Chapter 5: Serpents and Kings

Chapter 5: Serpents and Kings

Vestiglla
Grand Sorcerer



After several days on the Cross River and a brief stop over at the Castle of Cross, Eligor has finally reached the ancient Alferian city of Vestiglla. It wasn't as uneventful as he had hoped it would be, but he did get here in one peace. Now his journey to becoming a Grand Sorcerer can finally begin.

After endorsing Eligor to Vestiglla's priests, his two escorts parted with him and returned to Su'til. They thanked him for his company and his service, then they gave him their customary Alferian farewell. Eligor would no longer need the services of his escorts now that he's through the Alferian Forest. His main task now was to learn whatever he could from the Grand Sorcerer, to stop the Old Gods from resurfacing.

Eligor was brought before the leader of Vestiglla, High Council Member, Elorshin Telnamar and the Grand Sorcerers herself, Ahmira. He is around 2300 years old and yet still looks young, while Ahmira was around 1800 years old but looks much older compared to Elorshin. When an Alfeir's lifespan near the end, they start to age rapidly in appearance. To the extent that they appear to be the equivalent of an 90 year old human. When this happens it means that it is only a matter of time before the Alfeir perishes.

Ahmira is lucky if she still reaches 1900 years but that was highly unlikely. At best, she has around 2 to 6 years tops. Her powers were already waning, and like Corneus, when she dies her Seal on the Old God's prison will also wear off. Wen this happens, two of the most powerful Seals placed on the Prison would be missing, which will endanger the other Seals.

Before the time of the Grand Sorcerers, the Seals were placed by the Guardians. But as their time here on this world draws to a close, they had to pass on the knowledge of the Seal and its power to other beings. This gave birth to many forms of Seal or Binding spells. But originally they all just came from one Spell which is the Grand Seal.

The Grand Seal is the most powerful binding spell known in existence. Several layers of it is used to contain the Old Gods, and also with the aid of the Guardians. It is a spell only used by Grand Sorcerers. However it takes years of training to gain mastery over this spell. This is where the Sanctum of Khyell comes into play.



For thousands of years, Grand Sorcerers from all over the world have used this magical room to learn this powerful spell. Perhaps the only Grand Sorcerer who did not need to use the Sanctum was Corneus Corvall, who is also surprisingly not an Alfeir but human. This is proof that Corneus was really an extraordinary wizard during his youth.

Inside the Sanctum of Khyell, time moves much faster. A year inside the room, is equivalent to only 1 hour in the outside world. Therefore, those who use the room usually come out of it much older than they're supposed to. Meaning, technically Ahmira is older than 1800 years old if we count the years she's spent inside the Sanctum of Khyell.

Ahmira explains to Eligor the risks he will face during his training. Inside the Sanctum, he'll find all the knowledge he seeks in order to learn the Grand Seal. Once he's ready, all the Eligor needs to do is walk through the black doors leading to the Sanctum of Khyell.

Vestiglla
Grand Sorcerer

Meeting Ahmira was a real honor for Eligor, and he was properly respectful for one who was of the same class as his grandfather. Meeting the leader of Vestiglia he was quite surprised, as he wasn't aware his training would warrant such a visit, but knew he would most likely face a harrowing unlike any other inside the Sanctum of Khyell. 

There was no way he could turn back now, not after coming this far and fighting for control of his own body. If he was going to give up, he would have done it long before now. Nodding in understanding to the Grand Sorceress, he walked into the room, robes billowing as he moved. The black doors were forbidding, but he had seen far more intimidating things in his long life and thus wasn't afraid of them. What was inside, however, gave him pause, as after listening to Ahmira he got the distinct impression that the knowledge being offered wasn't freely given nor without trials that would need passing. He only hoped he was up to the task.

Chapter 5: Serpents and Kings

Vestiglla
Grand Sorcerer

*Time ratio has been changed to 1 year inside is to 1 hour outside*

Before stepping into the Sanctum, Ahmira warns Eligor that once he goes in, he can never go out until he is able to meet with Khyell. The world inside the sanctum is always changing. There is no definitive way to finding the path to Khyell. Ahmira tells Eligor about a book that may help him find Khyell, a Black Book named Bu'rat.

To find the book, Ahmira tells Eligor that he must first locate the Guardian of the Sanctum, the Esper Zodiark. Only Zodiark can located the Bu'rat and only the Bu'rat can show the way to Khyell.

Entering the Sanctum of Khyell would subject Eligor to a world where time moves faster than it does outside. To him, it could take years to learn the knowledge he needs to become a Grand Sorcerer, but to the world outside the Sanctum it would just have been hours, days or weeks.

Afeirs who are unable to complete this trial will be trapped inside the sanctum where they will live out the rest of their days. In record, the fastest time belonged to Corneus Corval, who spent only 4 years inside the Sanctum, which is equivalent to 1 hour in the real world. The second fastest time, which belongs the previous Alfeir King Anjiero, doesn't even come close which lasted 200 years inside the Sanctum. That's the equivalent of 8 days on the outside world. Eligor's Grandfather scores even more than that, he lasted 1056 years inside the Sanctum which is exactly 44 days in the outside world.


Eligor is already above a thousand years old. He can't stay in the Sanctum very long or he'll age and die inside. Inside the Sactum was a world full of floating bookshelves, disorganized piles of research paper, floating islands, and strange black tentacles emerging from the depths of the black water. Somewhere inside this Sanctum lies the book that will allow Eligor to find the Khyell.

Vestiglla
Grand Sorcerer

Sanctum of Khyell

Looking back, he found it slightly ominous that Ahmira emphasized that he needed a black book as opposed to the standard grimoire. This would likely be a trial unlike any he had faced before, and he doubted Zodiark would be easy to find or persuade to lead him to the book in question. 

Walking through the doors, he found himself in a dark and twisting place, pillars made of books and walls of the same composition all around him. The waters nearby proved ominous when tentacles rose from beneath the surface to snatch an errant bird that had found itself trapped inside, a squawk all it could muster before it was dragged beneath. He blinked behind his mask. 

Looking around, he tried pulling a book off the wall, but it remained where it was, not moving an inch. Frowning, he moved on to another wall, and repeated the attempt, with the same result. It seemed these books, if they could really be called such anymore, had become part of the architecture, making them decidedly less useful as there was no visible or practical way to remove them from their resting place. 

Giving it up as a lost cause, he exited the room, going out to see a sickly-green sky crackling with energy and islands floating here and there. Figuring his target might be on one of them, he looked around and found a path laid before him, although he came to the quick conclusion that it was not permanent as he ran across and found it rolling up behind him, allowing him safely to the other side. He walked over to the stairs nearby and went up, hopefully it wouldn't take too long, but he had a feeling that just getting to Khyell would be half the challenge, and resolved to keep his wits about him. This place likely wouldn't give up its secrets without a fight. And wisps would be the least of his troubles.

Chapter 5: Serpents and Kings

Sanctum of Khyell
Grand Sorcerer

Knowledge filled the corridors of each section of this baron world. The books found in this Sanctum are all written by those who have come before Eligor. It was a collection of their research and attempts to find Khyell and Zodiark. Most of them proved to be useless and obsolete. This world is ever changing, there was no fixed arrangement, no maps, no guide nor and marks that could tell you where you possible are. The walls, the floor, even the ceiling, all seemed alive like Eligor was inside a giant living organism.

The black waters provide no clue as to what lies beneath it, the dark color prevents anyone from being able to see beyond the water's surface. Furthermore, there seemed to be something moving under the water, tentacle, thousands of them.

As Eligor continued to search for clues to the whereabouts of Khyell, he comes across a pile of bones. The structure of the skeleton suggests that it belonged to an Alfeir. It was laying on the ground by the bookshelf. In its possession was a diary. Apart from the irrelevant text written on it, there are some notes that caught Eligor's attention. If Eligor read the diary this is what it says,

Kay'r F'ius wrote:

..the Grand Sorceress Ahmira is not to be trusted. I should have noticed it sooner. Whoever you are, if you're reading this then it's already too late. I pray that you succeed in finding a way out. You must warn the others the Grand Sorceress has betrayed us...

The Diary belonged to Kay'r F'ius, a graduate student from P'kon. In his journals he entered the Sanctum three weeks ago on the behest of the Grand Sorceress. That is the equivalent of over 500 years here inside the Sanctum. He doesn't say why or how the Grand Sorceress betrayed him, most of the pages of his journal was also missing.

Moving on, Eligor finally stumbles across a bookshelf with an unusual marking. The rooms and corridors of this world may change constantly but their contents remained the same. This bookshelf was marked for a reason. Etched to the side of it was instructions written by Corneus Corval, the man who finished the trials the quickest.

It did not say much, it only wrote "Try wearing your all your clothes inside out, see where that leads you. Oh and don't drink the water PS: If you're hot let me know I'll come get you -CC" Those who've read Corneus' books would know that the letters CC meant Corneus Corvall.

There was a note written beneath it saying "Thank you" in Alfeirian writing. It did not say who wrote the note but it was definitely Alfeirian. There were no other messages written on the bookshelf, it seems that Eligor was only the 2nd person to see this text aside from Corneus who wrote it.

Sanctum of Khyell
Grand Sorcerer

Finding the second note seemed to be a stroke of luck, although he did wonder at how effective putting his clothes inside out would be. Still, there was nothing else for it in this strange place, especially as the person who wrote the original note wasn't alive anymore. With all the talk of Corneus Corvall it wasn't terribly difficult to infer that it was him that wrote it, but educated guesses being what they are, he could theoretically be wrong, but he doubted it. So, he followed the instructions of the note, hoping it wasn't some grand prank.  

After that, he looked over the first note again, and frowned, this boded ill for him if it was true. He had heard no ill whispers of the Grand Sorceress in all his life, but here there stood one bleakly on the page it was written on. Eligor could only hope that the writer was wrong, as to believe otherwise would mean that there were more even more dangers here that he wasn't aware of. This would not end well if that was the case.
 
Moving forward, he opened another book from the shelf Corneus(?) marked, and hoped that there was something useful inside.

Chapter 5: Serpents and Kings

Sanctum of Khyell
Grand Sorcerer

Time was also not in Eligor's favor. He had failed to notice that while searching, a week in this world had already gone by. But did he really lose track of time? Or was something else messing with his head. It was this world's magic. It was built to enable the person to learn and feed on knowledge, you will never experience hungry or thirst in this world.

The book Eligor picked up contains information regarding the war 2000 years ago, against the Undead horde. It doesn't say anything regarding the sanctum though. In fact a lot of books here in the library of Khyell is useless. Most of them are personal journals written by the previous candidates who enetered the Sanctum. Reading these books can give Eligor knowledge about various thing, but it will not lead him to finding Khyell or Zodiark.

Luckily, Eligor did as Corneus advised. There was nothing special about weading your clothes inside out, Corneus only wanted ghe readers to remove their clothing. After Eligor removed his clothes, he was able to see that there were numerous tiny little leeches stuck to his body. They latched themsleves on to Eligor's body the moment he stepped into the Sanctum. These leeches were eating away at Eligor's chakra and messing with his ability to see the true form of this world.

Chapter 5: Serpents and Kings
Vestiglla
"The Truth"

(This thread is 3 days ahead of all the other threads.)

To reach Vestiglla in under 3 days time, Durendez and Agnes boarded an Imperial airship in Falkengard. On the Imperial ship, it was noticeable that the Imperial troops had something against Agnes, probably because she killed Corneus. But aside from the harsh stares, none of them did anything unacceptable towards Agnes. The entire trip to Vestiglla was mostly uneventful.

During the trip, Durendez had the chance to chat with Agnes. He told her everything he knew about the Old Gods. That they were immensely powerful, and that their ability to corrupt life is  something Agnes should not underestimate. He also explains what he knows about Blood Magic. For years, Durendez has researched about Blood Magic, in hopes that he might find a way to bring back his son. But the methods that he discovered were not aligned with his morals and his honor. So instead of finding ways to bring back his son, Durendez focused on discovering ways to counter or defend against Blood Magic.

Durendez didn't need to lecture Agnes about blood magic. Based on their conversations, he knows that the girl is knowledgeable about the topic and shares the same hate for this taboo. They also discussed the Grand Sorcerer Ahmira, and both of them agree that she can't be fully trusted.

Durendez also told Agnes that once they land, the Alfeir will put a shackle on her, to prevent her from using her magic. It's a precautionary action, just in case Agnes loses control and decides to go rampant inside the Alfeirian territory. Durendez urges Agnes to agree without resisting, and promises to Agnes that he won't let any harm come to the her.

When they arrived in Vestiglla, they were immediately received by a small army of Alfeirs. The Alfeirs had reason to be worried, after all, Agnes is a powerful mage possessed by a powerful demon. A female Alfeir walks up to Agnes and presents a magic binding shackle to the young mage.

"We hope you understand." the Alfeirian soldier said to Agnes. She was waiting for Agnes to present her hands. When Agnes turns to Durendez, he simply nods at her, gesturing her to cooperate peacefully. If she resisted, it's highly probable that a fight will happen between the Alfeirs and Agnes. She needs to trust that Durendez will stay true to his word.

Chapter 5: Serpents and Kings
Vestiglla
"The Truth"

As soon as Agnes rejected having a shackle placed around her wrist, the Alfeirian soldiers assumed battle positions and aimed their bows and spears at Agnes. But even before a fight could break out, the Grand Sorceress Ahmira interrupts the scene and commands the soldiers to stand down.

"Stand down, we are all allies here, there's no need for a fight. The girl is right, we need to trust each other if we're going to work together." said the Grand Sorceress. Following her command, the soldiers lowered their weapons and took away the magic binding shackle. Ahmira then gestures for Agnes and Durendez to follow her. She will lead them to the Chamber of Khyell, where Ahmira plans to explain everything to Agnes.

Meanwhile, Eligor is still stuck inside the alternate world known as the Sanctum of Khyell. It had been 72 hours since Eligor first stepped into the Sanctum, this is the equivalent of 72 years on the inside. He was still struggling to find more clues that might help him find Zodiark. In his years of navigating through the endless world of knowledge, Eligor has picked up more of the missing pages of Kay'r F'ius' journal. However, most of the text on the pages were worn out or unreadable due to damage, one of the missing pages wrote,

Kay'r F'ius wrote:

I should've confronted Ahmira about the incident with the O'chu Seals. He I been more careful, none of this would've happened.

Eligor and Agnes' Chapter 5 has ended. We will continue with the story in Chapter 6. 2000 XP awarded and 10 Golden tokens awarded to both players.