Return of the Soulless
The Awakening
One who was thought contained finds a way back to the land of the living.
Deep in the Underealm, a sleeping evil stirs.
Whispers of the Soulless Empress are faintly heard.
The imprisoned one torments the great wise one, who becomes two of opposites.
Alhana is awoken from her dark sleep in the Underealm by nearby feelings of despair, anger, fear, hatred being given off by the living nearby.
She beings to feed from these and although not enough to totally awaken her she is able to make contact
with one who she has fed from the most in the past (Zorbels).
Alhana begins to gain strength over a matter of days.
Due to her lack of strength at this time she is unable to leave the Underealm. This was the event posted in the official PlaneShift forum. Deep in the under-realm the soulless begin to stir. Woken from there sleep by voices of the living nearby.
Names are whispered through the darkness...
"Hagarath, Riquir, Rilar, Gatuna, Satayne, Lidrae, Aluna, Zorbels..."
The last name being heard the clearest. A sleepy smile spreads across a pale face.
An eyelid opens slowly and slightly.
A cold and yet caring voice whispers to a single tormented mind...
"Come to me my child, Let me take you away from this pain."
A single voice replies
"Alhana where are you, I shall come!. I .....need you .....stop ...the pain...please...I will come!"
The unseen cold voice replies softly
"For now, I live in you my child. Rest easy my dear, for your time is not now...."
The living voices fade away and all is quiet once more.
Weeks pass by until...
The air is still and all is silent within the under-realm's ancient library.
One by one the burning candles flicker and suddenly extinguishes, the temperature drops rapidly.
A rising whining sound spreads throughout the under-realm turning into a hellish echoing scream.
A black swirling mass of smoke and shadows appears, and after a few minutes it begins to take on the form
of a female diaboli with the blackest hair and oily skin.
The screams stop suddenly and then silence.
Her head is bowed, the eyes are shut with a grin appearing across her face.
She whispers to the shadows "Ihn hur por des vas en ort tyme"
The shadows begin to stir and moments later many ghostly forms appear around her.
There eyes dim at first, then brightening a blue cold light. They stare with hatred of there own existence.
"Lure them too me..." she says without emotion, "I must feed"
One of the ghostly figures steps forward, bows slightly and speaks in a hollow voice "A soul approaches"
The lady raises her hand in a dismissive gesture.
The figures bows and fade with a groan.
Fading from sight the lady waits.
A young looking female diaboli with red hair runs into the library weeping.
She stumbles and falls. Before her is a large stone archway with an inner wall lit in a dim red glow.
The inner wall bears an image of a grinning skull upon it.
The young diaboli suddenly stops crying.
She notices how cold it is, and then becomes aware of another presence nearby.
"Who's there?" she says in a curious tone.
No one answers.
She stands and wipes her eyes. It is then she hears a whispered reply that makes her start and shiver.
"Come... Come to me..."
"Who are you?" the young diaboli asks now feeling fear creeping up her spine.
"I will Take this pain away from you..." the whisper now even closer, "Give me your pain and I will give you what you desire...."
"You will make me that which I so desire? How is this possible? Do you know of me?" the young diaboli now wanting to know how this voice knows her thoughts.
Then within the archway appears a dark figure appears, her eyes still closed and an emotionless expression. She softly replies "Yes."
The young diaboli jumps at the sudden appearance and steps backwards.
Looking closer she suddenly recognises the face.
"No!...You are the enemy!... you took everything away from me!"
"Am I your enemy? Look around you my dear... tell me what you see"
The young diaboli looks around and notices nothing apart from how cold and quiet it is.
"I see nothing" the young diaboli replies.
The dark figure smiles "My point exactly...I am here in your time of need"
"Come with me" the dark figure opens her arms "Take your mothers place at my side"
The young diaboli take several steps backwards while shaking her head.
"No... I... How..." she stumbles on her words in shock at the words she hears.
"I knew your mother well my dear, as I am sure I will you" The dark figure now smirking.
"I am not my mother!" Aluna shouts, angered at this proposal.
The dark figure still smirking "Ah... but you are. The same blood and lust for power flows through your veins"
Aluna now walking backwards and shaking her head "No!... No!"
Aluna turns and runs off. She still hears the words of the dark figure in hear mind.
"I wait... when you are ready, you will seek me"
Moments later and once more all is silent.
The dark figure fades slowly, the temperature warms candles reignite.
One word is spoken in a whisper "Setill..."
The Bonding
The Soulless Empress returns.
In an attempt to grow stronger, two become one, bringing each other gifts & curses.
Shadows come forth to aid the Soulless Empress. Two dark energies mix, creating a greater evil.
The wise one struggles to battle the reflection.
Alhana lures Zorbels into the Underealm in an attempt to feed from her.
Alhana marks Zorbels but something goes wrong, and they both become connected, sharing thoughts and feelings.
Alhana is now able to leave to Underealm, but she sees the living realm with different eyes.
At first she fights these new experiences, but all the time they change her.
Opposites
The two souls begin turn, switching from one to the other.
Hate becomes love, love becomes hate.
Dark forces begin to whisper of a new Empress hidden.
As Zorbels falls, Alhana rises.
For the first time Alhana loves and is over come by sadness,
for the first time Zorbels turns against her once friends.
There is now confusion to who is who. When they are near one another, the affect is powerful.
Alhana begins to forget who she is, only having memories that are not hers, but Zorbels.
Zorbels in turn casts aside her friends in search of greater power.
Zorbels also learns to feed from negativity.
Balance
The two now one without struggle, live and learn from each other.
The two feel the echoes of their past deeds bringing pain and suffering.
The wise one makes the ultimate sacrifice. The once ruler of The Damned is taken and destroyed by Laanx.
Although now balanced, Zorbels continues to experience memories of Alhana's past deeds.
Alhana begins to become aware of Zorbels inner pain and torment.
Alhana discovers that although she has changed, others refuse to let go of the past.
She wonders of her life before her dark ways.
Alhana searches out the meaning of feelings she doesn't understand.
Satayne fights to save Zorbels from the inner darkness Alhana shares with Zorbels.
Zorbels and Alhana adjust to the bonding and begin to learn from each other to cope with their joining.
Zorbels helps Alhana understand the meaning of the feeling she doesn't understand.
Beyond
The once Soulless Empress seeks the light to end the darkness in the lands beyond.
With the parting comes both pain and ease.
A secret evil once climbing now falls. Blinded by revenge.
Alhana begins to see, think and feel less from Zorbels. She begins to feel unhappy and rejected.
Aluna Brightburn bitter with anger and hatred confronts Alhana with harsh words.
In a final decision Alhana decides to search for any family she may have
and a way to break the bond between her and Zorbels.
Alhana says her goodbye to Zorbels and leaves Hydlaa under the cover of darkness.
This was the event posted in the official PlaneShift forum. Alhana stands at the southern gates in the chill of the night.
She speaks in a whisper more to herself that anyone else.
"I do this for both of us. I will not watch your life become a misery because of me and I cannot bare this torment any longer"
Not looking back she picks up her few things and walks through the gates into the cold night beyond.
"I hate the cold" she mutters.
Deep in the Underealm, the skulled alcove in the great library fades from an already dim pulsing red to darkness.
The whispers of the soulless fade until they cease.
Detachment
The mind and eyes dim now the two are far apart.
What was once a curse becomes a comfort.
The sting of the past meets with present pain as old truths are uncovered.
Now far from Hydlaa Alhana discovers other villages of those who know nothing of her dark past and so accept her for what they see.
Alhana begins to make enquires about any possible living family.
Everyday her thoughts are more her own, few of Zorbels cross though.
Alhana begins to regret her decision of leaving put does not turn back.
Fading
The deed is done and one falls from fire.
That which was taken remains hidden and unmoved.
Gone is mind and thoughts. The two are as is yet unseeing.
Alhana is travelling through a remote area of Yliakum and is attacked by a single unknown figure.
As life leaves her body her thoughts are of her only friends until she blacks out.
Alhana was caught by surprise by a highly skilled rouge.
Alhana is aided by Aluna. The rouge & Aluna fall in a heated battle.
Alhana's unconscious body is found and taken to a nearby village.
It is here that she learns of the attack and Aluna's sacrifice.
She also learns of her true self before the darkness took hold. The discovery leaves her tormented and weak.
The soulless minions that once served her were all that remained of her family, friends & once town long ago. This was the event posted in the official PlaneShift forum. Alhana lays upon the ground, her breaths short and rapid, as life seeps from her body.
Confused she tries to remember the rapid events.
The light of day was fading...
She had stopped to admire a single colourful flower...
A sound from behind... The sensation of water...
Dizzy... falling... falling...
Thoughts of her friends flash through her dimming mind.
A soft and comforting voice speaks to her from the void...
"Rest now my dear, your journey is over. Welcome home"
All goes dark as the crystal disappears behind the distant mountains. Then sometime later... The silence within the Underealm is ended with a distant rumbling sound emanating from the great library.
Within the great library itself the the ground shakes with a deafening sound.
A sudden cracking sound is heard coming from the the now empty unlit alcove at the back of the great library.
The wall at the back of the alcove splits wide with a crunch releasing a long burst of air followed by the
screams of a thousand souls wailing louder and louder to a deafening pitch.
Then suddenly all stops following a deathly silence.
A whisper carries far into the living realm to a distant resting mind many lands away.
Two words are harshly spoken "Alhana... Awaken!"
Mindless
Through the mind, wonders the lost soul.
Not seeing or hearing the many who also.
The door is opened and all is free.
The soulless feed to whisper once more.
Alhana travels back to Hydlaa.
Along the way she is plagued by visions, memories.
Her mind begins to break under the stress and wonders into Hydlaa in a trance like state.
Old Ways
Blinded by pain and walks unguided.
A voice once uncovered is heard again.
Whispers plague the rest of one who once walked without.
Old paths cross and so begins the transformation.
Alhana wonders about Hydlaa aimlessly.
Visions of a familiar place flash though her mind.
A faint voice beckons to her and whispers plague her dreams.
She is tormented no matter where she goes.
Trusted by very few and being alone begin to take its toll.
Feelings of frustration flood her mind.
"I will make them trust me!"
Untold
The heart beats but not as two. Shared with time and covered.
One not to hear the lies or as he sees, to shield against the pain of loss.
He knows yet denies, what might will be.
Alhana feels her will slipping, her inner struggle against the voice that beckons to her.
She tries to do what good she can before her mind is lost.
Alhana tries to warn Satayne that his love is misplaced.
Alhana tells him that things have been cloaked to hide the truth, but Satayne was never trusting of Alhana and chooses to ignore her words.
Transformation
Day by day the mind of one falls, no longer limited but still bound.
The circle begins and the void speaks.
The time draws nearer as the pain grows. Shadows once lost are seen again.
The realm beckons with whispers.
As the days pass Alhana begins to transform but with one difference,
she has knowledge of all emotions with a part soul and how to manipulate them in others.
With this knowledge she becomes far more powerful than before.
Fuelled by jealously and confusion she continues to fall as she once stood.
The Hidden
No light of day upon the eyes of one. The sands continues to fall as does the mind.
Word and whispers are now the presence as memories fly through from within causing pain and sorrow.
The circle half is done. What was once free becomes five as the voice calls.
As the changing takes place it becomes more and more over powering and Alhana hides herself away no longer wanting to be around others.
Time runs short as the change is almost complete.
She spends a great deal of time within the Underealm reading from the tomes of past and present.
Her thoughts are always of the past few weeks living as a normal being, of the few friends she made.
These thoughts only serve to torment her further.
Precursor
The void reaches out and tightens the grip around a once free mind echoing future deeds.
Mindless whispers echo around and the past is recalled.
The shard that remains is almost lost, still bound to another.
Hope stands with one but is unknown.
Such overwhelming forces begin to take control of Alhana's mind.
She welcomes the change and lets go. Once more the soulless spirits surround her speaking of events.
Only a small part of what Alhana has experienced over the past few weeks remain.
The one voice speaks "For you to become all and nothing... you know what you must do"
The time is critical and only one can now stop the transformation before its too late.
Emergence
The mind and body once with hope falls in the realm of no name.
The void becomes and awakens one thought lost.
She of many names is renewed.
The soulless rise and hunger.
The sound of hell is heard.
Alhana collapses in the Underealm. Her body and mind exhausted from days of torment.
The master steps through from the eternal void and takes Alhana's body back.
A few days later, Alhana returns from the void. She is no longer alive nor dead.
Although still joined with Zorbels they no longer share any thoughts or feelings.
Alhana screams in bitter anger. As it echoes, the Underealm shakes.
The soulless surround her in chorus.
Timeless
Such things are known that all must come into its own.
Weak from change and transformation she cannot act. Only to wait for the sands to fall.
Past meets present, no longer to the eyes.
The soulless whisper all which has gone before. Alhana can now only wait.
She fades from sight and waits allowing time to take its motions.
The torment of one will keep her amused.
Only time will tell.
Distorted
A long unknown truth is heard and felt. Bound by the realm she cries her heart.
Taken into the void and a single mind is touched.
Such is the pain that passes.
The word of his name lasting upon her lips.
Alhana is bound to the Underealm unable to leave.
Alhana reaches out with the little energy she has left and speaks to her one long and lost follower Setill.
At first she is angered but then of sadness.
She confesses her long and undying love to Setill.
She explains that she was the one who threw the dagger at Setill's wedding while possessing another's body.
Setill refuses to believe her thinking its a trick.
Setill tells her she isn't the one he once knew and served.
Alhana screams in rage and swears that if she cannot have Setill then nor shall Narita.
Alhana rages and tries to leave the Underealm but still unable.
Days later she submits to the beckoning voice.
Before she steps through into the void she utters a name with such sadness and envy. This was the event as recorded. *Standing on the balcony with the many others present a Ylian whose mind & body is controlled like a puppet watches the wedding ceremony with envious eyes. A whisper voice touches the groom’s mind*
“Why did you turn your back on me? Why have you become the very thing we set out to destroy?”
“If you go through with this, I can no longer make any guarantees for your safety when you enter the Underealm. You will be treated as all others.” *As the ceremony ends and the couple kiss the figure draws a hidden dagger and throws it at their feet, he then collapses in a heap, dead. The groom startles and wonders why nobody else has noticed the dagger land in front of him. Later he ponders over the events.* “I wondered why that guy warned me during such an important event in my life”.
“The guards and the spies I hired didn't catch him… Who was he?”. *The more he though about it, the more he became paranoid. It wasn’t until a few days later he found out whom and why. He was standing in the Plaza having a conversation with a passing local when he was interrupted by a whispering voice he knew so well entering his mind* “I wouldn’t trust that one If I were you.”
“I trust nobody now” he spoke back in his mind.”
“Leave Devilous to me. He & I have unfinished things to settle.”
“I don't trust you either” he said.
A mocking laughter filled his mind “Trust is a word I have come to know all too well recently. It makes the soul easier to lure and their bodies to possess.”
“Your words are like poison, each of your words is burning in my veins” He said now getting annoyed by the intrusion.
“My ears are everywhere, my infection has spread far. My enemies become my allies.”
“You have failed me Setill, when you married that bitch!”
There was a slight pause and then the next words he heard took him by surprise “You were to be mine Setill. Couldn’t you tell or feel my love for you?”
“You can't say that!” He said, unable to accept what he was hearing.
“When I merged with Zorbels, I realised I can… and I do!”
“No! You don't know how to love!” He said holding his head and swaying with confusion.
“You have hurt me in the greatest way I have ever known pain.” The voice said, driving home the splinter.
“You can't feel that, it's not possible!” He said shaking his head and trying to grasp reason.
“I can... and I do Setill. I was at your wedding. I possessed another body to attend.” The voice said, now sounding proud and yet sarcastic.
“So it was you!” He said as the realisation hit him. Everything became clear.
“It was I who threw the dagger using another’s body like a puppet.” Chuckled the voice.
“Why? Am I your enemy” He asked.
The voice became gentle and warm “Setill my dear, why would I hate someone that has been with me since I awoken. You were always there for me. I treated you badly, yet you still served me. Zorbels showed me what love was.
The voice changed to one of suffering and pain “And now it burns me! I have spent so many days crying myself to sleep. My master called to me… I had to return to him. Since your wedding, I have been in great pain!”
“I don't believe you. I’m not the cause of your pain” He said after a moment.
“I knew you wouldn’t believe me” The voice spoke in disappointment.
“You seek emotions and feelings; it’s your entire fault this has happened to you.” He said.
There was a slight pause “Zorbels knew I liked you.” The voice said and beginning to sound desperate.
“See how living is painful, wouldn’t it be better if you return to your ancient form?” He said with reason.
The voice spoke when sudden anger "Don’t you think that if I knew a way to reverse what’s happened I would have done it by now!”.
As he absorbed the conversation he realised that Narita was now in danger.
“Kill me then, It will free you from your pain" he said offering himself.
The voice became calm but lethal “No, not you. I will kill her instead! If I cannot have you, she won’t either!”
He hears the words he dreaded and shouts “Never!"
There is yet another pause. “We are on the same side though” He said, now wanting to reason more than ever.
“No. You love Narita, which makes us opposites” The voice spoke in a determined tone.
He now spoke with his heart in his mouth “She is the product of you. You made me and I made her. You are destroying your own goals!”.
The voice shouted in anger “TO THE DAMNED WITH MY GOALS!”.
“We have corrupted so many to the darkness and now you want to destroy all that work! Remember who you were!” He said in plea and wanting so much for this to all end.
“You are trying to trick me! I know of your plans to deceive me! It will not work!” The voice now accusing.
“I don't have any such plans” He said.
“You lie! You plan with him, the one called Satayne!” The voice said in a harsh whisper.
“No I don't” He said calmly.
The voice for constantly changing, now spoke with sadness and sobbing “Why did you leave me to the darkness! I waited for you! I waited for you to rescue me... but you never came!”.
“I… I didn't know that” He said slightly confused but what it meant. He knew that if he was to gain the upper hand he must be careful.
“And what's wrong with the darkness? I like it, don't you?” He asked with suck innocence.
“I was taken to a horrid place. I was tortured for what felt like an eternity. And now I am back were I was. I cannot leave the darkness. I speak to you from the void. My body is too weak; I cannot leave the void for many days yet.” The voice becomes slightly faint.
He smiles knowing that this is a last desperate attempt for help.
“This world needs someone like the one I knew before, not this!” He said now knowing he was in control.
“I don’t want to be her! No life, happiness, love…” The voice pleaded
He shouted at the voice “She knows no love!”
It was at this point he lost all respect for the one he knew “Sorry… I don't know you”.
The voice screamed an unholy pitch and wailed in frustration and despair.
He smiled knowing that this was it. Maybe now he would have silence.
The voice shouted in his mind “You must know me! I am Alhana! We ruled together! We planned together”.
The voice becomes quiet again and sad “And now... even you hate me”.
He felt pity for the wretch this one had become “I don't hate you, I have pity for you”.
“Pity, but not love” The voice said as though coming to terms with it.
“I know Alhana, she can't talk like you do” He said.
“What is life without Love? Nothing!. What I was is no existence!” The voice spoke now with despair.
“That is true, I must admit.” He said.
“Knew so little” The voice grew fainter and in a final whisper said "I will show you how much you mean to me... soon you will know... soon"
After long moments he realised it was gone.
“I can't hate her, but I can't love her either. The one I love is Narita, more than my own life” He thought.
He looks across at his beloved. He felt a love radiate from her as warm as the azure crystal giving him strength. “She is so beautiful” He thought.
His final thoughts came to him with determination “No dear dark Lady Alhana, you will never kill her”.
Return
(This event has yet to be related.)
Soulless
Alhana adjusts to her new/old state of being.
All that has gone before matters little now.
She feels nothing of her own and yet mimics them.
Alhana is now truly soulless. Driven by her dark will alone.
Gathering her minions around her she speaks in a flat tone devoid of emotion.
"No longer am I to fear, but the winds that come and no one hears"
"One who is blind will never see the darkness fall before them"
"Such shadows surround those called friend"
"Cold whispers spread poison old from long ago"
"That which was lost is found and used by one of pure soul"
Turning of the Tides
Zorbels comes under great pressure to face herself and her path.
Intent on destroying Alhana, Zorbels returns to the Underealm.
As they stand in front of one another, something dies and is reborn from the ashes.
Silence
Many souls unknowingly infected walk the living realm poisoning others minds, hearts and luring their souls.
As events unfold Alhana knows she must step back.
She waits quietly in the Underealm's great library far from sight.
A time of silence has begun.