CONTINUATION OF FALLEN ANGEL

Seelin was beginning to feel hungry, so he sat on the grass and ate a
good bit of the meat in his pack. Feeling thirsty after the salty
repast, Seelin walked over to the well to get some water, but found it
empty of all water. Seelin started as glowing runes appeared on the
stone edges of the well.

�Below, lies the dungeon of Azdun.� Slowly the runes faded. Where did he
know that language from? Seelin could not remember ever learning such a
tongue � but know it he did. Shrugging his unimportant thoughts away, he
concentrated on what he was to do. So, from what the runes said, the
Azdun dungeons lay below. Confidently, Seelin swung his legs over the
edge of the well. It was a long way down. He placed his right foot on an
iron rung planted firmly into the edges of the well. His left foot
followed, onto the rung below. Steadily he kept climbing down, until
finally his feet touched solid stone below him. He was now in the
dominion of Lachesis � the Spider Queen.

Looking far above him, a tiny dot of light was visible from the top of
the well. The dungeon was illuminated by a soft, eerie green glow; it
didn�t do too much in the way of providing light � but it did at least
light up the surroundings a little bit. As his eyes adjusted to the
darkened dungeon, he suddenly realized what it was that littered the
ground around where he stood. Rotting skeletons of people come to
explore lay here, having fallen while trying to climb up and down the
immense well.

It was cold and musty. Seelin rubbed his hands together, and set off on
his exploration of the dungeon.

Seelin walked along the long, narrow halls of the dungeon, smelling the
stagnant water that pooled on the ground � the constant drip, drip, drip
of water followed him constantly. Along the smooth stone walls, images
depicting dragons in flight scrawled along the walls.

The narrow passage he was walking along abruptly widened into a large,
well lit room. The light in the room was silver, and was emitted from a
floating silver orb in the middle of the room. He would not be so
foolish as to touch it � he looked with disdain at the corpses that
surrounded the orb. Obsidian stones made up the ceiling, floors, and
walls of this room, with passages leading back to the North, the West,
the East, and the South. Ominous runes had been etched into the southern
wall. Seelin stood for a moment, using all his knowledge of ancient
tongues to decipher the words. Though these runes, too, were unfamiliar,
they were not of the same language at those he had seen at the top of
the well. �Certain death lies this way�, it read.

Seelin snorted in disgust, and was tempted to start with the Southern
passages, but something beckoned him from the East. He turned to the
east, and a sense of exultation rose within him. He could feel it! After
so many years of waiting, he could sense his destiny was about to be
fulfilled. Without a backwards glance, Seelin started walking on down
the Eastern passage.

The walls to either side of him grew narrow again � here, their uncanny
green light seemed to glow more strongly than before. The temperature
dropped significantly, as he started seeing his breath puff up in front
of him.

After walking for some time in cold silence, the passage again started
to widen. The walls were infested with arachnids, and all other forms of
insects. Seelin needed not wonder where they got their food from.

The walls here were warm to the touch, as the corridor unexpectedly
ended in a small square room which was bare, except for two things: an
orb, hanging in the centre of the room, and two twin mirrors opposite
each other, hovering just off the Northern and Southern walls. The
mirrors were of the purest silver, inset with precious stones which
seemed to create their own light. Had the mirrors not been unmovable,
they would long ago have been stolen, and sold for a king�s ransom. But
these twin mirrors were not the most remarkable objects of the room; for
as Seelin looked in wonder at the orb in the room, he knew he was
looking into his future. Into what he had dreamed of for ten long years.

The orb emanated light of all different colours, changing slowly from
deep blue, to soft purple�Seelin stared in wonder at the orb, marvelling
at its flawless cut, its complete perfection � swirling mist covered the
floor, illuminated creepily by the colourful orb.

For the second time, his mind was invaded � though this time it was not
so much words that were planted in his head so much as a feeling. Divine
satisfaction ran through his mind; Seelin knew nothing more.

Arlain, the Shallamese Paladin. One of the mightiest warriors in all of
Sapience; no normal mortal could kill this omni-potent human. His long
brown hair, his sword, his falcon�all his filth would soon be wiped
clean of the world, for with the outstanding power of the vision, Seelin
could undoubtedly destroy Arlain.

Divinity once again wrapped around him � this time the godly form chose
to let Seelin see who she was. Makali � the goddess of destruction,
spoke to Seelin. �This power can be thine. Thou canst fulfil thine
destiny, and enact thine revenge. Know, however, that thou shalt pay the
price for the power, and the price will be no small one. Choose wisely.�
With these cryptic words she left Seelin, sprawled on the cavern floor.

He came to � everything was just as it was, except for one thing. A
large, bound book lay in the centre of this room. As he looked at it, a
chill ran up his spine. This book was the purest, rawest evil. This was
the choice Makali was giving him. Open, or don�t open the book. Without
a moment�s hesitation, Seelin reached over to the book, opened it to
page one, and started reading.

Inside were runes of occult writing. They told of an occultist�s
experiments on a priest�s angel. Seelin read each page voraciously, and
learned a great deal. Finally, the last three pages of this black box of
evil, told of incantations, spells, prayers, that would pervert a
priest�s angel, and give him incredible power, but at a very high cost.
One�s soul.

Disregarding the warning, Seelin summoned his angel, turned to the first
of the three pages, and started.

Dancing, sketching runes, muttering prayers, mantras, after hours of his
evil work, Seelin had finished. He looked up expectantly at his angel,
but nothing happened.

Suddenly, a change came over the angel�s face. An agonized scream ripped
from his throat, his arms flailed in maddened suffering. Starting at the
top of his angel�s body, black mist enveloped it. Seelin choked on the
fog, but his eyes avidly remained on his angel, endeavouring to see past
the mist. The black mist dissipated slowly, and he could now partially
see in the room.

His �angel� had become a creature of darkness. A purple-black aura
exuded from it; black, stinking air left his mouth with each breath he
took. Its once benevolent, innocent face was now a twisted embodiment of
evil; around where he hovered, the room was darker; below him dripped
black beads of liquid; his skin was wrinkled, insects crawled all over
his body � for he was dead.

�My name is Vorsias. I am yours to command.� Implausible power was in
its perverse words. Just standing near him, Seelin could feel the
unutterable power of�Vorsias.

So that�s what the power was. His own fallen angel.

Seelin looked down at his body � he was dressed in the black robes from
his dream. To fulfil his vision now, he had everything but the place.

�Take me to the Sangre Plains.� Seelin commanded of Vorsias.

CONTINUED ON FOLLOWING POST


Penned by my hand on the 8th of Sarapin, in the year 377 AF.