Chronicles of the Joined

Post not finished. Just needed to switch computers.A millennia ago this plane was a place that would bear little resemblance to itself as it is now, a time when dragons still soared through the skies, when the Earth was alive underfoot, when shimmering cities of gold and silver reached up to the sky, when towering golems capable of taking on a thousand men all their own laid waste to armies. This was the world when the link between Aururia and the vale was still intact. It was a world where power reigned supreme, where by sorcery, mortal beings could accomplish incredible things, and those without it were under constant oppression by those who had been driven mad by the power it granted.

Surely in this world power was everything, and none were more powerful than The Kaldori Imperium. Led by five of the greatest sorcerers and intellectuals that have ever lived, they found ways in which those without the rare gift to harness raw power from the vale, could still utilize its power; by combining engineering and magic, they created a new world, machines of death were forged, that anyone of common blood could be-

taught to wield, and some, with a mind all their own. Their motive? To forge the world anew, a grand utopia free of all ills, where one great power ruled over all, keeping the world in a constant state of peace and prosperity. With their power they would will the world to perfection.
Their great legions swept upon Aururia like wildfire. Spearheaded by hulks of steel and rock, soldiers carrying weapons capable of reducing a man to nothing and wore armor that could not be pierced by even the strongest steel. There was no one who could stand against the imperium, and so it was, for a time, the world lay conquered, and with magic, it began to improve. Disease, famine, violence, could all be solved by magic. Yet in this time of progress, the leaders of the imperium began a conflict amongst themselves.

The corruption began with Claudius Sextius. An exceptionally gifted and tragic man obsessed with pushing the limits of his own power, when Claudius had pushed as far as he could within his moral boundaries, he began to give up his humanity in exchange for more of that all-consuming commodity. Claudius committed unspeakable acts, assuring himself that it was for the good of the Imperium, that this world would not be remade by men, that gods had created Aururia, and only gods could make it again. Claudius went deeper an deeper into the blackest reaches beyond the vale, using living creatures as sacrifices and experiments. By the time the other four discovered Claudius?s sins, it was too late. Claudius had not become a god, he had become a monster.

When he was called before the remaining councilors to answer for his crimes, he showed them what he had become, a nightmarish creature known only in ancient tales as an Aterac, a powerful and black-hearted being, whose only goal was to consume to swell its own power.

An unknown entity spoke through Claudius, something dark, buried deep within the other side of the vale, it twisted the minds of these monumental figures, these gods of men, offering them thing they could not refuse, and in the end, they succumbed? Except for one, the humble Irisian priest, Lumenis Barbatus, who had truly believed in the Imperium?s cause, was forced to defend himself from his lifelong friends, who had been too weak to defend against the evil that would have their power and influence as his own. Barbatus performed the ancient rite of his order, banishing his once trusted allies in a blinding white light. Though not by any means stopping them, Barbatus prevented that malevolent force that spoke from beyond the vale from ceasing the most powerful seats on Earth as his.

A decade passed, and Barbatus was crowned Emperor of the Kaldori Imperium. Barbatus had stayed ever-vigilant, ever-afraid, knowing that a storm

was coming, and when it came, he was prepared. Hellish creatures poured from the dark places of the Earth, twisted forms, eyes blacker than the night, capable of rending a man in two with a single strike, and a war like no other was waged, not one for greed or glory, but for survival, and the full force of the Imperium was put toward the task. For twelve long years this conflict raged, the Earth was torn asunder, countless lives were ended, Barbatus grew old and weary, yet still fought on for no other reason than for life, as a whole, for it be preserved, and so that no other generation would have to bear the weight of his and his long dead friend?s failures. And on the day of the final battle, Barbatus and his two sons led the charge, the Kaldori legion, and the Aterac horde crashed into each other, leaving the Earth stained with black and red, but in the end Barbatus stood victorious, or so it seemed.

When all seemed bright, darkness came at Barbatus full force, his comrades had shown themselves at last. When these figures, shrouded in otherworldly metals, alight with the essence of raw mana, set foot on the battlefield, the horde rose anew, and Barbatus, felt fear which he had never known before. His men were consumed by an unrelenting horde, his great steel giants were rendered inert, silent monuments frozen in time.

As Barbatus watched all of the miracles of the imperium crumble around him, he was brought to his knees by the maelstrom of death that surrounded him, and in that moment he saw his son?s cut down before him. All seemed lost, but then something confounding happened, an event that no scholar has been able to explain in a thousand years. Barbatus dropped his sword and let out a desperate cry, shouting up to the heavens for some faint ray of hope, and his cry was answered, as history would assume, for as the overwhelming savagery of the horde came bearing down upon him, as the malevolent creatures he once trusted sent raw destructive power to extinguish his life from this plane? It all ceased.

They say that when it happened, no one in all of Aururia could not feel it as if having been standing right there on that blood-stained battlefield. In a flash, a wave of ethereal light that split the air around it, Aururia was separated from the vale, and all things that existed on both sides of the vale, no longer could exist in Aururia. Magical creatures disappeared as if they had never been, magical weapons became useless trinkets, only of use for their historical and aesthetic value, whole cities collapsed into themselves, and Barbatus, he was never seen again. The War of Life was over, and the new world that the imperium had founded was in ruin...

That was the beginning of the age of stone, an age where all creatures of Aururia learned to rebuild and live without the need to touch the vale. Now one thousand years hence, that age is coming to an end, and a new one beckons on the horizon. There are reports of riders going missing without a trace, strange figures in the night, giant winged creatures flying overhead and then disappearing into the clouds? This world is not ready. This divided world of countless kings, spilling each other?s blood for petty ideals. We are not prepared. Prophet guide us.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/xfmLeKGe7Rg/viewtopic.php

vince young evan longoria carrie underwood jessica simpson ryan seacrest kentucky derby beltane