xinoehp512

"Easier... to... let... go..." All the world waited with bated breath. [Memory retrieved] The survey turned black.

The mists fade. X's avatar kneels on the battlefield, disarmed, waiting to die. "You... failed... me..." -- In Moni's hand's the survey glitches.

"A little," whispered Xino his eyes wide. "I think everyone else is scared too. They ran away. They left everything. It's the ghost's now."

The Witherlord let out a laugh that turned into a coughing fit. "No. You... failed." The mists withdrew, fading until they covered only the Witherlord's face.

"The world... is a... horrible place, Nameless."

The Witherlord continued to fight, but he was clearly slower now. Weaker. The mists that swirled around the battlefield slowly began to dissipate. It's not broken, its just only barely strong enough to bind the Witherlord against his counters. "You are the only chronokinetic that can do a blighted thing!" the Knight replied. "Just... hold on! Nameless is winning now, it's only a matter of time before he gets a killing blow."

"I did," the Witherlord replied. The Witherlord staggered as the binding took effect, his eyes widening. But... something was wrong. He was slowed, yes- but not frozen. The Witherlord just barely managed to deflect the attack.

"Your perspective would change, if you were to accept a withergeist into your soul."

"You are always welcome to join me," the Witherlord replied, continuing to press the attack. "As soon as you can get a clear shot in," whispered the Knight.

The Witherlord struck first. Instantly the Knight was there.

The Witherlord appeared where Nameless was, blade in hand, mist swirling around.

"It is time," the Witherlord declared.

"Cold," the Wanderer said. Meanwhile, the Withergeists around them had frozen in place.

"Are you scared of ghosts?" Xino asked in a hushed tone of voice.

Psyder hit the ground hard, his cords absorbing most of the impact. "Let's see," he muttered. "Who first? Perhaps... yes, Niesa would be good." A few moments later, a figure with dark wings launched itself out of one of the castle windows and began flying over.

Here we go, said Cirrus as Cynthia jumped over the edge. For a moment, she felt weightless as she fell. Then with a flash of blue, Cirrus's power kicked in. The winds gathered around Cynthia, slowing her descent - then redirecting it upwards. Cynthia let out a laugh as she rocketed upwards. It was shockingly cold, but what did that matter? She was flying. All of a sudden, a Hyxali was directly in her path. Cynthia yelped and tried to dodge out of the way. She wasn't quite fast enough. Instead, she bounced off the worker and went into an uncontrolled spin, careening off in a dizzying spiral. She felt the winds buffet her to a stop in midair. Slow down, Cirrus advised. Of course, thought Cynthia, chastised. She shot up in the air again - but this time at a much more manageable speed. Still, it was only a minute or so before she reached the top of the chamber. As she approached, she noticed thousands of person-sized holes in the crystalline barrier through which Hyxali would occasionally fly. Curious, Cynthia let the winds carry her through one of the holes. The first thing that struck her eyes as she ascended beyond the ceiling was how bright it was. High in the sky hung a light source so brilliant it was painful to look at. A sun, she realized. She resisted the urge to stare at it. It really was bright. Much brighter than she could have possibly imagined. It made the brilliant white of the structure even more blinding. Looking around now, she realized she could see large white stone columns in the distance. Other Outposts, she supposed. Twirling around, she was immediately struck by the massive pillar at the center of the structure, easily double the height of the one she had just flown out of. Then, as she flew higher and higher, she realized that it was actually miles away. Wonder how long it took them to build this, Cirrus mused. Me too, thought Cynthia. Her father probably knew, but that knowledge had not been passed to her. Probably a long time. Look, it's still under construction. Sure enough, near the circumference of the Outpost were several columns midway through construction. There didn't seem to be many Hyxali working on them, however. Odd. Where should we explore first? asked Cirrus. The center column, Cynthia decided after a moment of thought. But we should try to get there through the tunnels. We'll see more that way. Makes sense to me, Cirrus replied. Cynthia sank on the winds back down into the column. She picked a hole that seemed to lead in the right direction and started flying. For the next several minutes, she flew through the tunnels of theh Outpost. Layout wise, it seemed to consist of mulltiple giant columns of empty space connected by short tunnels. Made sense for a species whose primary method of locomotion was flight. The other thing she noticed as she flew through the outpost was the color of the Hyxali. Most were olive-skinned, but many were... gray. Lifeless-looking. They acted more or less the same as the non-grey Hyxali, although Cynthia found their buglike eyes hard to read. Altogether, they seemed to be about half of all the Hyxali she passed. What do you think? she queried Cirrus. They look... undead, Cirrus replied. Cynthia felt a slight chill at the thought. What reason could they have to use so many reanimated corpses? Perhaps that was simply the custom here, to make the most use out of each worker. Cynthia made a mental note to ask her father about it later. How close do you measure us to be? she asked Cirrus after several more minutes of flying. A mile or so, Cirrus replied. We should- He cut off suddenly. Wait. What was that? What was what? Something red. It went down the tunnel to your left. Cynthia turned down the tunnel Cirrus had indicated - and nearly flew into a red, scaly humanoid. She took a step back, stumbling, and swallowed. A holed, she realized. He was looking right at her now, along with the Hyxali who had been conversing with him just moments before. Her eyes, unlike the other Hyxali, were unmistakably human. Cynthia didn't have much time to think about that, however, panicked as she was by the holed's appearance. She stood frozen like a squirrel in the eye of a fox for a few moments, too terrified to move. Run! Cirrus hissed in her mind, and she snapped out of it. With a burst of blue energy, she dissipated herself into nothingness.

I'm curious... how much does everyone know about TLT/CBST lore?

The Dies Luxfrang It all started with Xinoehp. He was a young luxsprite; at only sixty-four years of age, he was the youngest noble to ever sit on the King's Council. This unique situation came about due to his parents waiting until their early nine hundreds to have a child, right before their millenium of life elapsed. This backstory gives context to his actions that fateful day. In pursuit of power free of limitations, he inadvertently opened a crack in the defenses of the luxsprite's energy network. The very heart of the empire was left exposed to the creatures of the Void. One in particular took notice. He had been a human, once, dissatisfied with the luxsprite's reign. He had found a spirit of darkness, a mighty one, and sought to gain its power. But before he could use his newfound power to topple the luxsprites, he was caught and exiled to the Void. For years he had waited for an opportunity to take his revenge... and Xinoehp had just handed it to him. In the blink of an eye, the Witherlord struck. The crystal that powered the luxsprites' empire was shattered. The luxsprites were thrown into disarray as an army of withergeists swarmed into the now-vulnerable reality, destroying anything and everything they encountered. Within hours, the unprepared leaders of the luxsprites had been broken and turned by the Witherlord, becoming his new most powerful liutenants. By the end of the day, every living luxsprite shared their fate. All save for one. Xinoehp, the last luxsprite, got what he wanted; he became the first Narrator. Unfortunately, as his powers shattered, so did his memories. As more mortals took up the shattered power of the luxsprites, he faded into the background- just another Narrator among hundreds.

Rekaerb Cerelius Rekaerb does not know how he came to be. The very first memory he has is waking with two pieces of knowledge in his mind. The first was his signature ability: replicating himself. Rekaerb can split himself into multiple bodies that all share a single consciousness. This ability makes him practically impossible to kill - and, therefore, very, very dangerous. Thus the second knowledge: he cannot interfere with the course of history. He is an observer, nothing more. He has used his unique opportunity to learn everything he can about the world. He has explored universes that no human has ever set foot on. He has studied the fundamentals of reality in greater detail than almost anyone else. Along the way, he discovered and bonded an entity known as Cerulean that contained the ability to manipulate space- an ability that, as an explorer, he has used to the fullest extent. Relationships Besides Cerulean, Rekaerb has only one relationship of note; his daughter, Cynthia. Created by accident while experimenting with his replication ability, she shares his powers (including a cloned spirit of Cerulean named Cirrus) and restrictions. She inherited much of his knowledge and all of his curiosity. Rekaerb cares deeply for Cynthia, although he is often reluctant to show it. Her transformation into Y has left him disillusioned and withdrawn from the world.

"I saw a ghost," Xino continued, "That way." He pointed over his shoulder towards the Cornucopia.

"Some foxes came and took it all." Xino fell out of the tree.

Xino could see a ghost. "I killed someone, you know." He paused. "I said I wouldn't. But I did."

She wasn't breathing she wasn't breathing she wasn't breathing He was falling. He needed to turn that around.

Xino ran ran ran ran. The lines bled together. He could hear people dying. No, no. He could hear himself dying.