Legend of Ransera

☠ Fingers ran across the scar on his back when he awoke the next day, the reminders still etched into his skin. His hearing was still one sided, he leaned into the right with every conversation nowadays and was getting somewhat used to the hearing adjustment. Stretching he removed himself from under his fellow competitors and greeted the day as it greeted him. Once ready and dressed he went to the Unseen Temple where the next trial of the tournament was to take place.

He was early as he could see them setting up for the trial of the day and he sat and waited for when it would start. He would take that time to practice his skill with his axe and shield, as there wasn't much else for him to do at that point. And so he practiced honing his talent and skill with his weapons of choice, repeating processes and techniques as best he could, making his own personal flair and style with it that suited him. After some time the other competitors joined him, and the MC of the tournament had appeared through a portal.

Ready he along with Guringor and the other competitors stood ready, waiting to hear what was in store for them. "Welcome back you six who have proven yourself determined to continue on to the next trial of the tournament. This trial will be a test of your courage." Tapping his weapon on the ground six figures came to stand behind each competitor. Lae would look behind him and see the figure behind him was a young elven woman, maybe around his age with short silver hair and piercing purple eyes.

"From this moment on, these six will be your handlers, as they will send you into the Arena, a place we Arbiters use to combat and overcome our fears. In this trial, your courage will be tested to face and defeat your greatest fear will be your challenge. The first four to achieve this will move on to the semi-finals. There is no time limit, and you will remain within your personal arena until said fear has been vanquished."

With those final remarks, he tapped his greatsword on the ground once more, and Lae felt a hand clasp his shoulder as the world around him shifted. Blinking he stood within an arena, and several paces in front of him a figure stood cloaked in shadow. Its form was relatively the same size as Lae, but as it moved a bit closer, the shadowy veil that obscured its form gave way to the one thing he feared most. "Father!?"

Sword in his hand, the visage of Maelor stood before him. ☠

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"Common Speech"
"Vastian Speech"
"Vallenor Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

☠ The phantom of his father faded with the words of the woman who was his handler, she spoke of finding what he truly feared. A question he thought he may have had the answer to, but alas things were never as they seemed nowadays. He closed his eyes, following her words to search the memories of his life, to find the darkness, to find what could possibly haunt his future. At first, he thought it was orks, but coming to know Taidryn and living within the commonwealth he knew that wasn't the case.

He thought it was disappointing to his mother, but he had already crossed that bridge during his meeting with Atra and the other dragons. So what was it that truly caused him to shutter? Then it came to him, like a moment of his life being played out before him. He soon found himself standing in that bandit camp, bodies of dead bandits littered across the camp as he saw himself, watching the life drain from their eyes. He could see the fear in his own that was mixed with fascination. He feared not knowing what lay beyond life and death.

He feared becoming stagnant. But most of all he feared the unknown. It was why he thirsted for knowledge, for the key to unlock the secrets of life and death, to become immortal and record the knowledge of the world, to see the knowledge forbidden to mortal minds. He feared himself falling into obscurity, of not knowing what secrets are hidden beyond mortal understanding. At least that's what he thought. In reality, the greatest fear of all formed itself in front of him at the end of the camp. There atop the hill was a single grave, one whose headstone read "Here lies Phozenzia Len’Nagarath Læbirius". Falling to his knees he held a hand out to it. He came to realize that his drive to find the Codex of Setrah, to find the secrets of Lichdom, was to evade his greatest fear of all.

Death itself. ☠

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"Common Speech"
"Vastian Speech"
"Vallenor Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

☠ He wasn't sure what he was expecting after coming to such a realization, but it was the truth. He loved and feared death, admiring who a person was in their final moments, wanting to know what those last thoughts could be as the light slipped from their eyes. But fear in the fact that once death had claimed him, there would be no more time to learn the mysteries of this world. When he had come to this realization, his handler called his attention.

He was taken aback by the weird cheshire grin she held on her lips, and soon he realized that the trial was far from over, it was just beginning. He watched as her form became grisly, undead, her words inquisitive with a mocking tone, yet menacing all at once. He watched her become an embodiment of death, a figure that would square even those with iron wills. He never saw the dagger coming, and when he realized it, it was only because she tasted the blood that came from his abdomen.

Wide eyed panic began to set in, as bleeding out was the timer, and he wasnt sure how long it had been already, nor was he sure how many had finished already. Suddenly a calm came over his mind, the haze of impending death and confusion lifting. He could think clearly now, as she demanded answers to her previous questions.

"It drives you away, but it turns you on like a stranger's love."

"Is this what you seek? All the power of wormfood? Hideous and hated, not alive but enduring and growing more and more grotesque and alone."

"For what, Læbirius? To what end do you seek power and endless days? Tell me..."

Her words echoed through his head as he thought about his answers. He thought about his meeting with Atra, Sable, and Carmine. How Sable had first turned him into a ghost, how he spoke to his mother about his path. He remember the day he noticed the weird bracelet on his wrist, and how it allowed him to become a ghost, what that feeling was like. He realized he has always been dancing with death, be it almost dying himself, or being surrounded by dead loved ones like his mother and Taidryn.

Death was no stranger to him, he was always in the presence of death. His own summons came from a realm of death and decay and he was used to them and their horrid forms. Looking up at the horror before him, ghostly green eyes turned a luminescent gold as ethereal smoke bellowed from his body as he spoke. Something in him stirred, as the output of the smoke increased. "To what end do I seek endless days and power you ask? Heh well, that's simple. Because the finality of this mortal coil is not enough time to sustain my thirst for knowledge and the mysteries of this existence. I seek to know all there is to know, to learn all there is to learn. The Codex of Setrah is just the beginning, from there I will learn all the forbidden knowledge there is to know. I seek the power to achieve this and we all know that knowledge in and of itself is power. I seek power to look at death and know it cannot touch me."

His words soon held an echo to them, and if Taidryn was alive, he would attest to the fact that it sounded similar to the feminine voice that echoed his that night his bloodline awoke in his bed in the Solunarium. "I am Læbirius Tu Anai. I am destined to inherit and suffer, to inherit the secrets of life and death so that I may know all that is forbidden in this world, and to suffer knowing the truth that comes with such knowledge."

With that he found the strength to walk over to the horror in front of him, taking her face in his hands and placing a kiss on her forehead. "So as far as I am concerned, I can't afford to fear you anymore, but I implore you to try and stop me." he encouraged, taking a step back, clutching his stomach to try and staunch the bleeding, slow down the timer somehow, even if he knew it was futile. ☠

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"Common Speech"
"Vastian Speech"
"Vallenor Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

☠ Eyes of confusion painted his face as he looked at the horrific woman. He was confused more so that he didn't know what she meant. "Læbirius ‘tu Anai’?" he puzzled to himself, as he wondered what could have happened that he would recite that name again. In any case whatever happened, whatever he said to them, it didn't work.

Her words echoed through him as he thought about what she could possibly mean. He chuckled when she called herself judgment. "Trust me when I say I've met judgment before, I have seen first hand what those who carry that weight can do, and last I checked I don't see a damn black scale on you hag." he spat, his words carrying every ounce of venom in them he could muster. He wasn't sure how much deeper he could dig. He had experienced a lot over the seasons, from being killed by black dragons, finding a bracelet that allows him to become a ghost. Witnessing the death of those close to him, and betrayal from those he saw as a mentor.

"Of course I want that sword. I would think they would call me just that, worthy of the sword by overcoming the trials set before me to claim it. You keep saying to dig deeper but what more could I fear than failing? If I fail, then I submit to a fate worse than death at the hands of Atra and that is currently what I fear in this very moment. The wrath of dragons is a scary thing, especially when they can kill you with so much as placing a hand on your shoulder." he said running his fingers over the marks that the dragoness etched into his skin. Even now he could see her sickening smile and the pressure her very presence exuded.

He was running out of time however, and he would continue to look within, though his glowing ghostly green eyes glared at the elven woman before closing them to find the answer that would satisfy this trial. He wasn't sure, he explored all his options and each one seemed to not be correct. Part of his wondered if she was even proctoring this trial the right way, but without knowing what the other participants were going through he could only wonder. Regardless he concentrated.

He didn't fear death, as he had experienced death if only briefly, and could become a ghost without losing his own tethers to this plane of existence. He knew he no longer harbored hatred or fear for Orks as he had come to live among them and had seen not all were brutish monsters he thought them to be. He was hoping to find this answer soon, otherwise his chances where running out. ☠

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"Common Speech"
"Vastian Speech"
"Vallenor Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"