Subj: [ffml] [HD] Sanctuary Date: 01-03-22 17:33:36 EST From: darklord@compusmart.ab.ca (His Dark Lordship) Reply-to: ffml@yahoogroups.com To: ffml@yahoogroups.com (ffml), hilliondynasty@egroups.com (Hillion Dynasty) It had been several days trip. Burdock, Celeste, and especially Brian were exausted. But now, with THanatos in their lead, they were standing in a stone fortress in a clearing. "Is this... the place?" asked Celeste. "This old place?" Thanatos nodded. "This is what is known as 'Sanctuary.' Sanctuary is where those of the triad's souls go when they are slain." "The triad?" Thanatos nodded. "I don't have a clue what's going on anymore..." spat Brian inbetween gasps for air. THanatos looked to them. "You are so young..." "Aye, I resent that, lali." grumbled Burdock. "I dunna think you've been overlly curtious with us, aye?" Thanatos chuckled. "So, you want to know the truth, then?" The three nodded. "Very well." Thanatos began to walk towards the fortress. At it's walls there was a great stone gate, with a large slate of rock blocking any passage. On the rock were two gems and a hole for a third. One gem was a sparkling white, a second was a dull grey. From seemingly out of nowhere, Thanatos produced a gem of his own. Pitch black, sparkling in the sun. He placed it in the hole. The slate slowly sunk into the ground. "Many millenia ago, before your species was even concieved by the flows of existance, before *my* species was even concieved... this world was created by a race called the Nosgoth." After the gate was opened, THanatos and the three passed through. BEfore them was a wall. Thanatos took a right and they began to walk down a curved passageway. Slowly, above, clouds were beginning the block out the sun. "The Nosgoth were saplings from the Yggdrasil, the tree of the universe. The Yggdrasil itself was sprouted from the giant Ymir after he was slain by Adomla, the great bull. The point of the Nosgoth was to create realms in which life, children of the Yggdrasil, could flourish." They finally came to another gate. This one with three handprints. Thanatos placed his hand in one and the slate slowly sunk into the ground. "THe Nosgoth... they were corrupted, somehow. They created a backup world, in case their existance was to be threatened. Their corruption ultimately lead to their destruction." They passed through the gate, and began down another curved corridor. The sunlight was barely visible now. "In one realm, some tremendous force created a terrible monster. This monster was then altered by a second tremendous force, and ultimately he brought down the Nosgoth of that realm. Since then, that monster travelled to many realms, and brought down the Nosgoth there, before finally settling here, and spawning children of it's own. Those were the ancestors of the Reptites, the Lizar, the Dragons, and so forth." They came to a third gate, again with the slate in front of it. This time, the slate had a cup sticking out of it. Thanatos took a knife and slit his finger, letting a few drops of blood fall into the cup before the slate sunk into the earth. "The reptites in paticular were especially successful, creating an empire of incredible proportions. Huge metallic beasts known as Gears were constructed, technology abounded and the universe beckoned. The Reptites, thankful to thier dieties, the terrible monster, Godzilla, and his spawn, Hecht, summoned them to their royal chambers and worshipped them. Meanwhile, the vengence of the Nosgoth were finally ready to fufill their dreams." They passed through the gate and continued down another curved passageway. Thunder began to rumble in the distance. "This vengence was discovered by the Reptites, who, unknowinging took them in and taught them. They were strange creatures, with no natural weapons, and very sensitive to the elements. However, these creatures had one overlly powerful force within them, ambition. After learning the Reptites technological prowess, they turned on them, resulting in a war that lasted for centuries. These creatures finally won out with the use of a virus, which crippled the Reptites and force the remenents of their species to flee." "Godzilla had realized what was happening, by this point, and set his sights to three other beings on this earth. Two of those were Lizar warriors, one from the Hykulzin tribe, Guroos, and the other, from the Tezkla tribe, Tyrquah. Both tribes had been warring for years, and Guroos and Tyrquah were champions of each group. It was one fateful night that both of them found their children snatched by a third, hated group, the Zulruk, or Night Stalkers. Both hunted down this horrible beast, hoping to slay the other in the process. They found the third, and in that instant, Godzilla appeared before them, offering them Godhood, which they accepted." "Godzilla himself was soon after sealed under seven seals, Reptite technology again. The Nosgoth's revenge, which the Reptites had named Homo Sapiens, or Humans, then assumed control of their society." "However, Tyrquah, having begun his world travels, came to this human controlled empire, and was assaulted. Tyrquah fled east, into woods that were previously unknown. There, he discovered a race of warriors, huge brutes with green skin who had made warfare and fighting the main component of their society. They called themselves several things, mainly Orks and Greenskins. Oftentimes with them were other, smaller creatures, Goblins. Tyrquah's strength impressed them and he suddenly found himself as their leader. Tyrquah took the name of Krell, Bringer of Terror, and enacted his vengence on the humans." "After many years, the human empire was destroyed, the remains of the Reptite civilization ground into dust, and the weaponry that was used cast the realm into a horrible winter. THe Orks returned to thier ways, and Krell, seeing the survivors of humanity in terrible pain, took a change of heart. Taking the name Zoltan, he forge a floating realm and named it Zeal, a place for humanity." "However, this was cut short by his nemesis, Guroos, who had returned from his own travels. Guroos exposed Zoltan and Zoltan left Zeal. Afterwords, Zeal began to draw on the power of an ancient underground being known as Lavos, another attempt by the Nosgoth at vengence against Godzilla. This ultimately brought about Zeal's ruin. Zoltan, meanwhile, left this realm to travel other worlds. The world was godless for a time, until Guroos, under the name of Kol, broke the seal on three Nosgoth sisters, leftovers from an ancient regime and turned this earth to a warzone, creating new monsters of tremendous powers; eidolons or espers, and almost anihilating the planet itself. Zoltan returned as Halfdan, the warrior, and battled the Nosgoth sisters and their champions, finally defeating them and forcing themselves to transform into stone." They came to another gate. This one had two pendants embedded in it, and a hole for a third. Thanatos pulled a pendant off his neck and placed it there. It slowly sunk into the earth. "After this, Halfdan underwent some painful experiences with those he loved, and finally he transformed into the Lord of Darkness, myself. Kol, in turn, became Loltrek, Champion of Light. The third lizar, the Night Stalker, returned during the second Moogle War after a long absence. I finally learned his name, Rktktos. Our 'triad' so to speak was to remain here throughout the ages since. Finally, during the third Moogle War, Godzilla made an attempt to unseal himself. We, having started to enjoy being rulers of the earth, attempted to stop it. We made a critical error, but ignorance caused us to begin petty fights. Loltrek attempted to slay me, instead slaying my last remaining child, at which point I slew him. Rktktos, thinking I was weakened from the ordeal, attempted to slay me as well, at which point I slew him. Godzilla then was able to retake the earth with little trouble." They passed through the gate. In front of them was an altar, a center for a temple. Three oblesks formed a triangle in which the altar sat in the center. Three urns sat on the altar. It was beginning to rain, and the ground shook slightly. "This place, Sanctuary, was created initially in case one of us were slain, to protect this earth from invading dieties. Should one of the triad fall in battle, the remaining two are able to claim it's power. Only one of the triad or one with thier blood in their veins may claim this power." "And if you claim this power?" asked Celeste. "THen he, Godzilla, will not be able to slay me." "So, Tyrquah, you finally came, huh?" grumbled a vouce. From one of the urns came an apparation. It was a similar form to Thanatos, except the skin was pure white and the robes were a pale blue. "Ah, Loltrek." chuckled Thanatos. "Have you had time to think about your actions?" "Too long. Fortunately, you will be joining us shortly." "Perhaps, perhaps not." Another apparation emerged, with grey skin and deep blue robes. "I wouldn't be so sure, Thanatos. I may have made a fatal error centuries ago, but now so have you." "He's right, Thanatos." came a voice from behind the group. They whirled about. Before them stood two figures, both reptilian. One resembled a tyranosaur with a large gatling gun for an arm, and the other stood fairly upright. "So you came." grumbled Thanatos. "Yes. Now, I will show compassion and allow your friends to flee." "Nev-" Thanatos covered Celeste's mouth. "Get out of here." snarled THanatos. "I should not have brought you here in the first place." "Lali..." muttered Burdock. "GO!" yelled Thanatos, throwing his arms about them. In a second, they were gone. Thanatos fell to the ground. "My, awfully caring for one's comrades, hmm?" chuckled Godzilla. "Father..." snarled Hecht. "Allow me the honour of disposing of this vile wretch." Godzilla sighed. "Very well." Hecht chuckled with glee as he fired his gatling gun at Thanatos. Thanatos roared in agony. "C'mon Hecht. Let him feel true pain." laughed Loltrek. "I... have felt more pain that you ever....urgh!" more etheral bullets blasted into Thanatos' bleeding body. "What's that, Thanatos?" "I've...." "The Lord of Darkness has finally met his match..." chuckled Rktktos. "I must add, your wife was delicious." "I...." snarled Thanatos as more piercing agony ripped through his body. "Come on, Thanatos." chuckled Hecht. "Give me some sort of a challenge." "Geeze, you're wimpering worse than when I blew your daughter to shit." chuckled Loltrek. Slowly, the pain began to fade away. Thanatos felt the bumps of the bullets hit him, but now, now he no longer felt pain. He quickly got up. "So, Hecht, you want a challenge, hmm?" he snarled. "Very well, destroyer of thought." This was it. The Dark Eternal. The final one, most likely. Hecht continued to barrage THanatos with bullets. THanatos stood there, focusing his energies. Once again, all the darkness of the area ceased, basking in light. Slowly, a black mist began to envelope Hecht... but not just Hecht. The mist began to envelope the entire temple. It was out of control, so to speak. Hecht's last cries were lost in the sudden feeling of horror. The energy was just crackling. Thanatos realized he had a chance here. He could in fact take out Godzilla. The charge was set. Thanatos just needed to release it. * * * * * * * THe cliff overlooking the valley housed three figures. Celeste swore. "Dammit, Thanatos!" she kicked at a rock. "He dragged us into something much too large for ourselves. His purpose was to keep us alive." grumbled Brian. THe temple itself was now surrounded in a black mist. Lighting was seen withing the dark cloud. "Let's get the hell out of here, lali." Soon after they left, the cloud exploded, causing a great pillar of flame to rise up past the heavens, and then rain down on it's own source. * * * * * * * The ground was burnt to a crisp, yet the temple remained standing. Hecht was merely a skeleton laying on the floor, picked freshly clean. His weapon was melted into a metal slate on the ground. Thanatos was kneeling, out of energy. Before him stood a rather angry looking Godzilla. "It was a valiant effort, Thanatos." grumbled Godzilla. "I appreciate your lust for victory, but I'm afraid you've violated our agreement." Thanatos said nothing. Godzilla turned away. He looked down at Hecht's remains. "Perhaps, had you have a few more moments..." Then, he was gone. Thanatos closed his eyes. This was it. Finally, his death was upon him. Freedom, freedom from the pains of life. Loltrek, Rktktos, and he, all would have their spirits fade away. He felt his arms forced against stone. Sharp blades entered his arms. Above the ground he felt himself rise. He closed his eyes. There was no pain, only happiness. At last he would get death, the one thing he longed for above all else. He felt the hand of his wife, Katherine, touching his face. His two beautiful daughters hugged him. His son, fully grown, nodded at him in acknowledgement. The scorched valley was silent. A breeze blew dust across it. The wind flowed through the temple. The wind flowed onto Thanatos' robe, which flapped against the rock. And there, crucified on a slate, before the altar, was Thanatos, Lord of Darkness. Finally, he would rest in peace. -- The eternal lord of darkness... Subj: [ffml] [HD] Good Friday Date: 01-03-27 16:05:32 EST From: darklord@compusmart.ab.ca (His Dark Lordship) Reply-to: ffml@yahoogroups.com To: ffml@yahoogroups.com (ffml), hilliondynasty@egroups.com (Hillion Dynasty) The body of the lizar hung off the rock much a tree fighting for it's last grasps at life on a rock wall. The muscles in his skin had settled, and in areas it drooped, hating the bond it held with the bone that kept it from reaching the earth. Celeste, Burdock and Brian stared at the lifeless crucifix that was once the Lord of Darkness. "I canna believe it..." grumbled Burdock. "A life that lasted beyond our wildest imaginations... gone in an instant." muttered Celeste. The caw of a Raven was heard, followed by several more. The skeletal remains of Hecht, Destroyer of Thought, had already been broken open and much of the marrow sucked out. The gigantic gatling gun lay there rusting. Surrounding the inner sanctum, sitting on the walls, were hundreds of ravens, sitting, waiting... Almost as if they were waiting for these three to give their final respects before they dined on that which was Thanatos. Burdock shook his head and walked off, Brian close behind. Celeste looked at the form one more time. She parted her lips, as if to say something, but then, silence. She walked off. The ravens slowly began to caw in a almost symphonic chant as she walked off, as if paying their own respects. * * * * * * * * "He's gone." said Cait Sith and Kenaron in unison. They both stared at each other. "What?" asked Pokey, who was leaning on a pillar examining a stone they had found on the way to the harem. "Ladaku... I don't know how I know it, but I do." started Kenaron. "He's... dead, kupo." "The Raptor?" asked Pokey. Kenaron nodded. "I felt something similiar..." cut in Cait Sith, hopping off his moogleboar. "I felt the death of someone I hadn't seen in... a long time." He shook his head. They wouldn't understand... an immortal cat? Hah. But still, his heart felt empty... even though he had not seen Zoltan, King of Zeal, for thousands of years, he still remembered when that crazy broad had dragged him from his mother to him, and he ended up with Janus... He shook his head. "It's nothing." "I still can't believe it..." grumbled Kenaron. "If it's true.... I mean... Ladaku, there wasn't anything that guy couldn't handle. I mean, he took on a bloody dragon by himself and won, kupo..." "If this is so..." cut in Pokey, "Then we may want to tighten up our guard around here." "How so?" asked Cait Sith. "If something killed your friend, it may come after us." "Kupo..." grumbled Kenaron. -- The eternal lord of darkness... Subj: [ffml] [HD] A convienient return. Date: 01-03-27 17:09:40 EST From: darklord@compusmart.ab.ca (His Dark Lordship) Reply-to: ffml@yahoogroups.com To: ffml@yahoogroups.com (ffml), hilliondynasty@egroups.com (Hillion Dynasty) The three sat around the campfire. They had been hiking for almost two days, fueled by the intense need to get as far away from the Sanctuary as possible and by a complete lack of desire to sleep. Now, finally, the chances of slumber were gaining. The fire crackled in the moonlight. "There's one thing I'm still not quite sure of..." started up Brian, breaking the silence. "What is Hillion?" "Who cares..." spat Celeste. "If Thanatos died because of it, it isn't worth it." "On the contrary..." cut in Burdock, "Methinks he would be more intent on us finishing what we started." "Or else he would've let us die with him..." interrupted Brian. "Aye." "Look..." snarled Celeste. "These past few months haven't exactly been the time of my life. First, I'm basically booted out of Mysidia to shadow some ancient drag queen, then I meet you guys, end up on another wild quest chasing after these two maniacs, encounter the lord of darkness... I've been sick to my stomache for the past two months, I'm gaining weight for no apparant reason, I've started to accept this Lord of Darkness as a sort of father and now he's dead, and we still got some crazy maniac trying to reach some place called Hillion and we still don't have a fucking clue what's going on!" "No, but at least you have the crystals." cut in a voice. Everyone swung about at the voice's direction. THe owner of the voice was a pair of eyes, but as it moved into the aura of the flame it began to take the shape of a Lizar. "Where the hell have you been?" snapped Celeste. "Handling research." grumbled Saaldor. "I see my creator has ceased to be." Celeste said nothing. "Aye, so what hath ye discovered, lali?" asked Burdock. "Those two crystals are integral to Aracalen's mission." Saaldor motioned to the crystals of Darkness and Void. "Essentially, all the crystals need to be gathered at Crystal Peak, and then the way to Hillion shall be granted." "Where's Aracalen now?" asked Celeste. "While you were following Thanatos, Aracalen hightailed it back to Baron. I should know, that's where I've been." "Excuse me?" "Aracalen happens to have the most thorough study of pre-war of the magi books I've ever seen." * * * * * * * * Aracalan swore as he entered his study. "I can't believe this shit. First, I lose Kefka to Thanatos, then, I blow it all by summoning Gortuk." Aracalen swore again. "Why the hell did I bring Gortuk into this mess!?!" he punched an old suit of armour sitting there. It fell to the floor. "Now, Godzilla probably has an inkling of what's going on, Gortuk is dead, and... FUCK!" He sat down at his study. "And what's worse, I don't have the fucking map!" "Yes, you seem to be in a rut." chuckled a voice. "What the hell are you doing here?" "Well, since you had me killed, I've been kinda lonely. The pact we made to stay here on earth was a real bitch to have ruined. I never got to finish my manifesto." "Eventually, you would have done the same thing to me, Raziel." "Most likely, yes. But since I'm the forgiving type, I can always just leak some infomation to you from the heavens." "And what infomation would that be?" "The whereabouts of Crystal Peak." "And how would I know if you aren't lying?" "WEll, it's about as good a source that you have to go on as any, not to mention that it would be the ideal place to hide from Godzilla." "Fine. Lay it on me." "Ha ha... good 'ole Aracalen. I hope you realize that you've settled into a nice little game. I'll help you along, just know that my revenge could be posed to strike at any moment." "You're revenge..." Aracalen chuckled. "I'm dying to see this revenge of yours. You always were a coot." "No, no, no, don't you go and die before my revenge strikes." "It's a saying, Raz." "Quiet. Fuck, I should've sent you a bomb." "Yeah, while I was off waiting for the right moment, you were off sending bombs to people in areas of education. Moron." "I would've had Hillion if it wasn't for you and your stupid contacts." "What can I say? You didn't invite me, so I sent that Shadow character after you." "You didn't have to kill the kid and the moogle." "I didn't kill the kid and the moogle. Shadow did." "So? You sent him!" "How do you know that?" "I know everything, bitch." "Quiet, you old hermit!" "Do you want to know where the hell Crystal Peak is or not?" "Oh yeah, sure, tell me." "Fine, asshole. It's on the southeastern coastline of..." * * * * * * * * "Sornas, far to the southwest." finished Saaldor. "Sornas... never heard of it." grumbled Burdock. "Ancient continent of Reptiles, home of the Reptites, and Lizars." finished Celeste. "Exactly." finished Saaldor. "And, I might add, with the recent events I can guarentee you that Aracalen is gonna try and get there as soon as possible and prepare. It would be... most unpleasant for him if some people were to discover and expose him." "Methinks it sounds like a plan." agreed Burdock. "I dunna think that Aracalen be on my friend list, lali." "Alright. We will make for Kholingen in the morning, there we should be able to either charter or steal a ship, depending on the daring of the captain." -- The eternal lord of darkness... Subj: [ffml] [HD] Getting there was half the fun Date: 01-04-07 21:10:41 EDT From: darklord@compusmart.ab.ca (His Dark Lordship) Reply-to: ffml@yahoogroups.com To: ffml@yahoogroups.com (ffml), hilliondynasty@egroups.com (Hillion Dynasty) (part of the credit to this work goes to Larathia, who raised a few points to my attention that I for some odd reason completely neglected to look at.) The ocean breeze wisped through Celeste's silver hair. The past two weeks had been hell. Following Saaldor's return, the foursome had made their way to Kholingen at about four times the speed they had been travelling before. Once there, it took them about four days to find a sailor stupid enough to go sailing to Sornos. During this time, Celeste noted, she seemed to be gaining an awful lot of weight. Must be eating too much, she concluded. She'd have to cut back. Brian was attempting to put together some weird device he called a communication, boasting his usual technobullshit that he could get them onto his... spaceship called the Excelsior. Fuck, she honestly was getting ready to throw him overboard. Now, she merely had time, and way too much. Her body ached like a bitch in heat, and she was constantly hungry. She didn't quite understand what the.... She stopped. The waves continued to roll across the horizon. It had suddenly occured to her. All the annoying, high pitched boys that were constantly hounding her back when she was fourteen, and the elder had that talk with her, and... No, she couldn't be. She was a virgin. She always swore to be, and even then, after dealing with so many bozos in her schooling, she had vowed never to have children. She had wards in place, defenses, hell, she did everything short of sewing herself up to keep from anything developing inside her... So, if she recalled, these various things that were occuring to her shouldn't be happening. Sexual Majick was not something that was openly researched and improved, at least not within the last several thousand years. Things had been different, yes, but no mage from that era was still alive. Majick could be used extensively to ward off the Reaper for thousands of years, but it still was like a candle, eventually fading away... She shook her head. She was getting off track again. Alright, since reality dictates that no one from the Zeal Academy of Romantic Invocations could possibly be alive, that meant that perhaps they had been followed by an old mage? Maybe, though generally those men who truely dedicated themselves to majick usually became impotent through the intense mana flow. Once again, there were ways to prevent that and even keep themselves... fully erect until their deaths, but Mysidia in particular wasn't overlly supporting of any sort of Sexual uses for Majick, although their library had a few books on it that were usually taken out. Celeste delved deep inside herself mentally. Yep, still there. Alright, apparantly she wasn't hypnotised into doing anything, unless there was a majickal means of restoring hymens, which there probably was. Celeste grumbled as the realization came over her that she could have been completely violated and never really know for sure. "Ah, lass, ye look troubled, lali." Burdock grunted from behind her. Celeste whirled about. Burdock had his standard smile on his face, though it was somewhat tough to notice between his thick beard and massive helmet, but it was there. Celeste decided to try something. She began to delve into his mind, though she encountered an instant block. Burdock merely smiled. "Aye, we Dwarfs be somewhat restistant to that, lali." he then trotted off, overlly content for someone who had just had his mind invaded. Could it be... could Burdock be one of these Sex Mages that Celeste had theorized. Maybe, maybe there was an entire band of them. Hell, maybe Arcanis was one too. Hell, maybe even Br... She stopped herself mid-thought. She wasn't going there. Thoughts of that fat tub of lard naked on top of her- Dammit, she just went there. -- The eternal lord of darkness... "And if our dreams sometimes come true, then what of our nightmares?" -The undisputed Master of Final Fantasy 2 -GM of FF2c -Lord of the FFML ICQ UIN# 23424269 IRC Nicks: TheDarkLord, GannondorfDragmire, occasionally Blackthorne System: Amiga 4000/040 Cybervision64 & Opalvision ---INTEL/MICROSOFT FREE---