Rhulan's Introspection 01

  My life has been a very long...and well convoluted one, however there are certain patterns that have repeated themselves it would seem. One is that my most effective enemies have been those that have figured out they cannot kill me, or that doing so would only spell a greater doom upon my innevitable revival. I digress however as I express a bit of introspection in the rather shameful fact that I have been most effectively "beaten" as the case may be by either being sealed away or locked out of a world. In hindsight the most my opposition can ever hope to accomplish is to temporarily lock me in a box or lock a door behind me and hope I don't get through anytime soon.

    Introspection comes easy with extreme age, however I will not dwell on such trifles at this moment as I instead will relate a rather interesting serious of events regarding one of the more successful opponents I have ever faced. Now this took place some time after I left the Society of Sorcery, yet before traveling to Espara. I had come across Peres, a rather simple planet to be sure, but one teaming with magical energies, and connected to various worlds and planes of existence that at the time in my state at the time found rather fascinating. It happened however, I will not relate exactly how this conflict came about, but actions of my part to say the least did not coincide with some local kingdom's ideals and theologies or some such rubbish. Any who, this place had a traveling champion, a remarkably strong individual; even for this "Swords and Sorcery" world. During our battles he somehow discovered that I was something more than I seemed, and came into possession of an ornate white broadsword with a bejeweled hilt; a "Holy Sword".

   The Mere presence of this blade was like a thousand ringing bells in my ears and paralyzed my body. I could hear however as these "heroes" laid me in a deep cave; that this champion had learned from the same power that gave him that sword that he should not attempt to kill me, for it would either free from the sword's binds...or if he had succeeded I would likely have revived in another more powerful form and laid waste to his world without mercy; and something perhaps about the possibility of my body exploding. I do have some knowledge now of who or what may have been feeding him information; but that is not important; however it was also not mistaken; although I would not have known that at that time. Amnesia can be such an effective limitation on one's own abilities.

   In short order they sealed the cave with a rock and embedded that blasted sword in the stone in front of it. I do not know how long i layed there, long enough it would seem for a generation or two to go by at the least. I eventually gained the strength to move, and crawled as best i could further into the cave, further and further away from that damned sword. I eventually got far enough away, and regained enough strength to dig out the other side of the mountain and escape into a nearby swamp at its base. I spent years in that swamp, dawning rags and pretending to be a Swamp Witch. I made it a point to learn all I could of the warriors of this land and its holy relics. I learned of the Holy Sword, and the story of the "Defiler Witch" sealed in the mountain (myself of course, no longer there, of course). However the sword remained there.

   In time however I decided to travel away from that area, I amassed wealth and power in another kingdom; a behind the scenes advisor; the Swamp Witch had become a well known figure of great magical prowess it seems; and the rumors of my "great beauty" hidden beneath the rags was enough to attract a few kings and counts to seek my advisements in their courts. I expressed in time a desire to study the Holy Sword; I was certain that I had gained some strength against it; for I always adapt to magical energies...usually much faster though; several other powers I had adapted to before it would seem were set more to try and fight it than allow for its absorption (hence the paralysis); although it would seem the champion was not told this by his source.

   As odd as it seems, this champion was still alive, and still young; this young man it seems had become one of those legendary heroes championed by the gods to forever protect the land type of deals. Of course the bastard upon hearing my voice recognized who I was; I am certain, as when he did in fact bring back the sword; he announced to the king he only did so because the "Defiler Witch" had escaped, "clawed her way like a mole" as he put it; out of the mountain. Well the rest is simple to deduce, points an accusatory finger at me, fights, damned sword thankfully wasn't as effective as before; but still enough to make my vision blurry, dizzy, and weak on my legs. He did seem genuinly surprised by this, but was clearly a smart lad as he deduced I wanted the sword to figure out how to be completly immune to the only power on their world that could be used against me....and long short I ended up inside another cave, this time a shallow one (so I couldn't move out of the range of the sword as it gradually wore me back down); and they also placed some holy talismans and other holy junk on the rock this time...which may have sped along what came next.

   So for there I was AGAIN...pitiful in hindesight...but with the increased magical energies I was able to adapt faster, before long I was able to sit up and meditate; matching the mystical waves, pushing aside my other powers that were actually causing the paralysis *think like an allergic reaction; only magical*, reacting to the holy energy. This is how I obtained the Holy Cataclysm transformation; that white robed, white winged, duel sword weilding angelic transformation. I walked out of that cave...and I broke that damned sword in half in my bare hands...out of spite really. I left an observer spell behind as I felt destroying that sword sent out a shockwave the champion no doubt felt.

   I appeared before that champion once shortly after he found the sword and vowed to hunt me down; in my holy form he didn't recognize me. I was a heavenly messenger to him now; and "guided" him on the knowledge that the Sorceress he sought had left that world. Oddly enough shortly after I did end up leaving that world, got wind of something strange in a far away kingdom...long short is some of their pantheon gods were actually inter-dimensional criminals and the Dimension Police showed up.

-I spent some time between these events as a Space Pirate, stealing information from the Dimension Police, as I was looking for my world, Aesperia, in Other World. I was certain it had become a technological powerhouse by then, and I sensed some Dimension Police officers were Aesperians. Well here things get kind of...stupid. I did get some Dimension Coordinates (and yes after such a length of time I had forgotten how to open a portal to Other World...it is not a normal reality, in fact it is labeled by the DP as a "Forbidden Dimension"). The Coordinates however were for "Espara".

   Well, Espara was...interesting. As much fun as it would be to allow the author to reveal this kind of thing in a story; the people of Espara were Aesperians; or rather the descendants of some; somehow. Seems one of the colony ships from the Ark that left back out into Other World, somehow ended up in a mudane reality and landed on this island spotted planet. Not as serendipitious as it sounds as I did use my own Aesperian life signature to locate "planets" of my race from the DP computers; heck I had run into a few Aesperian officers and even Space Pirates before. Any who, I found Espara and well...found it lacking. I decided to conquer some of it, make a kingdom there then, as I searched for their lost past (it didn't seem like but a few centuries had passed since their colony ship had been lost).

   Well as some may already know thanks to the "Conquest of Espara" historical fiction, the Dimension Police sent seven officers to fight me....as they figured out the space pirate that had infiltrated their base had accessed this specific location, and was now commiting an interdimensional crime *altering the natural development of a planet...guess being a planet colonized by aliens still counts for that; especially as they went all fisherman throw away technology after they landed apparently*. Imagine my surprise however to find the champion from Peres was among their number; or would have been had he and I not butted heads a few times while I was in my space pirate disguise; or did I forget to mention how he had been recruited by them during that whole criminals incident on Peres and was one of the few able to match the skills of my space pirate transformation...anywho...he shows up; however I had dropped the disguise; so far as he knew the witch from Peres was here now. Not sure he ever found out we (the space pirate and I) were one and the same; I think I had said something about sending the little cat-girl packing and decided to take this planet for myself.

   Oh but it got good after that...he had called in reinforcements...with holy energy weapons. The absolute look of dread and dispair...and betrayal upon his face when they no longer affected me...and when I transformed into the holy messenger he met before. Of course everyone who read "Conquest of Espara" knows how THIS goes. Some higher ups in the Dimension Police called in the use of a very rare and powerful item; an Eldritch Seal Crystal; locked me inside and dumped me in the ocean of Espara....and somehow during the next few centuries some asshole Holy Energy entity showed up, sealed the magical powers *an X-chromosome linked, requiring two X-chromosomes to be present* type Quantum Distortion ability; of the population in such a way that it could also create a race of demons and a race of angels (including a "god" and "devil" that didn't even know they were created *terrible programing decision*) and set up a "Witches" gain power from demons and set up a church to suppress them; thus insuring a system that would inhibit cultural growth and technological development.

-I honestly suspect the Dimension Police; some corrupt hypocritical higher officer, was involved in this.

  The rest can be found in "Conquest of Espara" and we, the author and I, couldn't really think of a way to retell the above events other than as a journal entry like this. Why drag out the history of the Defiler Witch and Swamp Witch histories when I can barely remember who was involved in most of that anyway. However it is fun to think that the act of seducing a princess; and some other things that happened as a result; but nothing cosmically huge or anything; was what started up a series of events resulting in me being sealed three times by the same asshole, developing a new Cataclysm form, and ending up fighting the same guy for a few years as a space pirate prior to that third sealing....life can be funny sometimes, it really can.