Time in the World
The eons started to get angry for not being able to pass...
Circa 2700 years ago:
...And this man could feel it. He was called the First druid, though it was only a title for the leader of the brotherhood. He and his council of Second druids were currently trying to appease the gods of nature, and ask what was bothering them so much. The ceremony was going well, the sacrificial lamb had been sacrificed, as was proper, and their chant was reaching it's finale. The gods should answer any time now, if they would at all. And the answer came, though not quite as they expected. The sky seemed to ripple a bit and suddenly there were huge stone monoliths falling from the sky.
”Oh crap...” might not be the most appropriate last words, but that's all he managed to say, in the moment of understanding that perhaps one should leave the gods alone when they're irritated...
The surrounding druids that had not been a part of the ritual watched as the huge monoliths fell on the First druid and his fellows with a loud crash. After a moment of silence, they decided that this was a sign from the gods that the druids should build a monument to appease the deities as the monoliths themselves looked like they had been broken from some vaguely circular structure that had been a single piece of solid stone. No one could even venture a guess as to how or why something like that had been broken, and dropped on them, but no one dared to ask the gods anything right now. And so the druids began their task with a fervor only religious fanatics can muster and they spent the next several centuries hauling additional stones to the place, that would puzzle archeologists in the millenias to come.
Meanwhile, in the now familiar tower that was located in a remote part of the multiverse, a bear woke up. It was an ordinary bear with dark brown fur coating, claws to dig up food or to maul prey, the usual works. It had also lived an ordinary life, or as ordinary as you can live in a tower dungeon like this, but it's family line had existed here for centuries, and the life here was ordinary to it. But this morning it woke up in an extraordinary way, for something was actually grabbing it and shaking it. As the bear opened it's eyes drowsily and looked down, it saw a rather minute blue and white figure. The bear gave it a testing swat of it's paw and got a giggle in response. Not quite sure as to what it was, the bear still decided that it was hungry, and this little thing was probably edible. It took a bite...
Iris stood up and stared at the bear, now ungracefully on it back with it's paws in the air, and very much knocked out cold. She hadn't meant to hurt the bear, but she'd been taken by surprise when it suddenly tried to bite her and had punched it back as a reflex. She quickly checked that the bear wasn't seriously hurt, and went on her way again, humming slightly to herself while going. She cuddled with the bears every now and then because their fur felt rather nice and they usually took it rather calmly unlike some of the other animals that would just try to escape furiously, or to bite and claw at her.
The last century had passed surprisingly quickly while taking care of the ecosystem in the dungeons. It's amazing how quickly time passes when you have something else to do than standing around and staring at a wall. Most of the work had been routine, but she didn't mind, just being able to do something was all she needed to stay happy. She had poked her head to the study where Master was sleeping every now and then. After all, she needed to stay up to date on the circles and how they were changing. Well she could have just sensed them as easily, they were imprinted on HER after all, but nothing quite matched the sensation of seeing them through your own eyes. She skipped a bit, and began running, wanting to make haste to the top of the tower where Master should be awakening soon.
A while later, in the workroom at the top of the tower, two blue dots slowly lighted up in Davrams eyes. The first thought that Davram had was that he was lucky he was undead, anyone living who spent a century with their head turned to the side would most likely hurt quite a bit. He turned his head straight and stared at Iris, who was standing infront of his workdesk.
”Good morning, Master!” She exclaimed happily.
GOOD... MORNING. He said as he got up and lifted his staff from the table..
HAS ANYTHING MEANINGFUL HAPPENED? He inquired while walking towards the door.
”Nope!” She answered while following Davram.
AND I TRUST THAT YOU DID NOT FIND YOURSELF BORED? He asked as they descended the stairs.
”Taking care of everything down there is enough work to keep anyone occupied a century or two!” Davram looked over his shoulder to Iris, who waved at him happily.
I SEE... They arrived to the dungeons and Davram sensed the area a bit in order to bring himself up to date with everything. He could have probably asked Iris, but this method took less time, and he didn't want to waste any now that he had just awoken. Then he noticed something.
IRIS. He turned to the small figure next to him.
”Yes Master?” She asked innocently.
WHY IS AN UNCONCIOUS BEAR LYING ON ITS BACK IN THERE? Iris looked surprised for a second before turning her gaze to the floor.
”Eheh, well...” She fidgeted a bit.
YES? He cocked his head to the side a bit, questioningly.
”It kinda surprised me and I sort of punched it in the face... hard.” Iris looked at him apologetically.
I RECALL TELLING YOU THAT YOU SHOULD TAKE CARE WITH THAT STRENGTH OF YOURS. IT DOES INCLUDE PUNCHING BEARS IN THE FACE AS WELL.
”Sorry...”
NOW, THERE IS A PACK OF RATHER HUNGRY WOLVES APPROACHING THE PLACE, GO AND MOVE THE BEAR TO A SAFETY, IT WOULD NOT BE PROPER FOR IT TO DIE BECAUSE OF THIS.
”Ah, yes Master!” Iris quickly ran off while Davram began inspecting all the equipment present in the laboratory. It's not that he didn't trust Iris, but equipment left in place for a century degraded by itself, meaning that he had to inspect what required repairs or replacing. A short while later Iris returned with a satisfied smile on her face.
THE BEAR IS OUT OF DANGER, I PRESUME? He said without turning to Iris.
”Yes, I moved it to a better place.” She said, stopping next to him.
GOOD, NOW I AM IN NEED OF SOME INGREDIENTS...
In a rather remote area of the dungeons, the bear woke up. It wasn't quite sure what had happened to it, it's jaw ached and it was very hungry. It was also hanging from a rather large tree. It looked around for a bit, rather disgruntled to find itself in a place like this, and carefully came down and began to search for food, and swearing to itself not to go near that little thing it had seen earlier...
And the uneventful eons could finally pass...
Circa 1800 years ago:
Davram awoke, and instantly felt that there was something amiss. His musing was interrupted as Iris scrambled into the study.
”Ah! Master, you're awake!” She exclaimed.
SHOULD I NOT BE? He questioned, while rising from his metallic chair.
”No no... Err, Yes! But you were asleep for 200 years this time.”
I SEE. He walked towards the door in silence.
”Master, why were you asleep for so long?” She asked while they were descending the long stairway.
SOMETHING HAPPENED THAT CAUSED A BOOST OF SOME KIND ON LIFE MAGIC AND IT CAUSED A MOMENTARY CHANGE IN THE SEAL. I WOULD IMAGINE THAT THE SEALING HAS RETURNED TO NORMAL. He explained.
”What was it, then?” Iris questioned.
I DO NOT KNOW, BUT IT WOULD SEEM THAT I MUST RESEARCH THE OUTSIDE WORLD AGAIN, BUT FIRST I NEED TO CHECK ON THE DUNGEONS...
Although Davram found a village reasonably nearby to scry at, he discovered that the language had changed dramatically over the time he had been 'away'. It took him quite some time to learn the the new language, mostly thanks to the fact that the village he found was a rural place, with very little literature for him to 'loan' for study. Eventually he did learn the language and could learn about the happenings of the outside world. But nothing on Zhed nor this weirdness in magic that had happened, so he continued to research, both the life inside his tower, and that in the human village.
But the restless eons still wish to move on, and another 450 years pass...
Circa 1350 years ago:
Davram was scrying the village again, and he felt the pang of extreme surprise for the first time in nearly two millenias... For he saw someone familiar to him from the time when he had been alive. This man seemed to look only somewhat older than what he had been back in the university. He had a long grey beard, red and purple robes with a matching cape, and he was holding a staff with a small dragon statue curled around the top. He was also very much aware that someone was scrying him. Davram sent his thoughts forth.
YOU LOOK WELL, ISHAR MORRAD. The man flinched in response, and a reply came through the spell.
”No one has called me that for two thousand years, who is this!?”
DAVRAM HAZRED. Ishars expression changed to one of surprise.
”Davram! How'd you end up on this backwater planet? I thought you were on Zhed when the cataclysm took place.”
IT IS... A LONG STORY, PERHAPS YOU WOULD LIKE TO JOIN ME IN MY TOWER TO DISCUSS?
”Most certainly, but where is your tower? I couldn't see it in my earlier scry of the area.”
GO WEST OF THE VILLAGE YOU ARE IN. SEARCH FOR AN AREA WHERE THE GROUND IS SATURATED IN MAGIC, MY TOWER IS SEVERAL HUNDRED FEET UNDER THAT PLACE, INSIDE SOLID ROCK. Ishar looked a bit confused.
”That's a cave, not a tower.”
IT IS A CAVERN, WHERE MY TOWER RESIDES. Davram was greeted with a rather perplexed look now.
”...Very well, I shall arrive shortly. Now could you stop scrying me? It's rather unsettling.” Ishar said as he started walking. There was a moment of silence.
...SORRY.
As Davram pulled the scry back, he had Iris haul a pair of stone thrones from his study while reminiscing a bit on the rather faded memories he had of his time in the university, where he had began his road of wizardry. Ishar had been a fellow student and later a fellow wizard who had been interested in the same area as he had been, though from another perspective. Where Davram sought to advance life, and to study it's possibilities, Ishar had sought ways to prevent it from ending and later had turned to study ways to work around death. It was through Ishars research that Davram had learned the methods and spells to transform into his current undead form. He walked down the stairs to the ground floor, and waited. Soon enough the sigils of teleportation manifested themselves, quickly revealing the elderly looking, and rather disgruntled, wizard standing outside the door.
”You could have said that you have a teleportation prevention in effect inside your tower, my first attempt to teleport in here dropped me several hundred feet in the air.” He said as he stomped in through the doorless frame.
MY APOLOGIES, I DID NOT THINK IT NECESSARY TO MENTION IT... FOR IS IT NOT COMMON SENSE NOT TO ATTEMPT DIRECT TELEPORTATION INSIDE ANOTHERS TOWER? Davram answered. Ishar stopped to look around after coming in.
”True enough, I had forgotten such things. Two thousand years without passing a single wizards tower has made my manners somewhat rusty.” He said while shrugging, clearly not fazed by Davrams appearance. A white globe of energy came through the floor and continued up to the study, Ishar followed it with his gaze but said nothing. You don't start poking your nose around inside a place where you're severely outpowered.
TELL ME, WHAT NAME DO YOU GO THESE DAYS? Davram inquired while waving at one of the thrones. They were large, but very plain and bulky things. But Davram had made them out of necessity, since they were very sturdy, and could withstand the centuries better than a normal chair.
”Corlan Chuain, and can you tell me how your tower ended up, not only on a remote planet like this, but also deep underground?” Ishar answered, while sitting on the large seat, about three feet opposite from the other throne.
DO YOU RECALL THE ORDER OF LIGHT? Davram asked while he sat down as well.
”Bloody fanatics...” Ishar said while grimacing.
QUITE SO. THEIR ARMED FORCES ATTACKED MY TOWER, AND USED A RATHER POWERFUL SEALING LOGIA. MY COUNTERSPELL CONFRONTED IT AND CAUSED THIS TOWER TO BE RIPPED FROM ZHED TO THE CHAOTIC PLANES BETWEEN DIMENSIONS, AND FINALLY BEING THROWN HERE.
”Wait, so that was the reason for the dimensional rip that ravaged Zhed?” Ishar asked, clearly shocked by this bit of information.
FROM THE LITTLE THAT I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO FIND OUT, THAT WOULD SEEM TO BE CORRECT. AND HOW HAS THE WORLD FARED AFTERWARDS? Ishar quickly recovered from his shock and took on a reminiscing look.
”Well you managed to drop the civilization back to a very primal era, the dimensional rip itself wasn't the main reason, although it did destroy Al Hazred and several of the largest cities on Zhed and even on some of the other planets. Rest of the damage was done by an angry mob, looking for someone to accuse. The wizards were quickly pulled down from their seats of power, much thanks to the order of light that was accusing the wizards for just about everything, as well as providing makeshift mages to help. The university was also razed, first by the dimensional rip, and after relocating, by the order of lights mob. Then they banned the practice of wizardry as 'dangerous'. Effectively, I'm the last living wizard, and you're the last undead one... Then again, you were the first one as well.” Davram contemplated on this for a moment.
...I SEE. WHAT ABOUT THE ORDER OF LIGHT?
”The order was rather crippled from the initial cataclysm and the following riots, or the great purge as they call it. The only reason I'm still here is because I managed to escape the university, or what was left of it, when they attacked. I also managed to destroy their entire leading council, which itself was newly formed after the previous one had been decimated along their main temple complex in Al Hazred. The order has been just travelling monks and mages ever since, without any real leading body. There have been a few kingdoms, though they can hardly be called such, but usually those have collapsed to either neighbours, or to civil wars. I've been travelling myself, while slowly gathering power.”
WHICH BRINGS ME TO MY NEXT QUESTION, HOW HAVE YOU MANAGED TO LIVE THIS LONG WHILE REMAINING HUMAN?
"Well, almost human anyway....” Ishars right hand rippled for a bit and faded away to reveal a skeletal arm, he pulled back the robe sleeve to show where the skeletal arm ended and a stump of a regular arm continued, right after the elbow. He turned the hand around a few times, like admiring it.
”An alternate method of transforming into a lich that I invented over time, this allows me to turn my own skeleton into the phylactery, allowing me full freedom of movement unlike the rather cumbersome phylactery you have. I've also found a way to continue living on 'borrowed time' by draining life from others. A temporary measure while I finish this transformation.” His hand slowly rippled back to the illusion of a human arm.
I WOULD NOT CALL TWO MILLENIAS 'TEMPORARY', AND I WOULD VENTURE A GUESS THAT USING YOUR OWN SKELETON HAS ITS OWN DRAWBACKS, CORRECT?
”None at all, except that the process itself takes a hideous amount of time. I'm estimating another few centuries before I'm fully transformed...” Ishar stops to think for a while.
”After I turn, I intend to show wizardry to the world again, how about you? Would you help me in this?”
I WILL NOT, MY INTERESTS LIE ONLY IN MY RESEARCH. YOU SHOULD STAY OUT OF HUMAN MATTERS AS WELL, AFTER YOU TURN, IT IS AN INVITATION TO TROUBLE. Ishar waved his hand rejectingly.
”Meh, I'll see if my opinion changes to that after I turn, and I was fairly certain that you'd decline my offer, but I thought to ask never the less. Will you atleast give your word not to interfere?”
THAT MUCH I CAN DO. AS LONG AS YOUR ACTIONS DO NOT INTERFERE WITH MY RESEARCH, I WILL NOT OPPOSE YOUR 'SHOW' OF WIZARDRY.
”I can live with that.” Ishar chuckled while getting up from the throne. Davram followed suit.
”I'll visit you again, after my... show... is over. Perhaps in a couple of centuries.” Ishar said with a slight smile on his face, while walking through the door. He stopped and looked up for a bit, the sigils quickly started to form around him. Davram stopped at the doorway.
FAREWELL... AND STAY HEALTHY. Ishar vanished with a laugh, which seemed to echo for a few seconds afterwards. Davram watched the place the sigils had already disappeared from, pondering about the various things he had just heard. Iris came up from the dungeons where she had been hiding and stood next to him.
”Who was that, Master? And why did I have to hide?” Davram turned to her.
THAT WAS AN OLD... ACQUAINTANCE FROM THE TIMES I WAS STILL HUMAN, AND I DO NOT QUITE TRUST HIM. YOUR EXISTANCE IS THE ONE SURPRISE THAT I HAVE AGAINST ANY INTRUDER SO I NEEDED YOU TO STAY HIDDEN. He began walking down the stairs to the dungeons, Iris quick on his heels.
"Shouldn't we help the humans?"
NO, I DO NOT HAVE ANY REASON TO HELP THEM. MEDDLING WITH HUMAN AFFAIRS IS NOT FOR NON-HUMANS, INCLUDING THE DEAD. ISHAR WILL LEARN THIS SOONER OR LATER. NOW COME, WE STILL HAVE MUCH RESEARCH TO DO...
"Yes, Master"
Time passed, as was its habit. It jumped and kipped along the line in a manner that would make the finest tightrope artist feel like an amateur. Then again, it had more training than anyone else as well.
Circa 1110 years ago:
Farmer Jael Condor was napping outside his house, lying on the grass and basking in the sun. He had been a farmer for all his life, as had been his father before him, and his grandfather before him and the line probably went right back to the time when farming had been invented. A farmers life is that of steady passing of time with never any real hurries or exitement. Only the occasional wildlife attack, and even those were usually just a stirge killing animals or a fox stealing hens. So Jael had a calm, steady attitude and enough patience to make mountains seem hasty. That attitude had been a defining feature in his father and his grandfather as well. But even he had to admit a certain nervousness and anxiousness when a ten foot grizzly suddenly blocked his view of the sky.
While Jaels brain was still trying to process this very sudden change of situation, the bear asked him about directions to any place that was 'haunted' around here. The only place he knew of was the small clearing in the forest where one would always feel like someone was watching you and he shakily gave directions to the bear. After it had thanked him, the enormous dark furred bear quickly disappeared into the forest bordering Jaels farm. He looked at the forest for a while, and decided that it had been a ghost bear, how else could it speak? He quickly recovered form his shock and shaking as he realized that telling this to the other guys at the bar tonight would probably net him quite a few drinks. As a matter of fact, he should be getting going already as the sun was slowly setting.
As Jael was being laughed out of the bar, the bear finally reached the clearing it had been told about. It sniffed the ground a bit and walked into the middle of the clearing. Upon reaching the center, it stopped and closed it's eyes and the ground started to glow a bit in a light brown color that quickly enveloped the bear as well. A little later there was no bear, but a veritable giant of a man standing in the middle of the clearing. He was just as dark as he had been in bear form and sported a rather brown hair maching his brown eyes. He wore simple, but loose, black trousers and a black shirt that was also somewhat loose. For just a moment, there were furry bear ears on the top of his head, but they quickly disappeared. His impressive array of muscles rippled slightly as he sat down on the grass and continued to pull the mana out of the ground to renew his own reserves. While he did this, he reminisced a bit.
He had been named Ursus twenty years ago. His master, a stern but also a rather kind lady, had created him as a guardian beast as a part of an experiment to create ones that could act more independently from their masters, and for a limited duration it would also allow.them to act without a master at all should theirs perish. She had been a very talented master, quick of wit and sharp of tongue when teaching or researching, but caring and humorous when off duty. He could say he had loved her, but every guardian beast loved their master to a degree, so it would have been a moot point.
She had died a year ago, from cancer, and had ordered him to live and find a master that would not leave him like she had. The request made little sense to Ursus, as he could practically live as long as there was someone to supply him with mana, while humans tended to die from even the slightest provocation. He had never the less spent the last year scrounging the various kingdoms and empires for a master that would not be dying on him, but the effort had been wasted so far, and greatly hampered by this need to search the rural villages for unclaimed mana saturated areas that he could drain for replenishment as he no longer had a master to draw from.
Ursus snapped back into the present when he felt a tingle of magic. He knew that magic sometimes did spark a reaction or two in an area saturated in it like this clearing, causing ghost stories to spark up in rural places where magic had been all but forgotten in the aftermath of the great disaster sometime two thousand years ago. But there was something different about this tingle, though he couldn't say what. He suspected that this was the 'being watched' feeling that the farmer had been blabbering about. The big man rose to his feet.
"Would you kindly show yourself?" He asked the empty air. A few moments of silence ensued and then he felt another tingle of magic and a portal opened infront of him. Through this portal he could see a doorway, leading to a stone building of some sorts. But more importantly, inside stood a tall skeleton in a black hood and robe, and a rather curious staff with a inwards bent blade. The skeleton also had very shiny blue dots inside his eyesockets, and they were looking at him.
GREETINGS, MISTER BEAR. Ursus could not but stare at him for a moment, surprised not only from the sudden appearance of a robed skeleton, but also the way it spoke. The words were clearly there in his head, but at the same time seemed to echo from somewhere afar.
"...Evening. I'm Ursus. Who, and if you don't mind, what are you?" He saw a white flash move upwards behind the skeleton and disappeared somewhere above. So a research lab of some sort, he thought to himself.
DAVRAM, AND I AM A LICH, AN UNDEAD WIZARD... BUT WHAT MIGHT YOU BE? YOU HAVE A MOSTLY HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY NOW, BUT ONLY A FEW MINUTES AGO YOU WERE A LARGE GRIZZLY BEAR. YET YOU DO NOT SEEM TO BE NEITHER COMPLETELY.
"You could find out all that, yet don't know what I am?" He looked at this... lich... rather incredulously while a purple flash of light came from above the lich and disappeared somewhere behind him, probably through the floor.
INDEED, MY ONLY SOURCE OF INFORMATION OF THE WORLD COMES FROM THE RURAL VILLAGE YOU PASSED WHEN COMING HERE, AND THEY DO NOT POSSESS MUCH KNOWLEDGE ABOUT MATTERS ARCANE.
"I see..." So his vision was rather limited then, although you couldn't find magic users anywhere in an area like this, you could find atleast one in any major city, courtecy to the Order.
"I'm a guardian beast, a magically created concious being. I was made using a living bear as a base." He looked at the grinning lich while it seemed to digest this bit for a second.
...INTERESTING, AND WHAT DO YOU GUARDIAN BEASTS GUARD THEN?
"Our masters... We are linked to our masters and gain some of our magical strength from them." He knew what the next question would be.
YET YOU WERE DRAWING MAGIC UP FROM THE GROUND, DOES THIS LINK NOT SUSTAIN YOU? Ursus sighed.
"My master is... gone. I'm a special case that can exist without a master."
MOST PECULIAR... TELL ME, WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED IN A CONTRACT? Ursus cocked an eyebrow at this.
"What kind of a contract are we talking here?"
A SIMPLE ONE. YOU GET A MASTER, AND I GET SOMEONE WHO CAN RESEARCH THE WORLD FOR ME, AND POSSIBLY CAPTURE A RARE SPECIMEN OR TWO WHILE DOING THAT.
"...and that master would be you then?"
CORRECT. The lich said while nodding.
"Why can't you just go capture them yourself, you seem powerful enough to snach an animal or two."
I DO NOT EXIT MY TOWER. As if on cue, a white flash erupted from the floor and headed up. It seemed that the lich would not tell more about this, and Ursus decided not to press the matter.
"... I'd need to know more about you and yours, in detail, before making any decisions. Sorry if i'm being rude, but your appearance does not really make one trust you." His personality seemed somewhat trustworthy, mostly thanks to the (mostly) friendly manner the lich was talking to him and that it had not once done a single threatening gesture. But still, when a walking and talking skeleton takes an interest in you, it's better to be safe than sorry.
IS THAT SO? The robed figure spread it's arms a bit and quickly looked through himself before looking at Ursus again.
WHAT PART IN PARTICULAR IS IN SUCH APPEARANCE? Ursus blinked at the question.
"Well... Everything?"
REALLY? CURIOUS HOW NO ONE HAS MENTIONED IT BEFORE... It raised it's free hand and thoughtfully scrached it's chin, a coarse sound like what you hear when you grind two rocks together. Ursus resisted a chuckle, it was interesting to know that apparently even skeletons can be somewhat senile, or ignorant. He decided that this lich would be an interesting master, should he agree to this contract.
NO MATTER, YOU WANTED INFORMATION AND ATLEAST SOME I CAN GIVE YOU BEFORE THE CONTRACT IS MADE. ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW?
"Several, first of all, what's your research about?" He sat back down on the ground as the lich began what seemed to be a rather long lecture about it's research.
He got much of his answers, regarding Davrams research, his location, and a bit sketchy an answer to why he had a tower nearly seven hundred feet underground, inside solid rock no less (IT ARRIVED HERE). He had asked for couple of days to think it through, which Davram seemed glad to grant him. Ursus had already come to a decision by the time the conversation had ended, but he had wanted to see how eager the lich really was. After a week had passed, he returned to the clearing to find an already open portal waiting there, with Davram standing in it again.. He raised his hooded face a bit and peered at the sky from the portal, before fixing it's glowing stare at Ursus.
GOOD EVENING. Apparently he was plenty eager if he had been waiting with a portal open until Ursus arrived..
"And to you, mr. Davram." Ursus walked to the portal.
HAVE YOU COME TO A DECISION? He nodded to Davram.
"You seem a fine person for someone as dead as you, and I think I'll find this contract an interesting one." He straightened himself. "Hence I, Ursus, will become your guardian beast, and serve you until I die protecting you, you dismiss me when I fail you, or you find peace in death." He bowed to his new master and was offered a skeletal hand in return, he straightened and shook the hand, and noted that it was just as cold as you'd imagine it being, but the grip was also very strong.
EXCELLENT, NOW COME INSIDE, YOU NEED TO HEAR THE REST AND MEET SOMEONE. Dav... Master turned around and backed into the room. Ursus followed him through, and strangely enough, the room was rather warm, it also wasn't a room as much as a circular tower.
FIRST OF ALL, MEET IRIS. Master pointed to a young looking human girl who jumped down from the stairs right above the doorway, where she had apparently been listening. She had waist length light orange hair and equally orange eyes. She was dressed in a light blue skirt with white decorations, a white shirt with ripped sleeves, and two large red bows, one on her collar, other holding her hair in a loose ponytail. She was also smiling smugly
.
"You can call me Iris-senpai." She said in a clear, and somewhat pompous, tone. Oh, no way he was going to let that slide so easily. He resisted the grin that was trying to invade his face now.
"And you can call me Onii-chan." The smile vanished instantly, replaced by a glare. Ursus grinned in return.
"Why'd I have to call you that?! I'm the older one here. You should call me onee-sama instead!" Ursus could not but chuckle at that one, this would be interesting indeed.
"Alright alright, Iris-senpai it is." He turned from 'senpai' before she could retort, and whom he could tease further later on, and turned to his master, who had been following the conversation with his best look of confusion plastered to his skull: A wide grin.
"And what's she then?"
THE TOWER. Ursus glanced at the tiny figure now standing next to master.
"I... don't think I quite follow you here."
SHE IS THE TOWER WE'RE INSIDE AS WE SPEAK, A PHYSICAL MANIFESTATION OF ITS WILL.
"So this tower is alive and she's some sort of an avatar... yet we're inside it?" He asked, now more lost than the legendary Al Hazred.
CORRECT, IT IS A RATHER COMPLEX MATTER, BUT TECHNICALLY WE ARE INDEED INSIDE HER, AND SHE HERSELF IS INSIDE HERSELF AS WELL. Ursus shook his head to disperse the mental image that choise of words caused, but it only made the now emerging headache worse.
"I-I see..." He coughed slightly and changed the subject.
"Anyway, the contract?"
INDEED, AND THE REST OF THE STORY YOU HAVE NOT HEARD. COME, LET US MOVE TO MY STUDY, IT IS EASIER TO EXPLAIN THERE. As master turned to the spiral stairs going up, Iris in tow, a white globe emerged from the center of the floor and flew up. Ursus chuckled to himself a bit, following the globe with his gaze. Well, it certainly won't be boring, he looked at his new master and 'senpai'... No, not boring at all.
Authors notes: Well, that's that, we're finally moving towards present at a rather high speeds too. It took a while, because even if we don't see it, the outside world moved along as well, so i needed to figure out what happened generally before i could continue.
Anyone who's concerned with the amount of OC's i'm introducing, fear not. There's only one more addition to the cast before we reach present... I think... ^^'
2008-05-08, 07:58
Author
Two new characters, too. It's interesting how you integrated the events to the destruction of Al Hazard. Be interesting to see what happen to our good ol' lich in the present 
A fluffy drawing
Hope some of mine helped.
