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Lightsong: Harbinger the Schemer - Printable Version

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Lightsong: Harbinger the Schemer - Sh'ozak Ma'hk'null - 05-08-2021


A bitter disappointment. Betrayal yet again.

Harbinger, who is the Schemer, the Unpredictable, the One who Knows, the Machinist, hear our call. You hear as we hear. Now listen.

When we sang our song to you, we sang of the Betrayers briefly. You sang to us of schemes, of plans, of fixing, of repairing the Betrayers. When we sang to you, we sang of our own duty. We purge that which inhibits and threatens the Light, and which inhibits and threatens the Path, for, when severed, no Darkness regrows from a deep enough wound. Now, we send our limbs to destroy that which ails us, and while finding the betrayers to be allies of our enemies is neither surprise nor revelation, we do not expect obstruction from one who we would call our own.

Wherefore, then, do you come to us, and wrest control of our limbs from us? Wherefore, then, do you inhibit our duty? You are given admission to enact your schemes on the Betrayers, wherefore do you come to join them? Are we to expect the Great Schemer, who preaches the path to Nymph and Advisor, to turn against the Path now? Are we to lose not only Void, but our own to the Corruptors' lies? Shall we watch the Schemer fall to another's schemes?

Come, o Deity of Deceit, and answer for your transgressions. The Dreamers Bathed in Light wonder if this is but a misunderstanding. Perhaps our songs were unclear, perhaps our interruption on that day was far too prominent. We ardently hope that we must not endure another betrayal, yet we are prepared to endure such if we must. We will follow the Path, and remain undeterred by the blows brought against us, be it Betrayer, Corruptor, Cursed-Shells, Flat-Shells, or even you.

Come then, what is thine answer?




RE: Lightsong: Harbinger the Schemer - Treewyrm - 05-09-2021

K'Hara advisors have summoned the ancient dreamer.

For a time there was no reaction, no response. Calm stillness.

Something stirred at the horizon of the K'Hara Mindshare, the threshold separating known from unknown. Ripples of the motion reaching out and were noticed by the callers. At first the occasional rumbling but the intensity kept increasing, whatever was there on the other side approached and the form slowly made its appearance within the Mindshare. Once close and very familiar it felt foreign and distant now. In comparison the glowing manifestation in the physical world seem like a fracture of this being. Just what kind of monstrosity had it become seldom few know. Following the destruction of Toledo and reclamation of the Sphere the ancient dreamer took a small 'vessel' form, descended into the depths of its layered structure and disappeared shortly after. Only memories remaining in the Mindshare but no presence to speak of, no thoughts, no visions. Even other warforms it inhabited prior had waned and dissolved without its dreamer to guide them. The gap it left remained vacant for a long time.

But the sudden appearance and the strange physical form it took had left many surprised and confused. The presence was of the same ancient dreamer, of that there was no mistake, but all who came across it had noticed a strange feeling of detachment, a sense of vertigo, nothing threatening but not the kind of empathic and warm response they were used to. Furthermore one could see it clearly and even link with the mind for a brief time, but never to the extent as before. Like a guest.

What kind of being the Schemer had become? When inquired the response was it had recently awoken in the state it is now, but with the way its thoughts being elusive there was no way to be certain. Trust is not a concept the Nomads had vested much in.

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Patience... Patience is all that was ever asked for...

...To let the dream unfold at its own pace as it was made to be and your duty to take the charge when the time is right.

You whose very form was molded into perfection to deliver the wrath into the shattered worlds...

...and were to be the vanguard. To awaken the giant sleeping in the mist.

Each sentence 'spoken' carried a heavy weight, difficult to hold onto and grasp its full meaning yet, but the magnitude was unmistakably that of the Harbinger. Traces of disappointment could have been felt as they slowly reached out. With each thought brought forth the background chatter became quieter and quieter till the eerie silence filled the stage.

But your eyes stare into the darkness of the future unknown. Trying to discern the silhouettes at the distance. What do they mean, whom do they belong, are they a threat? The limbs cast pebbles into the fog obscuring the vision, unable to see where they land but hoping the echo to carry back the answers. Perhaps a success, slim as it may be in these trying times as the powers waned and the rift of schism grew wider.

By chance or malicious intent one such pebble had found its way to land into the plans I had meticulously labored. For all of ours sake the hope it was just an unfortunate whim of fate after all...

The voice was calm and collected. It resonated with subtle notes of disappointment, yet resolute to move forward.

The Dream began when the Sphere was retaken. The path ahead slowly began to form, free from the simple mandate of survival. With the power acquired for the first time it was to dream at incomprehensible scale. It is what each Dreamer strives, instinctively yearns for, reaching out to the possibilities beyond the gaze and touch of others. To be at the frontier of unknown once again, the feeling isn't entirely lost on you, Advisor, is it not? Unless they forgot to how to dream...

The cold words cut sharp. The being had been gaining presence since making the appearance, spreading out and the space around warping, distorting.

But perhaps you are right. Perhaps the attention that was necessary to steer the lost tribe into fulfilling their duty had left you bereft of clarity and the visions to follow. So you reach to doubt, compounded by feeling of being left out of the grand plan. The feelings resonate within my mind. You are not forgotten, but acting upon emotions was premature. You ought to know more, that much is clear and my mistake is evident. To understand more, to see more than meets the eye, beneath the surface actions and passively observing the ripples as they reach back to you through the limbs that cannot fully grasp the motives and steps made ahead.

Instant reaction might be efficient in the heat of battle but is a display of impatience when planning for many cycles ahead.

In these passages there was both soothing calmness and frightening conviction in same measure. The compassion with which it carried the voice here was... surprisingly earnest. For all the negative connotations of the monikers and infamous titles bestowed upon the being they all were rooted in human preconceptions, after all many were that of human origin in the first place, built through various endeavors throughout the years.

Still... If you are so impatient then, by all means, the plans will have to go ahead of schedule, accelerating at a rate no one can fully predict with so some variables still in flux, some aspects and reactions still unaccounted for. The Unfinished Dream, an imperfect hope for all of our kind to accomplish what we were meant to do here. Call upon the Makers for it to be enough and your unyielding duty to carry through the tumultuous future. When the avalanche of events roll down you won't find a luxury for a moment to blink. Even the unexperienced wanderer would instinctively realize the fatal price of a moment lost to doubt at times when the world around begins to collapse.

Once started the avalanche won't stop. The time grows short and in this time the duty alone would carry them only so far without a clear vision to the Ascension. We are on borrowed time, the cradle was never meant to hold us here forever.

I have seen your future, Advisor.

The thoughts rained down on others at staggering intensity, escalating before taking the pause, a brief moment of respite to collect the thoughts. It is these rare moments all the noise fades into the threshold that separates before and after, a point in time when fateful decision is being made.

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Let there be the Trial of Dreams, and may one true vision for the future prevail.

The Scarred tribe's Duty to carry the Strength in the coming Turmoil.

The Lost tribe's Penance and to Right the Wrongs of the past.

The Ascension and into the Great Beyond.

Not longer waiting for inquires to follow the Schemer had invoked the Trial upon himself and now it left the distinct mark in time flow. The moment to be remembered and burned into memories of everyone present. What the future holds now few can say but for certain it would be pivotal for the mindshare to move forward. Hushed whispers spread between the witnesses.

The Trial of Dreams was rarely invoked. Called upon to end dissonance of views and opinions, to forge a way forward for the collective as a whole, in a singular and binding Vision. If the Vision was deemed to pave the clear path to the True goal then come hell or high water it will be fulfilled. Sometimes stalemate and stagnation might have been rooted for so long the only solution forward was the force. Sometimes the collective was too dissonant to form a coherent vision, wandering apart with less and less to hold it all together.

Dreamer had to believe in the Vision to call upon the Trial of Dreams: failure to move the collective was fatal. The invoker has everything to lose. The memories and the very being of self would be erased. For the ancient Dreamer to do so is extraordinary, as one man would say. But these are extraordinary times...

Others, if they have visions and were to challenge the invoker, would have to be put forth at the trial and risk the same.

Preparations began.


RE: Lightsong: Harbinger the Schemer - Sh'ozak Ma'hk'null - 05-11-2021


A ray of hope?

An answer bereft of ill intent, more than we received from Betrayers. Perhaps the hope of our Dreamers is justified.

Very well, then, you will be met with a Trial of Dreams. May every mind in the Light come to see. Dreamers, Advisors, and Wanderers alike. Keepers, Infiltrators, all will hear. All will bear witness to the Trial of the Harbinger, and all will see your Dreams in clarity. The Eyes of the Light will step forward to meet you in this trial. May your Light be pure, and may your schemes hold true.

The Harbinger played a dangerous game, gambling their own life. Their belief in the future they'd seen showed promise, trustworthiness. All that was needed was irrefutable proof that these plans were truly on the side of the Light. The Trial would see to this, one way or another.

For once, the Survivor felt secure in his foresight.