammar and overall lack of particularly interesting comments on my part, being young and rather immature when I first started posting. However, people grow out of that phase and most of the times reveal themselves as being a completly different person. I remember a particular conversation with Age I held one afternoon, we were discussing our characters and he revealled how surprised he was that Orcris became what he is today midst story, when his bio had been a simple paragraph with, like you said Aqua, no capital letters whatsoever and even making a reference to his in-game level.

It's a matter of perspective and overall even though Orcris' bio was small, it gave you the liberty to adapt it to our very dear Age.

Now as for the groups being divided in 'good' and 'evil', even those notions for me are blur at the best... No person in their right mind can judge who's evil and who's good. There's their past, their goals, their motivations,overall a group of things that make it impossible to discern what's what with completly overloooking certain aspects. Look at the H.A.M group for example, would you say they were good for their support of Saradomin? Or evil due to their actions towards every living creature which have the right to live?

Things aren't always what they seem, I think we'll all see this as the story progresses. If I recall correctly towards the end of Weapons of Destiny and the beginning of Shadows of Twilight Orcris was starting to reveal his conscience, not being entirely evil in nature, unexpected considering what he carried...

10-Apr-2009 15:11:22 - Last edited on 10-Apr-2009 15:11:47 by [#4NOKTSX8A]

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