Chronicle of the Gargoyle Queen Vol. II
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| Chronicle of the Gargoyle Queen Vol. II |
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Chronicle of the Gargoyle Queen Vol. II is one of the two rewards of the quest chain Ritual given out by Prugyilonus.
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Chronicle of the Gargoyle Queen Vol. II by Queen Zhah
Entry IV - The Fall of the Old Regime
The Void had always been a formidable enemy. Shapeless, unpredictable and primal, its attacks held no tactics or system. But, that year, everything changed. For the first time, the Void was organized. Out of the darkness, a daemon general like no other arose, rallying the seemingly mindless, destructive beasts that plagued our land into a single and brutal force. In just a few short months, more of our kingdom had been taken by the Void than ever before, and Scelestus the Defiler had proven to be impossible to destroy. Unlike the other creatures of the Void, Scelestus was immune to all magical and physical attacks used against him. No matter what they tried, our warriors could not manage to harm the monster, and that was if they were even able to get close to him. Scelestus controlled a seemingly endless army of his own personal minions; strong, vicious monsters whose breath was lethal poison. Desperate, our king went against the advise of his councilors and rode out in battle amidst his personal guard. Honed and war forged, the King's guards were the fiercest warriors in the kingdom. Leading the army himself, the King met Scelestus on the battlefield, determined to annihilate the beast. It was in that moment the history of Ter Mur was completely rewritten.Trajalem, the current king, was defeated in battle by the Defiler, along with all of his guards. The Defiler felled them as if they were Wingless Ones, slaughtering them mercilessly. Thus, Ter Mur was without a leader. The Royal City fell into political chaos and infighting as the councilors all fought over who should ascend to the throne and lead the people. It was then that Naxatilor the Seer, who had been the previous king's closest advisor, came to me and told me of his plan, which would change my life forever.
The Seer is the one who brought the news of the king's death to me, and of the Defiler. As my broodmothers and I listened, terror in our hearts, he explained how the Defiler had proven invincible and that he feared, if something was not done, Ter Mur would fall to the void. Naxatilor then proceeded to explain that he had been studying the Void for generations, and testing out different theories as to how it could be attacked and, one day, defeated. He had come to the conclusion that the key to overpowering the darkness was in wielding its anathema against it: creation. The Void is the personification of destruction and annihilation; Naxatilor believed that creation magic, as its polar opposite, may prove to be an extremely potent. Creation magic the very magic that we broodmothers used to create eggs. The Seer had come to us because he wanted to train us to wield that magic as a weapon….and fight against the Void. The mothers were hesitant to accept as quickly as I, with the exception of one my daughter, Rhista. Shortly after I had given up petitioning the various kings, I found solace in creating a child of my very own, outside of the birthing rite. As High Broodmother, I was allowed to make an exception and create a child of my own, on the auspice of naming my successor. I had woven Rhista in a private ritual, with her being the only child I created. She had grown into a beautiful and honorable gargoyle woman, and reminded me so much of myself. It was she that raised her voice to the other Broodmothers in unison with mine, inspiring them to accept Naxatilor's offer of training on behalf of our people.Thus, our training began.
Entry V - From Broodmother to Warrior.
Naxatilor put us through the most intense and demanding training that any of us had ever experienced. He ran us into the ground, a relentless and unforgiving trainer. But we did not complain; we knew that the fate of our land depended on our success. Finally, he received word that the Defiler's army had reached the Royal City and informed us that there was no more time. Thus, for the first time in our life, we stepped foot off of Athenaeum Isle. Opening a portal, Naxatilor transported us to the Throne Room in the Royal City. There was no time to stand in awe at the beauty we had so longed to see, as the Seer led us to the Armory, where he advised us to don any armor that would fit us in preparation of battle. The ten of us donned haphazard, mismatching armor, and chose weapons for close combat. I remember, in that last moment before we left, Naxatilor turned and looked over our motley crew, nodding his head in approval. He then proceeded to explain his plan for battling the Defiler. He was confident that our magic would be potent against the minor demons in the army, but he was unsure about the Defiler himself. He believed that the Defiler protected his body with a tightly woven shield of corruption and Void energy, and breaking that shield may not be possible. Thus, he offered his ultimate plan: if we found that we were unable to wound the Void general, we were to combine our powers and encase him in the same protective field that we used to protect newly created eggs. When an egg is manifested, it is fragile; the final step of the birthing rite is to weave a protective barrier around it that is full of nurturing energy. It fosters health and strength, nurturing the egg until it is ready to hatch. Naxatilor explained that we simply must alter our intent when we weave the barrier, turning the field into a prison rather than a nurturing shield. He believed that, with our powers combined, we could indefinitely imprison the beast, removing him from battle. It would not be a permanent solution, but something that would buy us more time to hone our powers and prepare ourselves to face him again eventually. The next few hours were a blur. The Defiler's army had breached the gates to the Royal City and had begun wreaking havoc in destruction in their and uncorrupted, for countless millennia. Though I had never walked its streets, I knew what it symbolized. That rage fueled my powers, and the daemons fell before me. My sisters and I were like a force of nature, cutting through the daemonic forces like a furious storm. Naxatilor had been correct; with the power of creation fueling our magic, we were lethal to the Void. I remember fighting alongside the males of our army, and watching the respect and awe on their faces as my sisters and I slew these vicious beasts almost instantly. But, despite the fact that we knew our powers were lethal to the Void, it still seemed to easy. Though the army had breached the Royal City, it was small in number. It was then that the news came which confirmed my suspicions. The attack on the Royal City had been a distraction tactic. The Defiler had launched an assault on the Athenaeum Isle, and it was now swarming the bulk of his army.