muldran

From Flame

Flame had read about the meeting between Muldran and Taggart and had decided if she could she would attend. The day started off well with no change at the castle or indeed across the land, but then the news was sent to her that Inu had been released from Yew prison and had returned to Zento. She did not have to think as to where her duties lay and immediately travelled to see Inu. Whilst she continued her duties she could not help but think about the meeting and hoped that Muldran or at least the Shadow Court would have things finally under control.

When she returned back to the Guards Rest she could not believe the news that awaited her. Not only had Muldran failed to secure the box’s but he had given his notes over in a hope that Taggart may read them out allowed and inadvertently disarm them. Had he not listened to a word she said in warning? Did he really think he could just ask for them and have them handed over? Question after question spun in her head and she found herself standing at her desk shaking her head.

Would her attention have to be distracted from her duties to help sort this mess out, her decision would have to wait for now as she needed to write up her notes on her visit to Inu.

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Decardo Imier

We travelled to Beaufort me and my beloved to speak with the Templars. I strode boldly into their entrance hall to be greeted by Lord Corgan. But no sooner had we arrived than one by one more and more Templars appeared dressed for war with shields armed.

I tried to talk sense into them to tell them to ask Taggart to hand over his boxes to at least another Templar but it seems Taggart has them all brain washed. Even when i pointed out his scaled hands they ignored the obvious and would not listen to any line of conversation. There was a time the Templars would listen to reason but now their will is like the sand which has drifted away with the wind.

It seems my time past service with the Knights Templar carries no clout for i was treated like a common citizen and not like a fellow Knight at Arms who had helped teach most who stood before me this day. I am glad now i turned down their repeated invitations to return to the Order.

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Life is the Dance and Honor,
the Dance is Death to those we oppose,
Honor is our salvation.
Without Honor the Dance is meaningless
forms and we are nothing.

So said by Sai-Renya Killandra - Sword Elder of the Renshai

Billy

Billy looked troubled and scratched his chin and sat thoughtfully at his desk.

I cannot belive what I just heard, Decardo my old friend, marching into Beaufort, our home and demanding that Lord Taggart hand over the boxes. Threatening him with force, or as he called "Making a statement".

How can he claim that the boxes have corrupted Taggart when it is he, a man of honor and a friend that has reacted so aggressively towards our grandmaster.

Billy sighed.

"Well, nothing for it, honor and defend thy brethern....and if that means against old friends....so be it." he said aloud in his empty house.

Billy wrote a few notes on a some partchment.
"Brethern, last night after the hunt, Lord Taggart was threatened at Beaufort by Decardo Imier of the shadowcourt. A threat against one of us is a threat against us all. Now while I do not think that Decardo will openly raise arms against us, I still would like to double the guard upon Lord Taggart until this situation has been sorted out. Please meet at Beaufort at 7pm GMT for further instructions."
Billy signed it, sighed again and attached the notes to various pidgeons.

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Sig Expertly designed by Falcon *thumbs up*

muldran

A sealed note, from Decardo to Cherry

A sealed letter is left for Cherry upon the bedside table for when she wakens.

Beloved i received word from the man who we paid to watch the Templars after we left them yesterday when they would not listen to reason.

Until i hear more beloved i wash my hands of this whole black box affair. I have received no direction from Muldran or Lord Gorthyn.

My loyalties are only to you beloved.

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muldran

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Taggart

Thinking on the what had happened over the last few days most of it had been a blur. But from what he could remember first there was a meeting with Muldran in Yew, which he had publicly advertised in the Morning Poste to meet Lord Taggart. "Hmm why would he want to meet there of all places and would he be alone or would he be setting up a trap" Taggart thought to him self. "maybe I could as for the Militias' aid as its there land"

So there they waited outside the abbey Lord Taggart, Lord Rhialto & 2 escorts from Yew, once Muldran arrived he seemed be be surprised to see some Yewish guards but it wasn't long before a couple of his men showed up. The meeting was long as both Lord Taggart and Muldran tried to get the upper hand Muldran wished to trade th box he held for the control box but which seemed pointless to Lord Taggart as he would of just made the two normal boxes useless with the ritual of his. Muldran made claims the boxes where leaking and where corrupting Taggart, Taggart seeked to gain as much info about the ritual and the purpose of the boxes and what Muldran claimed they where doing now. In the end Muldran agreed to hand a copy of the ritual to the Templars so they could see if it was safe to do, which he may of just done to prevent further blood shed.

Then the following day Blue from the shadow court showed up at Beaufort and handed the ritual over to Lord Taggart in front of the Knights Templar who where preparing for a hunt to try and make the lands safer. Once they had returned from their hunt it wasn't long before Decardo and his wife Cherry turned up. Decardo stormed in and started making threats and demands claiming that Taggart had ordered an attack on Cherry and that he wanted to get revenge for her he claimed none of the Templars there would listen to reason. Yet he missed out the fact he had used no reason and the facts he claimed where not true to those that witnessed the Shadow Courts attack on the Templars in Moonglow. In the end of the day all that was left for Taggart to do was to study the ritual and see if Muldrans claims from the day before held any weight.

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muldran

Muldran looked up at the barricade that blocked the road outside the west gate of Trinsic. He brushed the green hair out of his eyes, and reminded himself that he really should tie his hair back when wielding a mop. It wasn't like when he could just gesture and move his hair out of his eyes - no, using manual labour to do the simplest items really did force you to think for yourself. Something he hadn't been doing too much of for a long, long time.

"Always the bigger picture," Muldran mumbled to himself, as he rinsed the mop. Picking up the bucket, he emptied it into the corner, as he overheard the two people at the gate talking about Kaelyn's erratic behaviour. He couldn't resist adding that Kaelyn had been offering to 'sell him to the highest bidder' which just made the two there shake their heads and sigh even more.

As the water drained away, Muldran heard several boots marching towards him. Looking up, he saw three Templars emerging from a moongate. They made a beeline for him. Muldran took a few steps back to the side of the Kaldorian Zach - as he heard someone nearby call out his name. Looking past the Templars, he saw Cherry, skirts hiked up, almost leaping over the barricade in a rush to get to him. She drew up alongside him, and faced the Templars - Calador, Falcon and Rhialto.

Falcon spoke to them, identifying Muldran by his hair (despite a brave effort from Zach to try and get him to believe that *he* was Muldran, with a new haircut.) Falcon said that Muldran was invited to a meeting with Taggart. Cherry, of course, interposed herself, warning the Templars of the trouble that they had already been in. Muldran drew her to one side, whispering urgently that this was a way to find out what had happened to the Control Box - and if they were to have any chance of sealing the thing away, Muldran would need access to it.

Cherry acquiesced grudgingly, reminding him that Decardo's trust of the Templars had been shattered. She told him to take Bertrand with him. Muldran looked round in surprise at Bert who had emerged from a brief disagreement with the barricade guards.

Muldran suggested that if he'd just gone of with the Templars without anyone, Decardo would have maimed him. If he'd suggested taking Cherry - Decardo would have killed him. But even this wry observation failed to raise more than a mildly disapproving look from Cherry.

Muldran stepped forward, and Falcon offered to leave Rhialto waiting with Cherry in Trinsic; they were hardly likely to do anything to Muldran with one of their own left behind. Stepping outside of the barricade, Muldran, Bertrand and the Templars stepped through a gate to Beaufort. They were accompanied by a slightly confused Salazar who, having seen Muldran and Bert go through the gate decided to hop through. This upset the Templars who asked the 'mad old man' to go away. Salazar retorted about the charming welcome, and then wandered off towards the see, leaving a slight smile on Muldran's face, and a pair of upset Templars.

Moving into the nearby building, Muldran was shown into another room, while Calador stayed in the antechamber with Bertrand. Muldran stepped inside, and saw the Control Box - surrounded by a crackling energy field. Muldran could sense the power from the other minor boxes - they had been drawn into the Control Box, and rested within there, pulsing angrily. He looked up to see Taggart on the other side of the room, watching him. Muldran squinted, trying to see any form of blackrock corruption on the man - but couldn't! It appeared that he had conducted the ritual to draw the energy successfully after all.

Feeling slightly abashed, Muldran asked what Taggart intended to do now. Without explaining, Taggart gestured for Muldran to move towards the nearest crystal. He then asked Muldran to activate the crystal at the same time Falcon and Taggart activated the ones by them. All three cast the spell of telekinesis at the same time - and with a snap the energy field collapsed in on the box, sealing the seething energy within.


Muldran relaxed, and then asked for the box to be handed to him. Now that the energy was locked away inside, no one could open the box to get at that energy. It was safe, locked away and... Muldran paused, the urge to reach out and take the box suddenly growing... He shook his head, and listened to what Taggart had started to say. Taggart agreed - the box had to be sent away, and sent where no one could open it. Gathering up the box, he marched outside the building - quickly followed by Muldran, Bert, Falcon and Calador.

The group moved through a gate to Luna - and from there, headed south out of the town, until they reached a long bridge that stretched over a crack in the void - and a drop into nothingness. Here, Taggart took the Control Box from his bag, and declared his intention to throw the item into the Void - where no one would be able to open the box and use what was inside.

Muldran looked over the edge, and asked Taggart if this was wise - surely it would be better handing it to Muldran to look after... Bertrand's face hardened, and he looked to the other Templars. "Throw it." Bertrand said, and this was echoed by Falcon and Calador. Taggart heaved his arm back, and threw the box. It seemed to hover for the briefest moment (or was this just Muldran's thought, the lost chances the box represented...) and then it fell, spiralling downwards into the Void, falling through the facets.


A brief sigh escaped Muldran - the power of the Black Boxes had gone back into the Void from whence the energy had came. With the box sealed against magical interference, no one could scry for it. The box would just fall.

Forever.

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muldran

The End...

It felt the stars all around it. It could almost reach out and touch them - but something stopped it. Some kind if field kept it enclosed, in its own little universe. But that was alright, wasn't it? It was safe here. It could not be defeated here. Perhaps it had always been here.

It thought about the powers it possessed and it had just imagined that, for a time, it had control over several of the Individuals. It thought that it may well be prone to dreaming. Had it dreamt that? After all, hadn't that been what it did? In the time before?

There was a rushing sensation now. When it concentrated, it could sense the endless currents of the Void spinning about it. It didn't know how long it had been falling. Perhaps it had always been falling.

It tried to move itself beyond the box, employing the magical effect that one of the Individuals had used on it previously, but found that it couldn't. It tried to call out for assistance, bring other Individuals to it, but found out that, once again, it couldn't.

So, for a while, it screamed. Perhaps it had always been screaming.

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