[Cspace]

(You may want to look back in this forum a little bit. )

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A shadow "walks" slowly across the ground. It is what appears to be a man's shadow, but there is nobody there to cast it. It stops about two feet in front of you, and looking down at the shadow, it would seem that the person who would be casting the shadow is staring right at you.

About ten seconds later, it begins to move in another direction. Something about this seems deeply unsettling.

[Bashae]

Reikin enters the near deserted town of Maldenar. It is no wonder that he spots the shadow almost straight away as a result. He walks towards the shadow and attempts to grab where the person should be: near the feet of the shadow.

[Cspace]

The shadow keeps moving as if nothing happened. It seems to be searching for something or someone in the village.

If a person is actually casting the shadow, he must be of another realm. You can't even see a trace of his footsteps.

[Darkness]

A man, clothed in a dark cloak that swept about his entire body, watched the silent exchange between Reikin and the shadow (though at the time he did not, of course, have any knowledge of Reikin's identity), perhaps having some idea more of what was happening than many of the other onlookers. He hadn't had any delusions that Reikin's attempt to stop what must be casting the shadow would work, for, though he had never witnessed such, he had read of similar things in old histories and books of magic.

The dark cloaked man thought that perhaps this strange shadow might have something to do with the 'two sailors' that a group of mercenaries had mentioned they had been hired to find when they passed through. Though at the time he had thought little of it, he soon met a man in one of the inns (all of which, the dark cloaked man thought, were incredibly shabby and pathetic) who appeared to be a Forlonian officer who had defected. He talked of how his superiors had led them into the desert, talking of how their mission was very important and might, in fact, win them the war against Aderon if it was successful, but they were incredibly vague about what, exactly, they were supposed to be doing. One day he heard two of his superior officers talking, in rather hushed tones, about how they doubted they'd ever find 'those two sailors' and the 'mystic stone of great power' that the Seer had prophesied about. After all, it was a large desert.

Hearing this, the officer that the dark cloaked man now spoke to was outraged. They had been led into the desert to find two sailors? Sailors, of all things, with a supposed magical rock. The officer did not trust the Seer as it was, and doubted that this stone even existed. And he agreed with his commanding officers; they would never find them in a desert as vast as this.

The dark cloaked man agreed that they would never likely find those two sailors, but he did not doubt the existence of that stone. He did not know what it was, but he was rather sure that it might, in fact, have the ability to turn the tide of the war. This shadow that now stalked the streets of Maldenar only made things more suspicious. He had been taught that when many strange things happened at once, they could often be traced back to each other.

And so, the dark cloaked man pulled his hood farther forward, so the darkness it cast completely enshrouded his face, and vaguely strolled in the general direction that the shadow was moving, being sure not to look like he was following it, but also not letting it out of his sight.

[Cspace]

The shadow moves from person to person, as few as there are at this time. Many of the people it gazes upon are left in a state of fear, for this being's purpose is unknown, and it seems to exist at the edge of reality... Just out of reach from those of this realm. A timeless and powerful sense of dread and hopelessness follows wherever it moves. Is it here for a righteous end, or does it have dark intentions?

It leaves no clues to its purpose, and ignores the cloaked man who is following. It may not know that it's being followed, but given its transcendent state, it probably wouldn't care anyway.

[Bashae]

Reikin felt like quite the fool when no results came about his actions. He noted the dark, cloaked man who was following the shadow, albeit quite slowly to make it look like otherwise. Suddenly, a large burden seemed to have been placed on his eyes, and he slumped to the ground, unconscious. Then a recollection of memories started unfolding before Reikin's eyes...

Looking at Ark suddenly and whispering his words to himself, "Anch karenalor pera werka prolimador k'ra. Jawl bolken ver tripes. Nerande ulcha relcor qeranad oren hielendan. Cra wiek vie dresde julenam o Zarenak."

*The man, eyes wide open, starts trembling and turning the rock over and over in his hands nervously*

"Mer tesper branck ki poler a wreth fernok..."

Reikin opened his eyes, but they were not his eyes. His pupils had turned completely white, which indicated he was within a trance.
"Anch karenalor pera werka prolimador k'ra. Jawl bolken ver tripes. Nerande ulcha relcor qeranad oren hielendan. Cra wiek vie dresde julenam o Zarenak," he chanted. His voice sounded unusually metallic, as if his voice box was replaced artificially by Corrorians.

"Mer tesper branck ki poler a wreth fernok," he continued.

"Anch karenalor pera werka prolimador k'ra. Jawl bolken ver tripes. Nerande ulcha relcor qeranad oren hielendan. Cra wiek vie dresde julenam o Zarenak..." He continued to repeat these words.

[Cspace]

The shadow stops and slowly turns toward Reikin. Its unseen gaze wracks the thoughts of the adventurer, causing great pain and confusion within the fortress of his mind. The wind starts to pick up. You're not sure, but you think a deep voice is carried by the gust...

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"Follow the Maldera. The stone held by the Edóvaen is not for a kingdom to claim."

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With that, the shadow vanishes. Its grasp on Reikin's mind is released, surely much to his boundless relief. As the wind calms, one last word is spoken in the same deep tone...

"Teranaan."

[Darkness]

OOC: ... I smell a conspiracy between Reikin and Cspace

... (still OOC) Might I ask if the shadow's words were only heard by Reikin, or if any others nearby might have heard them?

[Cspace]

OOC: ... I smell a conspiracy between Reikin and Cspace

(You may want to look back in this forum a little bit. )

(still OOC) Might I ask if the shadow's words were only heard by Reikin, or if any others nearby might have heard them?

Anyone can hear them if they listen closely enough.

[Darkness]

OOC: Aha. And how did Reikin (the character) know what words to speak? XD

[Bashae]

OOC: It's cause I'm awesome.

IC:
Reikin, no longer in his trance, took a while to gather the words the shadow seemed to have said to him.

Follow the Maldera. The stone held by the Edóvaen is not for a kingdom to claim.

The Maldera... That must the people in this town that are now starting to move away. Edóvaen had to refer to Ethan. But the last word, Teranaan, was a word that he could not gather who or what it referred to. His best guess was that it referred to Terakuu, but the man had not been seen months, perhaps even years.

He decided, however, if he wished to find more answers, he should follow the Maldera...

Reikin now departs the scene.

[Darkness]

The dark cloaked man saw the shadow seem to turn towards the man who was called Reikin, though he had no knowledge of such a name. Turning swiftly and decisively, the end of his dark cloak swishing lightly about his ankles, he pretended to examine the goods of a market stall, straining his ears to hear even a whisper if anything was said, and watching from the corner of his eyes in case any was done.

The wind suddenly began to pick up. An odd occurrence. His linking the shadow to the two sailors mentioned by the Forlonian officer and the mercenaries went to prove that he knew to link things together when many strange things happened at once. Thus, he also had a suspicion that this wind was also linked. His suspicions were confirmed, or at least deepened, when a deep voice seemed to whisper along the wind...

"Follow the Maldera. The stone held by the Edóvaen is not for a kingdom to claim. Teranaan."

The shadow's voice, perhaps? He had read only pieces, fragments, of things that described anything near to what this shadow might be, but he did not recall that their voice could be heard on the plane of existence he existed on. Perhaps that was the reason it seemed almost to be part of the wind. Perhaps.

The words, however, were very puzzling. The 'Maldera' seemed to refer to a people. The Malderans, perhaps, though 'Maldera' was not a word he had ever heard to describe them. The small difference in the two words seemed to make it even more likely they were the one and the same. Edóvaen? Perhaps one of the two sailors, if the stone mentioned by the shadow was the same they had, and there was little doubt in his mind that they were. Teranaan, however, was a strange word as well. It did not strike him as a man's name, though he did not discard that option. More to him it sounded like a people, like the Maldera, or perhaps a place. In all the modern and ancient texts he had read, he did not believe he had ever read that name. Just the same, it had importance.

The man the shadow seemed to have addressed seemed to understand the words more than the dark cloaked man did, and so, since the shadow had now disappeared, Reikin was his only lead. He glided away, in the same direction as Reikin, but he held to the shadows. He had discarded that option as a way to hide from the shadow, for what use was there hiding from a shadow in the shadows, but he had no doubt it would have far more success on a being of flesh and blood.