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 Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 6:41 am
This thread will house all current plot updates/story history. The latest post will always be the latest news and they will go in chronological order back to the first post. This thread will be the most accurate so believe this thread over anything else you read anywhere else. If you see any discrepancies or think there's a place I can clarify on please don't hesitate to PM me! Your feedback and critique is always welcome to create a stronger world and plot.History: The Beginning Long ago, a cult named the Neverlin formed in order to practice an illegal and dangerous form of magic. It was obsessed with resurrecting the dead in any way or shape. Whether it be through the undead rising or taming souls, the mages wanted to discover how to bring something dead back to life.
The largest meeting ever had been planned, with rumors of a finished product being the spotlight of the evening. Perhaps someone had finally found a viable way to harness old, discarded souls? Just the prospect was enough to draw every last Neverlin mage in to see it for their own eyes. And just as it was heralded, the very first Kage were paraded around, the creator excitedly showing off his process for reincarnation.
Despite their overall success, however, many of the members were disappointed. The body was monster-like, a hollow shell meant only to house a new soul. The entire process was a bit too picky for some, especially the newer mages who were in the cult for personal gain. They called it a failure. It looked nothing like a human and the soul plucked from the etherworld was completely random!
To further the disappointment into even the most dedicated Neverlin mages, it was discovered that these new monsters required a constant supply of life essence from living creatures, preferably humans, or else the soul would slip away from the Kage body. This did not sit well with them. Many differing opinions rose. Their first real success ended with much heartache, as the Neverlin cult soon divided into so many factions it was only a mere shadow of its former self.
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Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 6:48 am
Reborn A powerful sect of Kage summoners calling themselves the Neverlin mages have re-risen, though most are young, arrogant, and seeking this corrupt power for themselves-- a far cry from the humble Neverlin mages the first time around, who were old, wise, and in search of something greater. The new Neverlin cult began to sow terrorism and destruction across the land outside the Kingdom's law, in search of manuscripts and books written by the former cult. These texts would aid them in summoning even greater Kage and holding even truer power-- perhaps someday taking on the Kingdom itself!
However, this wave of terror has brought some of the old, original Neverlin mages out of the woodwork to half-heartedly attempt to defend their former name. It has also drawn the ire of the Red Kingdom, which has sent bounty hunters and militia out to capture/kill Neverlin mages and Kage (with no discrimination between the good and the bad).
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Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 6:55 am
The Summoning of the Hell God Kage
(From the auction thread) The dark room hummed with energy as the mages focused their power together, hands interlocked in a large circle. In the midst of their ritual lay a lifeless corpse of a Kage-like creature, but far larger and frightening. It was an elder Hell Kage, extremely rare and powerful. Unfortunately, this one had seen better days-- despite its stillness, its limbs and tail were chained down with enchanted shackles.
Suddenly, one hooded mage began to speak in tongues, trembling as he was chosen to step forward and guide their selected soul into this host body. He kneeled beside the black beast, placing his hands gingerly against its shaggy chest, the entire area now alight with magical pressure. His voice picked up, betraying agony in his bones as he fought to remain in place, the all-important link between soul and host. This wasn't just any normal ritual or any normal soul summoning. These Neverlin cultists were attempting to resurrect a fire god's soul into a Kage, and control it for their own nefarious purposes.
In a flash of blinding light, the man was knocked back into his fellow cultists. An inhuman screech pierced the thick air, signalling it was a success. The black beast shook like a dog, burnt fur and skin and muscle flying away to reveal a burning, smoldering ember-like layer beneath it all. Again he growled and roared in pain, confusion and fury contorting its monstrous face. Unfortunately, he was far more powerful than they had anticipated. In a snap, he had pulled free from his shackles, the heat of his limbs melting through them like butter. He flew into a rage, smashing himself into the cultists and breathing fire across the entire room, melting anyone and anything in its path.
In the aftermath of this grave error in judgment by the Neverlin cultists, many lives were lost. The Kage escaped into the wilderness, free to reign terror upon the land. Despite his power, he was in a lot of pain himself, the fire god's soul trying to tear free from its accursed new body. He was doomed to live his life perpetually feeling as though he was being torn in half.
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 6:04 pm
An Attempt to Mend
(From the auction thread) As expected, the Hell Kage that the Neverlin mages brought into the world sowed havoc and destruction in its wake. Chunks of forest and entire villages were burned down as the Kage's body tore itself apart from the inside out, creating a dreadful rage that could never be sated.
Or could it?
Deep inside the Amlight Catacombs, a bright purple light pulsated across the bodies of a smaller group of mages. These Kage summoners were not affiliated with the fools who released a Fire God upon the world, but they were the original Neverlin mages. The ones looking to preserve life, not destroy it. The moist, thick air of the underground cavern felt suffocating as the mages worked, trying to summon down a powerful soul that could aid them.
An empty Kage body laid motionless on an altar, its horn and curved, thick spines indicating it was a Priestly. After what felt like days, one mage finally lurched forward, glowing with a sudden holy radiance. He couldn't help but smile and let out a sigh of relief as his body moved forward, ready to deposit the summoned soul within the Kage. It was over in a flash, the soul wanting its own, empty place rather than hang around too long inside a living human.
The mages gathered to see their creation. It was beautiful and healthy, but it seemed too full of energy. The soul they called forth was an angel's soul, a powerful one from the highest tier of heaven. The body began to glow brighter, cracks appearing throughout it as if it was about to burst. It stood, rearing up, crying out in a gentle, maddeningly sad call for help. Unfortunately, the mages could only watch in horror as their project failed.
However, she wasn't a failure. Instead, most of the thick, curved horns on her back sprouted into colorful tendrils of pure magical energy. The stripes remained in her coat, her glistening scarred skin visible beneath the tears in her fur. Her chest heaved, the fear of being called to a new place and the pain she had just endured startling her for a while. Instead of anger or resentment, however, she could sense her summoners' troubled hearts. With uneasy steps, she descended the altar, ready to aid them in calming the Fire God before she had even fully recovered.
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Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 8:49 am
Disruption The signs had been subtle at first. Strange wind patterns, heavy storms, and gentle trembling of the earth. One may chalk it up to usual weather concerns and natural processes. However, it soon escalated. Over the course of a fortnight, oracles and prophets alike began to receive odd dreams and visions. Despite their normal ineptitude at being sure of anything in the future, this time their startled warnings cried out in unison: "The winter is coming."
Royalty and civilians alike ignored them, too used to the false wolf-calling the oracles were known for despite all of them bearing the same news. Oracles that lived in the interspersed villages among the forests were treated better, and believed, though they weren't sure what it meant. Of course winter was coming. It was almost summer's end, and Dragon's Maw was not immune to the chill and snowfall of a good winter.
Unbeknownst to them, the ceaseless summoning of Kage and recycling of souls had disrupted the balance of life and death. The summoning of the fire god and pure angel was the straw that broke the Kage's back. Something, or someone, was very, very angry.
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:07 am
Monsters Strange reports have been coming in all over the river settlements and Red Kingdom territories from the northernmost outposts. Although difficult to believe, they come with word of monsters and terrible creatures more vile than any Kage they had ever seen before. Most people scoff at such reports, telling them to arm themselves better against grizzly bears and rabid wolves-- but the oracles know better.
Mutated Kage have been seen coming south, slowly, attacking any random Kage or humans they may find in their path. The Neverlin cultists deny having any part in their summoning, and no one can tell where they came from. The Oracles beg the King to intervene-- send the knightsguard, send mages, send anything to quell this influx of evil filth threatening to come down upon their homeland. Unfortunately, their cries are ignored.
Something created these creatures. But how, and why?
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Neverlin Mage Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 10:19 am
The Cause of it All
It was foolish... foolish... never again will I believe you!
I thought it true, brother. We just need more time... more summons... it will cleanse the earth, and we can feed once more.
NO! NO MORE!
Will you both be quiet? Please? I have such a headache.
Long ago, in the earliest days of the Neverlin Mages, experimentation was the favorite pasttime of Kage summoners. They attempted to create many variations of the standard Kage, though most only lived for a few moments or hours before succumbing to re-death. However, one night, the first true Cerberus Kage was created. It was a demonic monster with three heads, three brains, three hearts and three souls. It was powerful but completely neurotic and unpredictable.
As the summoners didn't quite know what to expect, they drastically underestimated its strength. The very first night, the monster broke free and destroyed most of their lab and dungeons, leading to the escape of many more Kage. The Cerberus, distraught with the pain of having three souls, three heartbeats, and three sets of thoughts running simultaneously, crawled north-- it followed the cold air, finding it soothing to its fevered body. It found a secluded cave deep in the snowdrifts, and slept there for many years. In its slumber, it consumed passing souls in order to feed its vast hunger for life energy. Rather than consume energy itself, it would absorb entire souls at a time, and it grew huge in its cave.
Finally, Kage summoners came back full swing after a few decades. This shift in the amount of unused souls, coupled with the vibrations felt from powerful Kage being summoned with angelic and demonic souls, were enough to stir this raging beast from its hibernation. Its first reaction was to regurgitate some of its own souls it had consumed and create monsters to wreak havoc while it continued to rest. Unfortunately, the monsters could only poke and prod at humans, and didn't even scratch the surface of the Neverlin Cultists' summons. Not to mention, most monsters died from the cold of the North or were slaughtered by humans before they could even reach most civilizations.
Frustrated and angered by its hunger, the elder Cerberus has wrenched itself free from its cave and decided to stop the Kage summoning itself.
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Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 8:00 pm
Soul Harvest
No one knew how such a beast had come into creation. No one would ever admit to it, of course, so the answer would be forever lost in the wind. A gigantic Cerberus Kage had been awoken from its slumber, starving from its lack of souls traveling north, and began its trek towards the biggest hotspot of human souls it could find-- the Red Kingdom.
The monster took the castle by storm, razing the barns and stables on the outer ring and gulping up warriors and guards by the dozen. The walls were smashed and people slaughtered, animals running free and business uprooted. The elite mages that hid within the innermost walls came to fend off the beast, but they too were no match either, finding their magic far too weak and regulated.
The oracles had said it all along. Winter was coming. And it came, full force.
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Neverlin Mage Vice Captain
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Neverlin Mage Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 10:02 am
Rebirth
Such wanton destruction gained the attention of all of Dragon's Maw, the human chain of gossip spreading like fire across the land. In a single night, word reached the Neverlin headquarters and threw their camp into a panic. After a brief but intense meeting, it was clear that the Neverlin were split in terms of how to react. And it was a division that would quickly dissipate the group back into the two factions it truly was -- the old, wise scientific-minded Neverlin mages from decades ago and the younger, arrogant power-hungry cultists that had sullied their good name. The power-hungry group sought to find a ritual to control the beast that ravaged the Red Kingdom. The wise Neverlin mages knew that path would be fruitless, and instead they would need to a summon a power great enough to destroy it and the mind to use its power only to defend. They left each other, going their separate ways to carry out their separate plans.
It was the Neverlin Mages, however, that perfected their plan first. The Kage summoners who ultimately performed the ritual to summon a powerful elder Priestly Kage put all of their life energy into a single soul, knowing their withering old bodies were a small price to pay to save the lives of so many. Their selfless act helped create the elder Priestly that would go on to destroy the elder Cerberus.
As quickly as it had begun, the fires were put out and the monster's heads stuck onto poles. The entire kingdom came together to bury the dead, tend the wounded, feed the homeless, and care for all the crying orphans. Help from around Dragon's Maw poured in over the next few weeks, rebuilding walls and homes. Humans and Kage alike were welcomed in, and the King and Queen were ousted as they stood firm in their hatred of Kage despite their lives ultimately being saved by a Kage in the end. A new era had arisen, where Kage were no longer scorned by the largest civilization in the land.
The Red Kingdom elected a practical mage, a caring priestess, a wise Neverlin Mage and a battle-hardened guard into office so that all aspects of life would be represented in the council.
The Neverlin Mages began to restore their image and the cultists went off to form their own faction, furious that the Cerberus had been killed and mutilated beyond repair. They named themselves the Triune, vowing to resurrect that Cerberus someday no matter the price.
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Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2013 9:20 am
Passage of Time
With the complete reworking of the Red Kingdom, the communities, economies, and societal rules within Dragon's Maw began to morph. An era of enlightenment began to settle across the land as a younger generation grew to know the power that Kage held and the responsibility humans held to keep that power in check.
Though things were generally looking better for the reputation of Kage and the Neverlin, it was not uncommon for reports of "evil Kage" terrorizing small villages to spread by mouth-- becoming more harrowing with every reiteration. Inexperienced mages would try their hand at Kage creation, only to die in the process and summon something foul to haunt the wilds. Farms would find cows and chickens amiss, or cold and dead with no wounds, as ravenous Kage comb the countryside looking for life energy to consume. And whether through malice or truth, stories were even spread of large, wiry wolf-like monsters seizing children from their beds at night and disappearing into the forest...
The Triune cult remained eerily silent while the rest of the world licked its wounds. Was it weak without half of its core members? Was it planning something awful?
It was a time of peace, mottled with hints of fear and rough patches-- but peace nonetheless.
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Neverlin Mage Vice Captain
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