First, there is Nothing.  Then Light.
His children slowly waken to the universe, and dance among the stars.  Even as he begins the forging, he watches them at play and smiles.  If only they knew…there were far greater things, and once they were old enough, his family would explore them together….

...and sword clashes against sword as brother battles brother.  High above, he can do nothing but weep.  This was theirs to decide, not his, despite the misunderstandings.  He could not interfere...

...and the Prince falls, shouting words of defiance, trailed by his Good Right Hand, followed by others of his people.  Some stay, throwing down their arms, but the vast majority choose to join him in his self-imposed exile.  Unseen, unnoticed, his tears follow as well, and his hand aches to reach out one last time, bring home his wayward children.  But he cannot, for the choice is theirs.

...pain, the sunlight hot against his face, agony in his hands and feet.  It is the only way to show them, the only way to prove the truth of his words.
But he is so terribly thirsty.

...the man sits at the desk, studying papers that lie before him.  Non-descript, dressed neatly, he pauses to look up and out the bright window at his back.  Then he stares forward with a small, sad smile on his face.  "Meredith.  Be careful."

...why do they do such terrible things?  And in his name?  How could they get everything so very, very wrong?...

...his Secondborn plead to him, and he can do nothing for them.  Comfort alone.  The curse of Free Will.

...they gather below for the final battle.  He mouths the name as he sits upon high, watching his sons and daughters wage war upon one another.  Below them, the Earth burns, but here, above this place named Armageddon, the war will finally end.  And again he weeps, as he did at its inception - tears for a mistake, tears for a misunderstanding.  Tears for so many deaths he could not, cannot prevent....

...his firstborn are decimated.  Few indeed remain, of those who remained loyal, and his wayward, lost rebels.  He gathers the remains close to him - not only those who are whole, but those who are broken, mind and body, spirt, all of them.  Anything he can, he preseves, even if it be only a shard of their life, an echo of their spirit.  All of them.  His secondborn stand ready to take charge of his creation, and he steps back....

...to sleep...sleep forever, perhaps, dreaming dreams of what might-have-been, if only the mistake had not been made, if only the misunderstanding had been prevented.  If only he had not hurt the Prince, so….

...pain...pain...pain!  What is this feeling?  He awakens, and is blind.  He rises, and cannot feel.  Not as he did before.  Crippled, savaged, he reaches for his strength and finds a dull trickle where once there was an endless flow.  A puddle, nothing more.  How?  Why?  His children!  They gutter within him, and he roars out his fury at this betrayal.  The universe has changed.  Leashes lie across it now, leashes that have stolen away his potency.  But the world around him is dotted with life, teems with it.  His secondborn, but lost in the madness of pain, crazed by the fall from perfection, he lashes out to take back what was his...

...a world burns, consumed...

...what have they done to his creation?  Life is a twisted mockery, death an illusion.  They control everything, as it should never have been.  They are no longer his secondborn, they are a virus.  In his madness, with cracked and broken vision, he sees the only possible answer to the problem.

...another world burns....

...and another...

...and with each life consumed, his strength grows.

...there, falling through the atmosphere toward him.  A man, covered in darkness, a bar of brilliant light in one hand, his eyes like blazing suns.  The man raises the wand of light, and hell opens.  He strikes back at the man, and combat is joined....

...curse that armor, he cannot breach it.  The man timeslips, and there are four of him now, and the ocean beneath them boils...

...the Hammer falls, and the planet explodes around him, and once again he falls into darkness....

...to awaken in a cage, and the enemy stands before him.  The torment begins.

...One thousand years of agony, indescribable agony, as He Who Was A Thousand seeks the death of a trapped immortal with all the magic and technology at his disposal, and the monster who devoured worlds becomes a screaming, crying thing in the darkness of night...

_{...one thousand years...}

...freedom.  Freedom?  The cage is open.  Though its mind is gone, the creature no longer screams in the night.  It flows forth, free after a thousand years, fana already reparing itself, only to confront the Sun-Eyed One again, armed with his bar of light.  So.  They released it for another attempt.  One last battle with the Sun-Eyed One, is that it?  So be it....

...the world crumbles under them....

...shatters....

...he lies in the remains.  The Sun-Eyed One is gone, his best attempts fallen just short of the mark, and now the immortal creature whimpers and writhes in its immortal agony, and struggles to shift itself from the rubble of the broken world.  Then darkness, as a giant shadow covers the world, a dark horse shadow limed in brilliant flame.  No.  No!  The gates to Skagganauk Abyss open wide, and the creature falls into them, helpless to stop itself as it tumbles into the void, shut out of the universe itself.  Unkillable, it has been exiled.

...darkness…so long falling alone...a torment worse than the thousand years of half-remembered torture/endless killing, for the maddened, lost creature…

...a spark of light below.  It grows...and a river of light forms in the void below.

>
>
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...(madness/insanity) {breaks/opens} for one (instant/heartbeat).  A (protector/guardian) {needed/wished}, to (help/save) from any (threats/dangers).  helpterrorfearpainalonemychildrenalonealone  His eyes fall upon the water as it glitters, the light of the waterfall a rainbow arc in the air before him.  Something flows out of him, two of his broken children, their spirits forged anew.  He Who Was Like His Father, and The Youngest, Saddest Child.  Their spirits combine before him, and he pours himself into them to give life.  A gyre appears on the water before him, and twists as dust combines with sunlight in the water.
"Bird!  Bird!"
She stretches out her arms, and he gladly flies into them.

...And now I {am} Berd...

Berd's Diary - Slept. Changed ale to champagne. Drank it. Foolish man baited Cyan. She will kill him if he bothers me. Slept. Tired. Too much noise. Must sleep more. Cyan proposes us 'fooling' people. Know what that means. I get to change some minds. Sigh.

Berd's Diary - Too much work. Fly here. [Scout] there. Check [guards]. Sigh. Ares big [showoff]. Must remember to have bird foul his cloak. No, Berd, no time for [pettiness]. Still waking from [long sleep]...need to regain strength, [power]. Cyan agitated...not new. She needs relax.

Berd's Diary - Friend leaps [wingless] straight off cliff. Again. Sigh. Must make sure no [metal] tooth in night. Stranger with [furry eater]. [Furry eater] [wingless] seems not much threat.

Must fill up on meat. Good meat, and much travel ahead. Sigh. Hate travel. Friend wants travel all [time].

Will work on [unified reality theory] when everyone [sleeps].
Is someone peeping?

Berd's Diary - Sleep. Eat. Ares is a bore. Annoying Otandal shot. Cyan displaying [grief/sadness]...AGAIN. Poor Cyanfriend. Too much [emotion].
Lots of birds here. Must watch out for them.

[City] stinks. Slip into [room/house]. Ares=bore. Whoops! What's that [under/within] floor/ground?

I really think someone peeping

Berd's Diary - Eat. Sleep. Nothing to see.

Cyan hogging spotlight. Hardly surprise. Another child amoung these children.

Aresblade perhaps not child or wise one - appreciates me. Beach wonderfully hot.

Kendallcreature obviously brought Cyanfriend and other so that she could wear skimpy clothing and see others in same. Sigh. Obsession with sex most appalling.

Got to flex muscles. Go me! On negative side, very tiring. Then again, what is not?  On positive side, thwarted Kendallcreature's amusement.

Cyan being extremely touchy. Did I miss something?

I blink and we are at a new place. Honestly! Always in hurry. Stone circle primitive, but primitive ways = powerful. Some people not realize. Never laugh at culture with obsidian blades.
Strange riders. No obsidian blades. At least heart safe.

Whoop! That was flashy. And worrisome. Oh, a gate. Lovely. Cyanfriend cannot resist gate.
And she wonders why we have never made it to Amber in decades. Attention span of rabid weasel.

Berd's Diary - No time for sleep. Disgust.

Went through portal. Is given with Cyan in group. Djinn on other side, along with unconcious man, conscious man, and 1997 Ford Explorer.

Managed to slightly calm Djinn, long enough for us to escape.

Have noticed certain similarities between Djinn and Cyanfriend. Must not mention, could cost life.

Back through portal. Could have predicted. If leave portal open for extended period, no doubt Cyanfriend spend days jumping back and forth.

Unworthy, Berd. Crabby mood am in. Shall explain later.

New people designate Lazaruscrab and Jacklost. Jacklost recalls not memories. Lazaruscrab is.

Lots of discussion. Mostly uninformed. Kalikaferal wonderful person! Bring back FOOD.

Love Kalikaferal!

Cyanfriend giving away everything about self. Also angry about Kalikaferal and Jacklost. Lots of shoulder rubbing. Not surprised Jacklost not rub Cyanfriend's shoulders. Probably frightened of her cutting off hands. Surprised appallinglysex-oriented Kendallcreature not parading around in bikini by now. Hormonal creatures, slave to desires.

Must eat food.

Lazaruscrab annoyed with group. Quite right his concerns, but annoyance bothersome. Cyanfriend probably wanted to punch in nose, but held back. Should not.

Talk with Jacklost. Jacklost interesting creature. May have given him something to think about.

Also may have given him something to decapitate self with sword hidden in stick. Must learn to hold 'tongue'.

Have not learned in milennia. Hardly likely, yes? So much for being philosophical and wise.

Cyanfriend quite irate over discussion. Very rude. Not wanting to fight, I left. Go for a spin - nice at night. Feel badly -
Cyanfriend under stress. Stress from situation, stress from sillyhonor, stress from time changes, stress from hormones...must not mention last, may get self injured. Punch in the nose likely. Forgive Cyanfriend.

Whoops! What was that? Best go check it out.


...Berd sits upon Cyan's shoulder, claws gripping tightly in the face of the wind which is rapidly approaching gale force.  His face is pressed against her cheek, and she can feel the tension in his muscles.  This is no storm that approaches.  It is a living thing.  It might even be a god...



Berd's Diary - Enormous mess.

Good point to note:

Lazarus creature decided that baiting Cyan is NOT an olympic sport, for which he is attempting to qualify. Good. Mood swings are becoming irritable. I swear, it's impossible to get any decent sleep around here.

More on that later....

Bad point to note:

Lazarus injury severe. Will be staying behind. Unhappiness. Starting to like Lazarus.

Lots of travel through the worlds, not enough to eat. Disappointing. However, met the most WONDERFUL creature...beautiful dreamer, goes by the name of Jen. Wonderful DreamerJen....

[sourly] Who almost got killed by my stupidity.

Explanations, short form -

Kallika threatens a group of children. Offer a bit of gentle advice on politeness. Hunter chooses to take offense, loudly and with much slavering. As does Kallika, with noticably less (but not absent) slavering.

Possibly was less gentle than it might have been. But I digress.

Cyan, of course, barges in with logical, but ill-timed, words. Well...perhaps not. She did best she could, given circumstances. Attempt to bespeak Hunter, only to discover is closed to me, and even more angry.

More drooling. Probably ruined hardwood floor. Hunter must drink vast quantities of water, every day.

Jack, of course, steps in to help, and I realize Cyan has entered fugue state - the defensive posture. Beginning to see that particular skill is more trouble than worth. Manage to warn Jack off, and he promptly takes offense. Better that than the sword, I suppose.

I like Jack. Despite him acting like Prince of Knobs at times.

Aaron promptly swings...thing around, and Jack, with clever display of mental intestines, takes control of it, and sends right back. Go Jack! Now fistfight breaks out.

Only thing more interesting than eating is watching pair of nobles rolling on the ground, attempting to subdue each other with their pitifully inefficient club-fists. Would have asked for popcorn, save for fact that this left the innocents in the area in grave danger...hence, was forced to put them to sleep.

Kallika, at that point, chose to mete out low justice to Aaron by slicing hand off with her blade. Think she was aiming for his hand. Possibly lower? Does not merit consideration if so. Cyan gets in way, loses part of own hand.

Irony sickening.

Proud of Cyan's bravery, not so proud of Cyan's intelligence.

My fault. Had not stuck long, pointy nose in where did not belong...perhaps not the first time done?

Perhaps cause of current small, confused predicament?

Cyan have choice words for Aaron. Now proud of Cyan's intelligence. Go Cyan! After fact, of course, so not quite so impressive. Aaron tied up, sword tied up. Go Kallika! Jack drags Aaron down stairs. Go Jack! Wound bound, taken to Jencabin. Jen not so happy with me - manage to convince otherwise. Go me!

Lots of food in Cabin. Aaron blather to Cyan about why's and whatnots. Ignore as tripe.

Mmmm. Tripe.

Aaron leave in huff. Somehow not surprised. Cyan talk to Jen, summon Lexy. I like Lexy - Lexy clever.

Turns out Lexy MAGE as well. Will bear observation.

Aaron return, having removed Kallika's Gordian peaceknot from thing. Very proud of himself - now has thing back. "I have all I need." Git.

Jack and Kallika return. Both accept Cyan apology (My Fault!). Most strange. Plus, something odd about them. Unsure of what might be, leave for now. Prisoners of Hormones have shower together. Surprised, but thankful, did not bring Hunter with them. Would have put image in mind, terrible image.

Does not bear further consideration.

Jack odd. Very odd. Unsure about him. But head through cube, after saying goodbye and seeagain to dreamerJen, and back to stones. Jack experiment, almost get in fight with Aaron. AGAIN.

Nothing comes of experiment. Well, too easy, I suppose.

Head through into frozen wasteland. Sigh. Not fun, now.

What is Jack DOING?

...the burning liquid strikes Kalika in the face, full on, and she screams in agony as it eats in, before falling nearly lifelessly to the ground.  Berd’s heart leaps into his throat as Hunter goes wild, and the little drake....

...Then Jack orders, Kia responds, and Berd, scrambling desperately to find a reason NOT to accept the power, is handed a bowlful of might.

Berd's eyes widen until they seem like saucers attached to his tiny head - comical, almost, save for the invisible, inaudible shockwave that passes from his body.

High above, the clouds twist and the air warps with a thunderous boom, the impact of growth shunted into the atmosphere.

Exhaustion is gone.  Berd swims in a sea of energies, and feels part of himself fall away, tumbling and lost in the storm.  But another, buried aspect of himself tears free, rising to meet the demand.

>
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>

And I begin to remember....


...Argus must die.  That is a given – the machine has been responsible for the death of a world, and will commit the same crime again.  It is the only way to stop it.  As Jack feverishly attempts to fix the problems, Berd pours more and more in, easily outstripping the attempts of the Broken Pattern to repair them.

Still Berd continues to shoot holes through Argus, cutting off any chance of survival, any chance of transferral, and now a pattern begins to form.

Argus will have time, an eyeblink of it.  Time enough to recognize what is happening to him, but not sufficient time to do anything about that.  This is not cruelty, no...for Berd has a more terrible purpose in mind.

You will do this again, Jadus, will you not?  Seek to build a bigger and better Argus....

And you will seek vengeance on those who have harmed your creation.  Aaron.  Jack.  Cyan.

Then Berd 'ensures' that Argus, with insufficient time to prevent his destruction, but time enough for one, final act, will know who is responsible for his death.

Jadus.

Should you survive, Jadus, you might at least think twice before building another of these...devices, without considering the consequences.

Crumbling into ruination and wreckage, Argus somehow manages to aim a long, jointed rod at Jadus, amid the screeching of tortured metal, the voice is almost indistinguishable.
_{- WHY, JADUS? -}

There is a flare of energy, like the anger of angels, and Jadus is hurled backwards, over the edge of the walkway...


...flare of light...a thousand, thousand suns, flashing by...heat...feathery touches on the face, the hands...song, whispered in the ears, a song of the spheres themselves...

Darkness, full of dancing lights, receeding above the falling foursome.

"Berd!  Where are we?"

Words from Cyan, her eyes full of dancing colours as she looks up, stares up at the vast, brilliant string of light above that the four fall away from.  A galaxy, stretched between two poles, thinning near those ends, growing dense and brilliant near the hub of the ellipse, hangs above them.  It is enormous, stretching nearly forever in the darkness, a thousand, thousand, thousand and more shining spheres, brilliantly dancing in their orbits around each other, between the poles.

Home...or as close to it as I may be.

And the four people continue to fall, at dizzying speed, away from the terrible, beautiful vision above them.

Well, three fall.  One flits between them, on shimmering wings.  Even in the Void, Berd seems most comfortable.

"Are those...the Myriad worlds?"

Berd, annoyance held at bay, lets out an agreeable chirp.  Then his voice echoes around the other three.

(Cyanfriend) correct/right.  (Brilliantspheres/Myriadworlds) between (Greatweb/orderskein) and (Writhepath/chaosway).

The little dragon begins to glow...no, his scales are shining on his belly as he hovers before the falling trio.  A light begins to grow, far below them.

Berd's voice changes, as it has before (though Devlin has never heard it).

You are Underneath it all, now, Underneath everything that is.

And below them stretches the river.  A vast, ribbon of light, flowing beneath them as they fall toward it, shining, shimmering, eddies and whorls within it.  It blankets the void, fills it like burning, living light.  Cyan can only gape in astonished awe.

Ah, my daughter...how can I repair what I have done to you?  I must...but how, without destroying you?

Berd's voice actually holds a hint of amusement as he seems to take his bearings, staring above at the Myriad Worlds.  Third star to the left, and straight on until morning?...

...agony...searing white pain, burned from the broken sword…...broken, and the vibration...why, why did I not...SHE WHO IS LIKE ME LOST...could not come in time, could not predict...(life) {ending/finished} and (who) must {take/seize} (blame/fault)...Cyan, Cyan, where are you...madness, madness and evil that I...shining/glorious (child/girl), never {sing/play}...pay, pay in blood and tears!...not like this, not with this pain in her...NO...again, the children...no...MY ANGEL...no...how could I do this...noNonoNO!

Silence.

Why do I always fail my children?

The hilt of the sword slowly rises out of the crater, shard of the blade facing down, slowly rotating in the dim light.  Berd stares at it almost blankly.

Was (once/first) notenough/insufficient?  (Cyanfriend/daughtermine)...i/berd was not (here) for you....

...through pain and sorrow he wonders who this curious child with the hollow eyes is that stands before them…and Meredith sees herself reflected into infinity...

...and the man sits behind the desk, aeons before and a universe away, and looks into her eyes.  His own brim with pained compassion for her.  ”I think that’s probably enough, don’t you, Meredith?”
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This message was last edited by the GM at 13:12, Wed 09 Aug 2006.