Legendazona, Murdered in Life

[Xenograg]

Xenograg may have hoped the goddess Ceridwen might intervene but did not actually believe She would. The power of Her presence hits him like a gale. He can only stand there in his fighting crouch.

"So you return, Xenograg kathu-Darelir, Outsider to My Children, yet here when you are most grievously needed."

Xenograg realizes that this is Ceridwen's Mother aspect. Both relief and hope fill his heart. Remembering where he is, Xenograg slowly drops to his knees. She has given him a moment to reply and make his case.

"Goddess, forgive my trespass into this holy grotto. The Heir's life was in danger. Your people need him. His heritage is not a curse but an asset in these times." Xenograg takes a deep breath.

"Telemachus is also as a son to me," he says, admitting his personal agenda. Trying to hide what Ceridwen surely knows already would be stupid.

[Legendazona]

"The Heir's life is in danger, for being not what the High Priestess believes he should be. And yet, you come to save him? You stand against my Priestess for what cause Xenograg?"

She listened to his words, and his heart.

"It would seem you have come in time. Take him with my blessing. The ghost will not trouble you this day. Her time here, in this place is over."

The vision faded from view.

[Xenograg]

"It would seem you have come in time," intoned Ceridwen. "Take him with my blessing. The ghost will not trouble you this day. Her time here, in this place is over."

"Thank you, Great Mother," replies Xenograg with reverence. He stands and walks over to the grotto's altar. He lifts the unconscious Telemachus from the cold stone. He bows his head once more to the goddess, but intentionally ignores Legendazona. Xenograg carries the young Heir from the cave. Once back in the tunnel, Xenograg carefully makes the adjustment to allow passage back through the rock.

Xenograg exits the mountain and goes in search of High Priest Adhamh.

[Legendazona]

The cavern rock rumbled ominously. Had I been living, this would have been grave cause for alarm, and it should have given the sorcerer pause, yet he continued onward, deeper into the caves, and now I know where he’s headed. He’s found where the half-breed rests.

I began to stream toward the chamber where I had put the man, but came up hard against a barrier that simply should not be. This was MY home, MY base of power. Yet, it was undeniable. A barrier I cannot get around.

My wail echoed throughout the stone caverns. No doubt if any heard it, they attributed to a banshee.

There she was. The Crone.

I went still as she spoke. “Legend, you do not belong in this place any longer. Your life was spent in serving me, and it was exemplary, but now it is time to leave this place to Adama. You may no longer enter here, I have closed these doors for you.”

And just that fast, I was no longer in Nitesong!

[Legendazona]

The arena was busier than it had been in some time but my quarry was there… Xenograg!

Dropping a cold tendril around the hilt of his sword, he shivered, “Legend” and as he cleaned the blood from his blade, he almost cut himself. His previous exposures to me leave him more susceptible and I enjoy making the sorcerer as miserable as possible.

He laid the Eldar blade upon the table, unable to sheathe it properly for the shivering.

The cold of the grave that I bring to the room is objected to by Dimitri and Onyx, but it does not matter what their wishes are.

Xenograg tried to send me away, “be gone spirit,” but what he does not realize is that by his actions, he has forced me to seek refuge with him now that my home has been closed to me.

As I curled around Imp, the General commented that he had not finished his conversation with me, and so I said to him, “we’ll have to remedy that, General.”

He gave me a cold look, “careful what you wish for Legend.”

“What more can you do to me General?”

With a bravado I had not expected, he said, “You dare risk finding out? Legend, you keep thinking that I want to do these things.”

He must wish to intrude because he’s done so for years now, coming to Nitesong to interfere with Eldarie affairs.

He laughed darkly, “intrude? You are the one intruding upon the lives of the living. I am merely fulfilling my duties.”

I glanced at Imp, “do you consider it an intrusion to have the dead here?”

Imp shrugged, “dead chicks are fine with me.”

Xenograg continued, “you once had my respect High Priestess.”

“You had mine until you murdered me.” I retorted.

“I did not murder you ghost.”

“You participated, made it possible, You. Are. Culpable.”

He had no rebuttal. He had come to aid in my demise. At length he muttered, “it was war.”

Onyx was trying to have me removed, accusing the HVAC system of being faulty and commented, “all the fluctuating indoor temperatures will make the Patron’s sick.”

I watched her for a moment, “we can arrange a coat.”

Vincent laughed, “so she’s dead. Deal with it and move on.”

“Imp says it’s a woman, I don’t believe it.” Onyx groused. All she’d seen was mist and fog, which she had claimed interfered with her view.

Since the woman Onyx seemed to desire Imp’s attention, I floated back into the rafters, coating them with a thick layer of hoar frost. After a debate with Vincent about my goals and methods, and a discussion with a faerie friend of the Generals, my quarry decided it was time to leave…. And I followed.

It is my intention to take up residence in the Dojo.

However, this night I was denied by his wards….. tomorrow he will open them.

I smiled. Time was on my side.

[Legendazona]

The General has made a critical error. His wards come down during the day to allow guests and visitors to enter. And now, he shall have my presence. Once in, so very much harder to keep me out.

During the daylight, I can go learn the routine of the half elven whelp. Opportunity will present itself. If I can just be patient long enough.

[Legendazona]

Things presented themselves. He did lower the wards when the daylight came, and people arrived and departed.... I moved into the Dojo with ease.

The routine of the dojo regulars was easy enough to plan, and the days had passed, but no sign of the interferring General.

Irritation grew with each monotonous day.

An irritated ghost is a destructive ghost....



The first act of vandalism was the strewing of every book on the shelves of the absent sorcerer's office. Paper blew around the empty room, and just to add a bit of flair, she moaned and shrieked for the Dojo guards.

A bit of entertainment seemed in order.

[Xenograg]

Summoned by his captain of the guard, Xenograg arrives at Dojo Darelir through his magic mirror. He climbs the stairs to the ground level and enters the dojo hall. The entire staff is there, huddled together and nervous. Captain Vastu steps forward, uncertain how her employer will take her news.

"Master, the residence has been invaded by some sort of spirit," she begins to report. "No one has seen it, but we have all heard it." Xenograg looks away as he extends his awareness beyond the room. His defensive wards are still in place, but there is a faint dissonance in it; the result of the breach, he presumes. Now he seeks the intruder with his mind. He quickly localizes a psychic anomaly in his study.

"It is in my study," Xenograg simply says.

"That is where it was first noticed, Master. It has managed to do physical damage within."

"Damn," mutters the sorcerer. Xenograg prepares himself and walks to the door. Captain Vastu moves to follow but Xenograg waves her off. "Wait. I will call you, if needed." She nods and steps back. Xenograg opens the door.

The study is a mess. Every book and scroll has been thrown to the floor. The furniture is unmoved, though. Xenograg enters the room, stepping carefully. The intruder cannot be seen, but it is here.

"Show yourself!"

"Of course, Hero," comes the immediate reply. The ghost manifests visually.

"Legendazona! How did you get in here?!"

[Legendazona]

Things were strewn about the floor, and the windows had been opened to let the snow blow in, leaving a tapering drift of the white stuff from the window into the room. The books and documents beneath the snow would be soaked when things warmed up.

At long last, her quarry managed to come... "Show yourself!"

I smiled a cold smile to myself before becoming visible to the old man's sight, "Of course, Hero."

He sighed audibly, "Legendazona! How did you get in here?!"

I floated closer to him, "Well, you do relax your wards to allow visitors to come and go during the day. It was only a matter of timing you see."

He was clearly annoyed, but it is small enough given the annoyance he has caused for me.

"You saw me turned out of my home, and a ghost does need a place to stay, so who better to move in with? Perhaps you can take me with you through that mirror to Barsi?"

[Xenograg]

"You saw me turned out of my home," Legendazona retorts. "And a ghost does need a place to stay, so who better to move in with? Perhaps you can take me with you through that mirror to Barsi?"

"That is not going to happen...and no, a ghost does not need a place to stay!"

"We certainly do, and this place is both fitting and just as my new home."

"Begone, Legend!"

"Make me!" she cries, accompanied with a mocking laugh. "You cannot, of course. I know you, sorcerer."

"No, not yet. Press me too far, though, and I will find a way."

"Do not threaten me, Xenograg," she yells back. "Wrecking your study is a jest compared to what I could do to your sanctum."

"I doubt you can breach my sanctum," he confides. Legendazona adopts a mocking imitation of Xenograg to rebut.

"No, not yet. Press me too far, though, and I will find a way."

[Legendazona]

The temperature of the room dropped.

"No trip to Barsi? You do not wish me to move into your home, teach your children about the ways of the Goddess?"

A cold smile curved her lips.

"You don't believe ghosts need a place to stay, we should remedy that, let you learn from first hand experience."

The thought of relegating him to the status of a ghost was comforting even to the one in the room with him.

"begone," just what does he take me for? And I once thought the man had brains.

It was time to show him he was not dealing with a sprite! His inner sanctum would be next on my list of things and places to trash until he restored me to my mountain.

[Legendazona]

Vanishing from the medelsome man's sight, I swept the accumulated snow into a blizzard inside his office, blowing everything off his desk, and sending the already scattered books and parchments flying in the wind. Several of the books collided with his solid form.

The ghost then swept through the dojo, unseen hands throwing things off the walls and at the dojo guards. Hair raising wails echoed in the halls.

Guests and regular visitors to the dojo left as the ghost continued her ramage through the structure.

The war had been renewed, and begun again.

[Xenograg]

Xenograg is a busy man despite rising before dawn every day in Barsi. He performs his daily sorcerous rituals before waking Amaltea at mid-morning. Then he is off to Eldicor to apprentice his daughters, Amanda and Mystic, which lasts until noon. He returns to Barsi for lunch with Amaltea and his sons, followed by a short siesta of meditation or an actual nap. The afternoons are given to his duties in Barsi, with the occasional inclusion of Xenodar or Eldicor. Evenings are Xenograg's flexible time. They run the gamut from court socializing (Barsi and Eldicor), to dueling, to a private evening with family (one of the halves) or friends. Whenever possible, Xenograg returns to Eldicor to bid goodnight to Amanda and Mystic. Finally, back to Barsi to do the same for his sons (if not too late) and to bed with Amaltea.

( Cross-posted to A Dark Side Rises. )

[Xenograg]

One thing makes all this possible: Xenograg's chain of dimension-spanning mirrors. Nestrian Palace, Sawrey Castle, and Dojo Darelir are like a single building for the ease in which Xenograg and his trusted friends move between them. Consequently, the mirrors are well protected by spells both without and within. Besides being located in shielded rooms at their various locations, the mirrors are programmed with access restrictions. Mystic, Teleperien, and Gwindor can only travel between Eldicor and Dojo Darelir, for example. Amanda can only travel between Eldicor and Barsi. Alais had access to Demodar but that mirror was deactivated by Xenograg last year. Amaltea has access to all mirrors.

Legendazona knows of the mirror in Dojo Darelir from Alais. She has explored the Dojo thoroughly and finds herself barred from only two rooms: the hallowed ground of the small shrine on ground level and the underground room whose stair is hidden behind a secret, magic-locked door. This lower level is undoubtedly Xenograg's sorcerous sanctum and contains the mirror. The sanctum has its own separate ward. It is smaller and tighter than the one protecting the entire dojo residence, but was placed by the same sorcerer. Xenograg is not a master mage, and even the sanctum ward is not without flaw. She needs only press hard enough and long enough in the right location to open a breach.

Xenograg is sure to intervene, though. He is the true defense of the sanctum and mirror.

[Legendazona]

Xenograg. The bane of my existence, and the thorn in my side regarding the Eldarie.

I've moved into his dojo out of spite for his role in my expulsion from Nitesong. The office was easy enough to trash, and his house guards are superstitious, and I find them making signs to ward off evil whenever I am about and making their lives hell.

The kitchen was the target of last night's attacks, and I was briefly amused when flying pots and pans sent the cook running for cover and screaming at the top of her lungs. Several have grumbled to the leader of the guard, threatening to leave or quit if something is not done, but they are not my goal.

There are 2 rooms that I cannot gain entry into. They are warded and so far the wards have held. But, perserverence pays off, and I have nothing but time.

The mirror that the meddlesome sorcerer uses must be in one of these two rooms. If I can destroy the mirror, I can keep him from moving between Barsi and RhyDin with the impunity he currently enjoys.

His wards for the Dojo held the weakness that he lowered them during the day, and did not keep out entities such as myself. However, these wards feel different. They are stronger, more finely crafted, but.....