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Post by the ANCIENTS on Oct 11, 2009 12:36:59 GMT -5
THETRIAUSPEXCHRONICLES
VOLUME I - THE CROW, THE OWL, & THE RAVEN
Embrysolace is what most would call Limbo. There is no hope, there is no true fear. There is only being. Pain is a temporary sensation and dulls out eventually, no matter how great it is. No one is truly in any danger of anything that could harm them to a point that their existence would cease unless they wished it so. That power is unknown to the dead. Time is a fickle matter here, it does not matter. Most forget the essence of time as their souls begin to melt into the fabric of this world. It is useless. One living year may as well be one second, you could almost say that one could travel around the world in mere minutes. Everyone has all the time in the world. Most in Embrysolace call themselves the damned. After a while, this existence begins to become meek and bland, but they must 'live' with it. They are doomed to forever wander Embrysolace as shadows of what they once where in the land of the living.
The Triauspex Ancients rule this land. They are the three self-proclaimed deities that overlook, care for, and govern Embrysolace. Out of all the souls that ever walked into this world, they are the strongest and most wise. The Owl, the Raven, and the Crow are the three deities. They chose the remnants of what are in the world of the living, birds, to be their mask. For birds are the masters of the sky, a place where the common souls cannot roam. As is their power, a place where the common soul will never roam. A symbol of their exclusive reign. Their names no longer matter and only the very oldest souls of Embrysolace can recall them.
The Owl, who has been in Embrysolace longer than his brothers, is the keeper of the knowledge of the dead. Every soul that enters Embrysolace is not safe from his prying mind. He knows all, he has the ability to read the thoughts and dreams of every soul in Embrysolace without prejudice. Over the generations, he has acquired knowledge that no other soul could ever hope to grasp. He pries into the minds of the animals that roam all of Embrysolace, especially the feathered demons of the skies. Keeping them as slaves almost, messengers and eyes.
The Raven, a mad Warlord that craves the very smell of blood, continues to pull and push at the minds of the weaker souls to toy with them. His one goal is to build an army that will never fall, no matter what the cost. No one really knows why he wants this army. But then again, why would a mad warlord need a reason? Not much is known about this elusive warlord. He does not mingle with the souls of Embrysolace except when he is scouting for new bodies to toy with. Most would advise any soul he may wander across to flee at the first chance.
The Crow, who is the youngest of the three, is the keeper of the twice-damned. Before the first twice-damned was reborn into Embrysolace, he simply was the keeper of the reborn, a servant of the Owl almost. With every new soul that entered into Embrysolace, he inspected it and approved of it. The Crow was born with his own deformity that allows him to sense abnormalities in others, the one thing that the Owl cannot find with the mind. After the first twice-damned was reborn into Embrysolace, the Triauspex found that it was an overly powerful being that nearly matched their own skill. They saw what monster they had created and immediately locked it into chains. The Crow keeps these monsters, these twice-damned. He has the key to their lock, and shows no mercy when it comes to using it. The Triauspex Ancients themselves have not been seen for a long time, it is believed that they hold themselves up in a fort for protection. But one thing is certain: They are still here. They use their bird servants to remind the common souls that they still linger in Embrysolace, and still have their overwhelming powers.
The land is an endless expanse that grows to accommodate its ever expanding population. It is an exact geographical replica of the land of living, as is Heaven and Hell. The land is mostly pleasant with a few ... changes. The land is a mirror image of what the living call home, but this land is never allowed to change. Grass that never grows green but never dies and rivers that never flourish with life but never stop flowing are among some of the abnormalities. Over the generations, pieces of the land began to be broken up into territories and renamed. It is not uncommon for parts of the living's tendencies, such as possessiveness, to remain with the dead.
Pain and suffering are feelings that no longer have a purpose here, as they are defensive mechanisms for the living. However, they seem to follow souls into the next world. Older souls will learn to ignore pain, as it means very little to them now. It is only a hindrance that they must learn to overcome. Death however, is still somewhat real here. The pain and suffering that comes with death in the land of the living is no less in Embrysolace. However, a soul does not go on to another world when they die here. Age is no factor in this land, old age does not take the life of the dead. No soul's body ever deteriorates in Embrysolace. Death occurs only when it is forcefully executed. And even then, it is not really death. Death in Embrysolace is more of a...resting period. Eventually, the soul will be reborn.
Unless...
The Triauspex Ancients have anything to say. Many generations ago, the first second-death was executed. A winged foal that challenged their exclusive reign of the skies, was birthed. The Ancients knew that they had to do something, else they could lose the empire they had built. If the common souls knew that there were free souls wandering Embrysolace with the birth right power of the skies, then all would be lost. The Ancients fed off the fear of the souls here, and they would not give it up. They tracked down the winged foal and sent it to its death. But they also knew, that it would simply be reborn eventually. Since they could not dismiss this problem, they decided to use it to their advantage. The Raven proposed the idea of tampering with the soul before it was reborn, and commanding it to follow the orders of the Triauspex. After much consideration, they all agreed together that this was the only way to rid of the problem.
As soon as the winged foal was detected as a fetus by the Crow, the Owl manipulated its mind and twisted its loyalty. The unborn foal was now their own. But the Crow detected something unusual. As the time for it's rebirth neared, the foal's deformities had multiplied. The Owl's tampering had not gone through without consequences.
Lench was reborn as a monster. A powerful, deadly monster with the strength that even the Raven was impressed by. The Crow counted the new abnormalities in the foal and could not believe what he had found. The ability to see into the future was now granted to the foal. The ability to fly. The ability to see the past. Other worlds. Boiling the blood of his enemies. The Raven...he saw this as his opportunity. Immediately, he requested that he be given the chance to test these new, twisted beings in battle. With the thought that perhaps these monsters could be useful, the Triauspex Ancients congregated. And so, the Raven was granted his wish. He took Lench into his command, and now he serves as the eternal guardian of the Triauspex.
Today, the Triauspex rule with a heavy hammer. A legion of twice-damned at their disposal. An army that never thins out with each defeat, but is reborn anew. And there are always more souls to descend into their second-death. The Ancients hide in their fortress, sending out their signature birds to do their bidding and keep the world of Embrysolace in an ocean of fear of their power.
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