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3 Days Before the Fall…
Today was more training. Olm has cut out all other aspects of studies, and the only break I get is to eat.
I am getting closer to grasping this earthwelding though. Olm is looking ever more concerned, and has lost all patience. His usual looks of calming warmth have been replaced with stern, sterile stares. Often he won’t even be paying attention to what I’m doing at all. I can see it in his eyes. Even when he looks at me, it feels like he is in another world.
I wish someone would just tell me what was going on. I’m starting to get very scared…
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4 Days Before the Fall…
Something is definitely up. Even more people have gone missing, and today Olm told me that there will be no going outside anymore, until they can figure out what’s wrong. On top of that he said my training will have to keep going, and at a rather steady pace. No more breaks. It was strictly lesson after lesson. When Olm got fed up with one topic he would on move to the next one.
I’m exhausted. Olm was especially hard on me today. He would try to be nice, but the more I screwed up, the harder it became for him to keep his cool. I wish they would tell us what’s happening. I’m starting to get worried.
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5 Days Before the Fall…
Things keep getting weirder around here. Some of the kids didn’t show up for morning lesson, and when I asked Olm about it, he changed the subject. Don’t even get me started on play time I was hoping to have.
Once again we studied more earthwelding and lifebreathing. Something doesn’t feel right. Everyone keeps looking at me. They just keep walking around, pretending like things are okay, but I can feel it. That weird uneasy feeling you get when adults are fighting and they pretend it’s a game, or they tell you nothing’s wrong, it’s just grownup stuff. I can’t figure out what it is though…
Olm is being as cryptic as ever. I asked him why I’ve been having so many extra training sessions while all the other kids go running about, having fun. He keeps telling me what I’m doing is fun, and assures me the other students have much harder work than I do. Again, as he said that something felt strange about it. When I get something right, Olm smiles and seems content, but there’s something more behind his eyes. Worry.
What’s Olm worried about?
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6 Days Before the Fall…
Another boring day. Olm made me run a whole bunch of drills on earthwelding. I still don’t full understand it, but Olm seems really keen on me learning it. Not a lot was accomplished, and I found it to be frustrating. I thought I was going to learn to make Guardians like him. His Guardians are always so beautiful.
When I asked why I couldn’t try making Guardians today, Olm insisted that earthwelding will be far more useful to me in the years to come. Said I will thank him later. What a kooky old man. Still, he is my mentor, and even though I don’t get it, I’m sure there’s a good reason he would be teaching me such things.
I just wish I could go play already… Maybe tomorrow I’ll ask for a break . I’ve been so busy with my studies, I haven’t had any time to play with the others. Olm has been especially tough on me lately… Wonder why…
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7 Days Before the Fall…
Today I met with my mentor, Olm. We worked on more conjuration, and I learned how to harness rock to form new Guardians. I’m really starting to get the hang of it. Olm says if I keep this up I should be able to produce a formidable one within the next few days.
We also tried some neat thing Olm called earthwelding. It was kind of boring but I liked it anyways. I couldn’t manage much, and Olm was not being very helpful. He kept telling me it was my challenge alone to do it, and that all he could do was tell me whether or not I was getting closer. He would give me hints about what to focus on while I tried, but it wasn’t much use. Everything that formed disintegrated within seconds.
By the end of today’s lesson I was pretty tired. Earthwelding is so strange. I can’t understand why I’m learning such a thing…
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Day 22: Found
To the Archaelyte,
We have found the child.
We must now prepare for the inevitable.
-Olm of the High Order of Delta.
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Day 21: Day of Silence
We’ve gone dark. The last of the sunlight was taken by the Void on this day, and we now stare into an ever deepening darkness. If we are not the last ones left, we might as well be. We wouldn’t be able to know either way, as we are now fully surrounded. We are an island waiting for one final deluge to wipe us out. As it stands we may hold out for a few more days, but everyone left has accepted this fate. We do not hope to make it through. Some sort of miracle is no longer a possibility.
Tyr put up a commendable fight. I never for one moment doubted our resolve, and I am still, proud of each and every one of my citizens. This is not a sad day, simply a solemn one. Now is not the time to dwell on the past transgressions. Let our final memories be good ones. Despite what others have tried to say I am not swayed: the child that the Order spoke of will arise from the depths of all this darkness and shed new light on Delta. In that I do, and must, have faith.
I was not a perfect ruler, but I will be damned if I did not try every day to be the best. These past few months have truly tested me, and our world. Made monsters out of men. Cowards of the proud. Our ghosts will soon be all that remains. May the Reclaimer find some use in these words. They are all I have left now.
-Saven
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Day 20: Pandora’s Box
We have made a grave mistake.
The Descent has failed on numerous attempts to contain the Void, and it is slowly, but surely, taking over our entire headquarters. The headmasters are trying to tell us nothing is wrong… But every person who is sent to deal with the Void does not return. They claim that they have it under control, that we will be fine… I’m not so sure.
Efforts to attach the Void to the Machinae have proved useless. We’ve been spending more time fighting back its spread than we have making it useful. It’s pure chaos. I think we should just leave. If we’re not here for it to feed upon, maybe it won’t grow any bigger.
I have told the others my plan. I will leave in the night and head as far south as I can. I cannot stay here and risk oblivion. Most still don’t believe the problem is that bad. They have too much faith in the Descent to control this thing. I’m not quite so optimistic. I think our time is dwindling fast, and I am not so proud that I would fall in the name of the Kane.
There are bigger things at stake here than us.
-Duna of Kane
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Day 19: Blessing in Disguise
We’ve done it. We’ve managed to channel into the Vod itself. After centuries of trying, patiently waiting, sacrificing blood and tears for the Kane. Vaal will be so proud. I’m not even sure how to describe it. It’s so pure… so perfect. It absorbs anything it touches, and turns it into more pure energy, multiplying its own power. We are currently in the process of now containing the entity in order to harness it and direct its path.
We will be remembered for the rest of Delta’s existence. Of that I am sure. The Kane will no longer be looked down upon by the rest of the people. They will revere us, respect us. And it is all thanks to us, the Descent. Vaal knew we were destined to solve the Kane’s problems. We will finally repair the wound inflicted upon our name.
This is the beginning of a great age.
- Proule of the Descent
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Day 18: The Wanderer
My dearest,
Troubled times have hit Delta. We face an unknown foe and are on the verge of total chaos. In all my years on this plane, all the paths I have walked, never have I seen anything like this. I do not know if the path that once led me to you will remain long enough for my return. As a precaution I send you this letter in case of… well, just in case.
It has been some time since we last saw each other face to face. This life of mine has had its perks, but also its drawbacks. Over the many years I have managed to see nearly every corner of Delta. I have spoken with some wise people, great alchemists and engineers, patrons of the highest rank of the Order. I feel as though if I had just a little more time I would have finally found what we were looking for… found a way for you to join me.
The canyons near Solis were beautiful, such a sight. You would have loved it. In all my travels I think that was my favourite place to rest. I remember there was one fellow I met there, from the north somewhere. We spoke for quite some time, and I mentioned our particular predicament. He understood the loss we suffered, and wished to help us. He was one of the few who would look upon me as an equal, see the quality of my soul. He promised me he would help. I would rendezvous with him every time we both passed through Solis. Always the same. He was getting close, but never quite close enough. I told him I would continue on my path and when ours crossed again he would update me on his research.
I received a letter from one of his attendants some years after these meetings had begun. He had made a breakthrough and wanted me to come to Engar, the city he resided in up north, to see what he had accomplished. So, naturally I went. It was about this time that news of Kane’s destruction was learned. By the time I made it to Engar, it was in complete disarray. People were scattered, panicked, and confused by what was happening. I asked around as best as I could to find out where the alchemist had gone, but no one knew.
I headed south. I did what only seemed natural: I headed for Solis. Instinctively I believed that he would be there. We had a common bond, a common goal, surely he must think to head there as well.
Whether he was there or not, I was to never find out. I was met at the gates to Solis by two guards, who told me to leave immediately. I pleaded with them to let me through, that I was a mere wanderer looking for this particular man. They insisted I turn around or be faced with death. I tried to give them the man’s name, to find out if he made it inside. They would not listen. After all this searching, after so many years of trying, I failed. The walls of Solis stood between me and salvation. Between me… and you. I could not contain it. I wept. I wept with the knowledge of what this meant. My search had been cut short by the swift hand of fate.
So I write this, knowing it will not reach you. Knowing you will never see these words. Knowing you will forever sleep. Perhaps it is for the best. The world I find myself in now is not fit for any living being. I am running out of places to go… perhaps I should take one final foray.. into the Void.
With love,
Z
