Until the Mountains Come...
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 14533
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The pirates who demand the tithe on the Chul Suz have stood vigil on
that remote trade route for generations. Though many of these privateers
have joined the ranks in more recent years, seeking their fortunes, some
can lay claim to a far more auspicious pedigree. The House of the Unlidded
Eye, the de-facto rulers of the shantytown, claim descent from some of the
most ruthless powermongers it has seen. Oddly enough though, the House of the Unlidded Eye has overcome its rather despicable lineage to become a sort of aristocracy; a ritualized one no less. While less established factions in the shantytown scrounge and scamper, the Unlidded Eye seems to have a serene dogmatic existance, with complex etiquette. Woe unto the petty thug that does not give them the respect they are due. There is a saying amongst those of the Unlidded Eye that find themselves inclined to speak to the lesser folk amongst them. It is attributed originally to Skar Tharn, first Baron of the Unlidded Eye: "The Unlidded Eye shall rule until the mountains come to the mouth of the Chul Suz." It is generally assumed that this will never come to pass... The mob assembled in the square of the shantytown. Those that could afford them bore some of the finest sabres that the tithe had brought. Those that could not bore ruder implements, though with no less intent. Many were half mad, most were drunken, and all were prepared to fight with the giddy ferocity of desperate men. The leader of this motley, a torch-bearing lackwit named Burt, stood on a stack of crates, bearing a firebrand. Thus far, none would have named him as the saviour of the town, but odd circumstances often cloud the judgement, and he seemed as likely a hero as any. Burt's spearheading of the mob's angry disorder was broken by a sound that shook the town's flimsy foundations, like an immense collision of stone on stone. Panic set in as a monolithic figure whose features were more geological than human began to stride through the town like the kindling it was constructed of. Many of the weaker-willed, and perhaps smarter pirates began to flee at the sight of it. As it reached the square, Burt waved his firebrand, and received his golden moment of heroism. In the form of martyrdom as the giant crumpled him as if he were a doll. A hush fell over the crowd as a howdah carried by four masked men parted the throng. Its curtains bore the heraldic device of the Unlidded Eye. Everyone knew the Baron was inside. The Baron himself was clutching a sapphire bound in platinum wire in his hand. It was a gift from his mother, and the last hope of his father, bartered from a demon in the hopes of stopping the inevitable. The curtains were drawn back, and the Baron stammered out the words he had been taught as a boy. All the fleeing boats of the panicking bandits saw was the town engulfed in flames. However, the more credulous among them swore they saw a shadow, not unlike a dark angel, soaring through the flames... Jarlath D'Honaire stood over a pyre, presiding over the burning forms of two giants, last scions of a misbegotten race. At a moment he knew to be predetermined, he raised his sightless, bandaged eyes to a dark figure with long, spreading feathered wings. "Thank you for returning them to me, Jarlath the Destroyer," it said. "Jarlath the Destroyer is dead. Sing only his dirge, Mahaziel. Now there is only the Lord of Ruins." "So be it." And so Jarlath, Lord of Ruins looked over his kingdom, and waited for the ones he knew were to come...
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The Traveler
2/15/2001 11:05:54 PM
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