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Artifact:


    The warrior woman, champion as the emmisaries of the gods of the great walls called her, clad in silver and blue oddly form fitting armor save for blade ridges on her shin guards and guantlets, is leaning down waving her right hand over the ground looking through her simple silver mask with its glowing slits for eye holes.

   The blue deer like humanoids in simple garb and simple tools watch on as the one woman of their tribe who had stood up against the emmisaries is accompanying this stranger.

   "This is strange," says the woman, "the Eternal World is beneath us, yet isn't. It is as though somehow, impossibly, pieces of the Eternal World were flung into the void and gathered together into some jigsaw puzzle of a planet."

   She points towards the great wall, "with those laticed about holding it together like stitches...not to mention."

   She stands up, "There are hundreds of feet of organic soils and stones placed over it. An Eternal World buried beneath a mortal one."

   "The story of our world's creation," says an elderly deer woman stepping out from the crowd, brushing off a younger man trying to make her stop, but timidly letting go as the stranger looks their way, "is that the elder gods surviving the destruction of their world by a goddess of evil gathered what remnants of their world that they could find and using the crown of the celestial goddess put those pieces together, formed the walls to protect the pieces from each other's weather, and buried the divine world using the divine power of the pieces to bring life to the mortal world built over top of it. In return for continuing to keep us safe the descendents of the elder gods, various gods and demi-gods themselves among the blessed children as god blood does not trickle down far before mortals are born; stay in the walls, keeping us safe and alive, in exchange we give them offerings...." she then whispers, "and sacrifice."

    The warrior woman speaks, "Half truths passed down to control you. I don't know what happened to the Eternal World, but I do know the truth behind the nature of these so called elder gods and no doubt whom they are refering to as the evil goddess. Seems in quests to defend Esteria and the worlds of bliss in the Far Dark I have missed much that has transpired with the Eternal World since the days of the Legendary Heroes passed and the rise of the Princesses and the cycle of destruction."

    "I perhaps can fill you in on that."

   The men of the village step back as another stranger appears, a bosom woman with long green flowing hair, wearing robes of green and gold.

   The warrior woman bows to one knee, "Salaena sorceress of Splendor, I am humbled in your presence."

   "Oh no," says the woman, "I just look like her. I am Misaline, her daughter."

   The warrior woman stands, "Very well, Misaline, daughter of...The Sorceress of Splendor, I am Silver champion of Esteria."

   Misaline dips her head, "Okay, so now everyone gather around and I'll tell you a tale about the fall of the Eternal World..."


   ******

   -Elsewhere-

   On a camera guards in black armor watch in horror at the sight of their soldiers at the desert gate being slaughtered by an army of snake people, lizard men, and other reptilian humanoids being lead by a warrior woman in black and red armor, wearing a black simple face guard mask with red slit eyes, shoulder length black hair with red tips, in other words looking for all the world like some version of the very aesthetic they are based on. The warrior woman is about to strike the gate when to the aboslute terror of the guards the gate opens on its own and out steps another woman. This one wearing a long lacy black dress, a strange veil like tiara with black feathers in front of her ears, the camera just making out the hint of a black gem embedded in her forehead.

   "Legendary Hero of Umbrastia of the Far Dark," says the woman, "I am the sorceress Nefaria, student of Sharon the sorceres of Shadows. I greet you and invite you in to slaughter the pretender gods."

   *****

   Another door sees much the same, an army of horned sheep and bovine people with clubs and azes bearing down on the gate to the great wall for their region, lead by the warrior woman in green and gold armor. Before them Misaline appears in a small whirlwind of leaves and waves her hand at the door, great vines appear from the ground and pry the door apart letting the army into the great wall.
   "We have to call in reinforcements!" shouts a guard, "its a full blown revolution! The cattle are revolting!"
   "We can't contact the Dimension Police, off world communications are down, the magistrates are missing, and...that the new resources manager leading the snake people in! Its an inside job!"
  "All forces on alert, all forces on alert!"

   ******

  -Elsewhere-

  Ruby the Swordswoman, Mara, and the Crypt Dragon are accompanying Zeus, now wearing silver armor, and Ra wearing a grey buisiness suit in a topless hovercraft flying over a forested region, a great ziggurat of black stone visible in the distance.

   "Not going to help save the people in the walls?" asks Ruby

   "There are seven Legendary Heroes," says Ra, "only three of them have appeared, two of them leading attacks on their wall regions; the other is leading a group not to the wall, but inward, to the temple...to the artifact."

   "The artifact," says Mara, "you are paying us to retrieve...in contest with one another if I am not mistaken?"

   "Those three," says Zeus, "are no doubt Rhulan, Sharon, and Sally, in disguises as usual, their aesthetics and displayed powers match; Nefaria and Misaline as predicted are following their masters closely, but it seems our assumption of a relation between the three sorceresses may be true; for while those two are making a distraction, Rhulan is headed for the artifact."

   "As much as we wanted it stolen," says Ra, "we did not want all this destruction, which is why I contacted you three; if was Baron Bortak that contacted those others."

   Ruby just *shrugs* remembering both had contacted her.

  They arrive to the temple just as the blue deer people are gathered at the base of the steps and the silver and blue warrior woman is just below the top. Zeus lands the hovercraft just to the side of the massive entrance double doors, the five of them getting out.

   Ra points at the warrior woman, "We are no fools, Rhulan! We know that is you! This is why I don't give you missions, what part of sneaking into this temple and stealing the artifact within translates to starting a revolution."

  "So you are the traitor elder gods that tried to kill the Amana princesses, lovers of the Dark Empress?"

   She removes her mask revealing a silver elf face with glowing blue eyes, "I am Silver, Legendary Hero of Esteria, a world in the Far Dark beyond your multiverse. I was one of the seven legendary heroes hired by Rokonaka when she first created the Eternal World, to protect it until it was ready. I knew the first elder gods, it would seem between the start up of the cycle of destruction and the arrival of the champions to take our places in that job the newer Eternals became defective."

   "What nonsense are you blabbering about?" asks Ra, "I am Ra, and you know damn well I was a sorcerer from Mars, and..."

   "With all due respect," says Zeus, "I believe she was speaking to me, most of us do not remember those days...hero, either we were not there when the calamity you call your empress struck, or we were blown into the space between worlds; I spent millenia as a gibbering mass of madness before they recovered me, as they did Ra here, he was raised on Mars."

   Zeus turns to Ra, "It is a bad time for such a revelation old friend, but it would seem lies have been told to something we would be best not to fight here."

   "Nonsense!" shouts Ra, "No more tricks, I know damn well what you speak of Zeus, and I am the one that took HIS place on the council, THAT Ra was my father." He sneers at Zeus, "you were just never told,"

   Ra points at Silver, "besides it matters now, you are hereby kicked out of the Society of Sorcery, I have enough complaints from the Dimension Police, and this stunt here of all places cements your status as a criminal."

   "Ruby," says Ra calmly, "your new mission, apprehend this lunatic roleplaying sorceress."

   Ruby taps her massive sword on her shoulder as she steps forward, "Yeah, the problem with these old immortal types is they love exposition; half the damn time they forget what so called revelations they've told each other; I've met more than a few that even give themselves amnesia from time to time to keep things interesting. I am pretty sure you're not Rhulan, but you're also not here to steal that artifact; you're here to retrieve it arn't you? Take it with you, free this world from some tyranny or whatever; typical legendary hero stuff right? Well, I'm done talking."

   She leaps into the air and swings her swords, "Razer Leaves!"

   A barrage of magical green ;leaves. sharp as ceramic rain down, splattering on the stone steps as Silver dodges them, putting her mask back on in the process.