To restore Caelum to its former glory we need more than heroes and goodwill, we need nothing short of a miracle... Name: Camelot
Difficulty: Epic
Participants: Esperia
Story: In recent events, Esperia has been taken into the care of the Fae-folk of Caelum. Thanks to the timely intervention of the Mindflayer and her companion the Faeries of Caelum were blessed with the return of one of their princesses who has long been in a dormant slumber in the aftermath of a great tragedy that struck Caelum long ago.
In the aftermath of these recent events Esperia finds herself compelled to investigate an ancient folktale, but little does she know just how deeply intertwined her actions will be with the future of Caelum.
Objective:
- A - In the aftermath of recent events Esperia has returned to one of the hamlets on the Isle of Erin and found an elderly bard willing to tell her an ancient legend in return for a meal.
- A - Learning about the legend of Arwen Pendragon and how deeply it is interwoven with the existence of a sacred lance that recurringly appeared in various tales in Caelum's mythology, the conclusion of the man's story leads Esperia to travel into the wilderness of Albion in search of the ancient lake. According to legend the Lady of the Lake is supposed to dwell there, but she appears only to a select few.
- A - Arriving at the lake Esperia finds herself mildly disappointed that she doesn't seem to have been able to draw the attention of the Lady of the Lake. However, on the verge of leaving Esperia finds her eye's power stir and she loses consciousness. Witnessing a vision of the past Esperia observes an encounter between two women, one a regal-looking individual fit to be a queen, and the other seemingly a mysterious beauty nothing short of a goddess. The two discuss a grave threat that happened in the past that shows the legend Esperia was told was different than the truth: The king was in fact a queen, and neither Queen or her treacherous son died.
The son had attempted to sunder the border of Earthland's reality, and the queen had attempted to stop him, but unfortunately, the man escaped during the chaos of the war that had unfolded.
The two were discussing the dire state of Earthland's border, the barrier that separated reality from the darkness beyond having been weakened severely. However, the mysterious beauty had a solution: She told the queen about an ancient magic that could save Earthland but she would have to sacrifice everything: Her son, and her own life.
Before the meeting could conclude Esperia finds her consciousness drawn back to reality where she comes face to face with the woman from her dream: The Lady of the Lake.
- A - Discovering that Arwen had chosen to sacrifice herself to become a failsafe measurement to protect Earthland, the Lady of the Lake also reveals that the treacherous son did in fact survive till now and that in the aftermath of the events, the man bid his time in the hope of destroying the very sacrifice his mother had made. The Lady of the Lake expresses how she doesn't know why Arwen's son is so obsessed with destroying the barrier, but after Arwen sacrificed herself a group of knights loyal to her became part of a ritual that would see them become the failsafe's eternal guardians, a show of their loyalty toward their late queen and the sacrifices she made.
However, the Lady of the Lake fears that Arwen's son might have found a way to bypass the guardians and pleas for Esperia to stop him. Both intrigued and worried about this revelation Esperia accepts to travel to the hidden ruins of Camelot.
- A - It seems Esperia has arrived before her nemesis at the ruins of Camelot, and traversing the fallen city Esperia discovers how in the distant past people had built a settlement here in honor of the Queen and her knights, but as time passed the stories became forgotten and now only the ruins linger.
- A - Arriving at the castle of Camelot Esperia notices how several life-like statues surround a round table that stands out as being in a pristine state, in fact the entire castle seems to be similar, as if something caused time itself to be forced into a standstill. Traveling into the deepest chambers of Camelot Esperia ascends the tower and finds the nature of the so-called 'failsafe': The sacred lance Rhongomyniad. However, when Esperia attempts to reach out to it she feels strands of light wrap around her arm and a voice calling out to her... and soon her consciousness is consumed by a blinding light.
- S - Drifting through what appears to be a plane of light, Esperia comes to face the nature identity of the sacred lance: Queen Arwen Pendragon. Of course, Esperia is somewhat confused at the current events, but Arwen reassures her she is safe from harm, the spear merely reacted to her due to the essence of the void that flowed through her being.
Arwen explains how she became the sacred lance as a pillar to support the barrier that protected Earthland, so strong was her love for the world. However, she regrets she wasn't able to stop her son all these years ago and asks Esperia to finish what she couldn't do. However, Arwen does have a confession to make: Since Esperia's body was made from the Ethereal realm, the spear's magic sundered her physical vessel, but in return for her help Arwen will use the spear to recreate a body for Esperia.
Fortunately, this means it will be easier to socialize from now on, but unfortunately, this new vessel resembles the ancient queen immensely as Esperia would later learn.
- S - Having regained her consciousness Esperia has merged with the sacred lance, and just in time a blanket of darkness has surrounded the city. The young mage descends to the castle and arrives in the throne room where the round table was located to find a man clearly overwhelmed by voidal corruption. What intrigues her for a moment is that the man believes for her to be his mother, but before she can question him she is attacked!
- S- Fighting the possessed man Esperia finds herself slowly forced back even under the aid of the sacred lance and its power. As if to make a mockery of her efforts he knocks Esperia onto the white throne and is about to finish her off while her guard is down but something most unexpected happens when the stone statues glow with a bright warm light and Esperia finds herself protected by a group of knights!
- S- Claiming to have returned to protect and support their queen, the knights of the round table display their overwhelming strength against the mysterious assailant. It seems the tide is being turned in her favor but when cornered the assailant reveals the true nature as a puppet: Revealed to had been possessed by Nacht in an attempt to break his prison the assailant transforms into a dragon and forces the knights to defend their queen till she has been able to recover.
- S- Finally synchronized properly with the powers of Arwen Pendragon Esperia proceeds to employ the ultimate skill of the spear to slay the dragon, albeit afterwards she is so exhausted one of the knights carries her to the throne to recover while hearing her out.
- S- Learning the truth that the woman in front of them is not their beloved queen, the initial surprise of the knights give way to amusement as they remark how that even if it's another person, the spirit of their queen lives on in her, and as such she is the rightful heir to that throne she is seated on.
After a moment of consideration on the future Esperia proposes to reform the Knights of the Round table and recreate Camelot in the hope of creating not just a bastion of hope for the people of Caelum who are dealing with the civil unrest of a divided country, but also in order to continue guarding the border between Earthland's reality and the darkness beyond...
She might had not been Queen Arwen, but both of them were protectors of Earthland.
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