Quest Into the Heart of the Kierra Doma

[Annalisa Marin]

The path she had chosen was straight and unremarkable, even as Anna looked around for distinctive landmarks the tall sorceress found it futile. The Heartlands were clearly not exactly the easiest place to navigate, though the fact the path was currently in a straight line helped to some degree. The idea of spending any length of time here was frightening really; Celeste spent a good deal of time in the Prairie so if she did by some miracle manage to gain Kierra Doma’s notice would she be forced to remain here? This place was nightmarish, Anna was not certain her already fragile sanity could manage that.

Finally after a bit of walking the path opened up into a clearing, the mist obscuring and paths nearby that she might take and the Initiate’s warning regarding the mist echoing in her head. A rustling came from behind her, the sorceress turned and found that the path she had come from had vanished and she slowly backed away from the mist obscuring where it had been. It was almost as though the Heartlands itself was alive, like it was toying with her like some kind of separate entity. That was silly though, a place could not possess sentience… right?

A voice came from behind her; the chosen words used chilling Anna to the core as she turned again and noticed a figure in the mist. She squinted first and then felt her grey eyes widen at what she was actually looking upon. The unremarkable face, the arrogant tone, the tall and imposing figure cut it was as though she were looking into a living mirror. The mist swirled and rose off of her double, a sneer upon her face as further words that voiced her own doubts came from her. Words that reflected her hidden doubts beneath the layers of pride and arrogance.

The sorceress clenched her fists, wishing to destroy this creature with her reimancy and banish this mockery. Most of all she was scared because of how truly the words resonated within her, the doubts she had long harbored voiced by herself aloud. That she was a pathetic wretch of a human being, a creature hollow and weak by any definition. She corrupted everything she touched; hurt anyone that dared to get close to her. People she was supposed to protect died or suffered because of her, because of her apparent weakness. Because she was a monster.

"Of course it felt good. It is part of your nature, Annalisa Marin, to take joy in such things. It was a good betrayal, skillfully executed and emotionally devastating."

The words of Rhysol, spoken just last year, echoed in her mind to remind her of He who she owed everything to. Perhaps she was weak; she was mortal and pathetic, full of self-doubt and self-loathing because she did not fully understand the purpose of her actions. She was mortal at the end of the day; however her actions that this thing indicated brought weakness had attracted the notice of a god. She, Annalisa Marin, had attracted the interest of one of the most powerful gods in existence and bore his mark above her heart.

“Maybe you are right, maybe I am weak. Maybe I am powerless at the end of the day, subjected to the flow of time and the shackles of mortality as I am. I have murdered, betrayed, lied to everyone including myself and corrupted all I touched. I am a monster.” The tall woman said, her gaze rising to her apparition and blazing with the dark faith of the Defiler.

“For all that though I am stronger, each betrayal that kills my humanity pleases another. Each lie I speak reaches his ears and the souls I reap in his holy name are signs of my devotion. Though this worship I am made stronger, less full of weakness as he whom I love above all in this world expunges all doubt from me. Magic does not make me strong, it does not make me powerful, faith pure and unquestioning is what makes me strong. It’s what separates me from a pathetic apparition like you and makes my spirit stronger than your words will ever be.” Anna stated, the words resonating true in her spirit.

[Mirage]

"Is that what we really think? Doing so many evils, causing so much pain and suffering makes us stronger?" The other said, pacing in front of Annalisa, "We think we grow stronger on the suffering of others, that lies fuel us and betrayal makes us something better than everyone else. Why? Betraying our friends and lying to our allies does not make us stronger. It makes us alone, desperate. It takes from us everything we have, or could have had. We lose love, we lose happiness, we love FREEDOM!" She practically screamed this last part, her breathing fast as her chest heaved and her eyes were wild. She slowly calmed however, and after her back straightened she looked away, "He is called the God of Lies, Betrayal and Evail... What do we think that means for us? That he will protect us? No he will one day betray us, as though he hasn't already." she looked down at her hands, her skin was starting to dry, to wrinkle as her spine was bent, "He lies, as such is his nature. Why would he not lie to us? Whisper falsehoods to twist our mind and make us weaker so that we would kneel to him?" The reflection looked at Annalisa, now with the face of an old woman. HEr body was twisted and distorted, and when she talked her voice came out in a wheeze after a fit of coughing, "He will make us suffer. He will make us isolated. he will make us hurt everyone we care about. No one will ever trust us or grow close to us. We will die alone. Forever alone until eventually we sink into madness. That is what he wants. He wants us to suffer, because through our suffering HE grows stronger, not us."

The old woman shuffled forward, looking up at Annalisa with pleading eyes, "This is what we will become! We are a fool. We are not strong, we are weak because of the lies we tell ourself. Oh how young and stupid I was. I fell into the grasp of the great tempter, and he plucked from me everything that might have given me happiness or satisfaction..." She gave a hacking cough once again, doubling over in pain as she clutched at her chest, "We know this is what awaits us at the end of this journey. Suffering. We will suffer so much... so so much..."

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna listened as the reflection spoke, as it ranted and raved her hidden fears and insecurities and threw them right in her face. The sorceress swallowed, stubbornly keeping to her convictions though the words chipped away slowly at it but it was surely as it was herself speaking. How mad she must already be to have such a conversation with herself, an argument on matters of the soul and the path she had taken. This was the human part of herself she had so often suppressed, the one that questioned every move she made and made her question her worth. Made her question if she was truly doing what was best.

The scream at the end of freedom echoed in her mind for a moment, that being a truth she had known deep down as being something she was losing. Her faith Rhysol was a chain of sorts, something that bound her to his will and restricted the person she could become without the lies and betrayal. Anna hated it, the duality of what she was and the reflection she was looking upon was showing her that. It was trying to make her question her path and desperately begging, pleading for her to remember that there was another way.

The reflection shifted, changed and literally started pleading at her to look upon the end of the journey that awaited her. Death, cold and alone and without friends or family that loved her. Used up and cast aside by a cruel god, weak and despicable and whom everyone turned their gaze from. Fear worked through her at the twisted reflection of herself, the possible ending to her path that was staring up at her with those grey eyes. It was not too late perhaps to avert that fate, to take up a path that diverged from the one Rhysol mandated. To find love, happiness, and freedom.

“We can’t just abandon that, abandon him! He is all we have left!” Anna shouted, before she spoke again with her voice softer.

“He is all we have left…” The words sounding weaker.

He had twisted her already, torn aside all others that could possibly give her happiness or joy in life and was shaping her into a tool. The end was right before her eyes, a terrible and desolate fate that most any would want to try to avoid as much as they could. And yet the stain on her soul was too dark, too deep to possibly climb out and seek something else. She owed him everything; she owed him her body, mind and soul. He had come to her when no other would; he had fostered the potential in her and given her some of his power. Regardless of the end she could not just abandon her lord and master.

“Perhaps I am a slave, perhaps I, perhaps we will end our path as being used up and weak and abandoned. Perhaps he is lying to us, poisoning our mind and soul and corrupting us. However would we have lasted so long as we have without him? Would we have come as far as we have without our faith in him? Should I have instead submitted to those spirits? Given them my mind and soul in the Caverns?” Anna pressed, eyes narrowing though her voice trembled and tears stung at her eyes.

“We cannot simply abandon that side of us; it is a part of who we are. We like to betray, to lie, and to breed chaos. Rhysol was right about that, it is a part of our nature. We have survived and come far by placing our faith in him, we owe him our everything. If that means we are fated to- to be abandoned ourselves, to be cast aside when we are no longer useful then so be it. We are his. If that makes us a fool, then a fool we shall be as we dance upon the puppet strings until they are cut from us.” The tall woman said, the words stabbing at the human side of her as she continued to reject it.

[Mirage]

The Older Anna cluched at her chest as she straightened slightly, looking Anna in the eyes, "Stubborn... I was always so stubborn. Pig headed and self justified in everything I did. I could trick myself into seeing anything that would make my actions seem like the only choice, when really the choices I had were many and great." She raised one clawed finger and poked Anna in the chest, but the Wizard would not feel a thing, "If we did not serve this Evil god we would not have come here at all, and if we had accepted the advice of true friends we would have left before our corruption could seep any deeper. Before the madness began to build." She rubbed her skull with one hand, pulling away a bit of scalp and flesh as she did, "We would have avoided..." Her face was hidden behind her hair, but when she looked up half of the skin was rotting and peeling, revealing white bone and deteriorating tissue beneath, "We would give up our humanity for this... How foolish we are, and we do not even know the real reason why." Then, all of a sudden the woman simply crumbled into dust, a sudden wind whipping past to send the ashes flowing through the trees.

"This is what awaits me on this Island. This is what I shall become if I continue on this path. What a fool... what a stubborn fool..." The voice whispered softly, but then it was gone.

The fog was receding to normal levels, and once more Anna could see paths leading off in different directions. There were signs in front of these as well, but they were written in a language Anna couldn't understand.

"Well now... Who is so brave as to wander into the Heartlands all alone and attempt the trials without my blessing?" This new voice was clearly feminine, and it came from everywhere at once, "Speak your name and your purpose deadie, so I know who to thank for feeding my pets this day."

OOCSorry for the wait!

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna’s eyes narrowed as her older self spoke, the words coming from her old lips things she did not want to accept or acknowledge though deep down they resonated as being true. The sorceress, for all her power, lacked control over her own emotions which resulted in her being somewhat broken mentally. On the one hand she recognized that there was merit to her words, but on the other she knew that in her own there was safety and familiarity. The powerful woman refused to give ground to the vision before her, no, this was a tricky of the mind to lead her astray in this maddening place.

She started coming apart before her eyes, looking already quite dead and that was enough to get Anna to widen her eyes. Already dead inside no matter how much she tried to deny it, she was more like the Nuit that she cared to admit and Sahova had made it so. Rhysol had made it so. Was this yet another test of the Defiler? To test her strength of resolve and will, to keep to her faith no matter the personal cost? Sahova itself was merely a test of her faith, a trial that she would overcome and no phantom words no matter how deep they bit would deter her. She had come too far. She had committed to this path too much.

The mist started to recede and Anna closed her eyes as it did, breathing deeply to attempt to cast some of the doubt from her mind. Her grey eyes opened and fell upon the signs, written in a language beyond her understanding or comprehension. An unhinged chuckled escaped her lips, this entire place was maddening beyond all possible belief. What was impossible in even her mind seemed a commonality here, the laws of reality seeming to bend and twist to the sick desires of this horrific place. The sorceress was starting to think she would never find the Warden at this rate.

Then the voice came from all around her, feminine and a sign of some contact with another though it could very well have been another trick of the mind. The sorceress allowed herself a tiny smile at the words offered, either she had cracked out of desperation or the owner of this voice was the one she had been seeking. Pity, she would have preferred a face to face meeting with her quarry but this impersonal meeting would need to do. Fear shot through her as the threat was made, Anna having no desire to die when so close to her goal thought quickly and spoke even more quickly.

“No Nuit am I, though I have spent long enough time in their company to know them to be rather poor hosts to those with warm blood in their veins. I am Annalisa Marin, my apologies for intruding upon your domain however I knew of no other way to get in contact with the famed Warden of the Heartlands. I wonder if, before you permit your pets to rend my flesh from my bones, I might beg of your indulgence and for an audience. I came here with the desire to serve the mighty Kierra Doma as her initiate.” Anna offered, her tone as smooth as she could make it under the circumstances.

The tall woman swallowed slightly, nerves on edge and every sense alight as she stayed perfectly still where she stood. Odds were if the voice was not that of Kierra Doma then at the very least it might pause at the nature of her business in the Heartlands, if it was then she was either royally petched or hopefully able to gain more interest alive than as a corpse. The sorceress prayed with everything that she was that it would be the latter.

[Mirage]

"Well aren't you full of yourself. A deadie doesn't have to be a nuit. A deadie is anyone who steps into my domain without my permission." The voice this time came from behind Anna, and there standing in the path leading back the way she had come stood a woman who leaned leisurely with her back against the tree, one foot propped against the bark with her hands folded across her chest, "And I suppose I can undulge a dying woman's last request."

The woman, for it was clearly a woman, detached herself from the shadows and walked into the red light. She was a slim build, muscular from what could be seen from her tight dress. She was about a head shorter than Annalisa, but the cut of her dress made her legs seem longer and her curves more pronounced. Her skin, strangely, was tinted red which might have been a trick of the light except that the red was darker than the light around her. Her lips were full and painted with black lipstick, her eyes outlined in black as well as her hair fell in curls down past her shoulders. Her hair was also an unusual color, blonde with a silver tent and random streaks of cold, and her eyes were slitted pupils set in gold irises. When she smiled there were fangs in place of her canines, like what was seen in Symenestra, and her other teeth were also filed to slightly softer points, similar to Riyanna's but more delicately crafted and less noticeable at first.

Kierra folded her hands under her breast, shifting her weight to one foot as she looked Annalisa up and down, or rather from breast to calves, "Your too thin. It looks like the island has already started taking away your beauty. Pity." She shrugged and tossed back her hair, and for a moment it looked like something moved around her neck, "I don't know who sent you, and I don't really care. Whoever they were they obviously were not very well informed. I already have an Initiate, and it is impossible for me to take another. So I am afraid this has been a wasted trip for you, but do me a favor. Go back the way you game and give yourself up to the spiders. They wont shut up until you do, and I cannot stand that clacking noise."

She waved with one hand and began walking past Anna, not offering her even a second glance as she past. To her, the conversation was over, and it would stay that way unless something was done.

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna kept the fact that the very same could very well be said for Kierra Doma, her arrogance in her power in this place sent a thrill of chaotic temptation through her mind. How satisfying it would be to rob her of her eyes, her mouth, her very mind and leave her a shell for so- no. No she could not afford to indulge in that urge here at the moment; she needed whatever this woman offered. She needed it as much as a drowning man might need air; if she did not claim it then she would be as good as dead and might as well impale herself upon an earthen spear.

She was beautiful; the tall woman had to admit though it was in a violent sort of way that she could appreciate. Anna pondered how much power slithered underneath her flesh, snaking through her body much like the sorceress’ own power. According to Amaryllis she was stronger than Maelstrom had ever been, something the sorceress almost desired to test. Sadly her power was dimmed in this place, enough so that the idea was cast aside almost as soon as it entered. She could not yet indulge upon that urge of competitiveness so instead opted to observe her quarry finally.

Her comments and her tone… it was enough to cause Anna to visibly set her jaw as rage bubbled behind her eyes and was barely contained. Did this whoring bitch have any idea what it had taken to find her in this wasteland of an island? In the peak of her power the sorceress would doubtlessly find tiny clouds of purple res radiating from her eyes, at the moment that was not possible. Instead she contained her rage as best as she was able and locked eyes upon the other woman’s form.

Her anger turned into an odd mixture of near homicidal rage, disbelief and fear that provided a dizzying tonic for her to drink. No, she could not turn back after coming so very petching far and could most certainly not go back to those… spider things. Anna shuddered to think of this, and because the Warden already had an initiate it seemed there was very little that could be done. The sorceress stood silent for a moment as the Warden was already leaving, before turning her head slightly to growl out a single sentence to the woman.

“Whatever pathetic waste of air you have taken on as your Initiate, Warden, they would never be a match for me even now in my weakened state.” The tall woman stated, her tone challenging before continuing.

“There is conflict here, you have an initiate already and I desire to take this position. Allow me then to prove my own worth far outstrips that of whomever you have taken. If I lose I still die though with the dignity of being in battle and your initiate gets a bit of exercise, if I win you gain a more powerful servant. What have you to lose but time, Warden? Or are they so very weak so that you fear for their life?” The sorceress said, her tone taking on a more even edge with her back still to the Warden.

This was the only chance she had to get out of here alive as Anna saw it, she couldn’t leave alive without the Warden’s blessing and she doubted she would get it without showing some worth. Honestly though, Anna was uncertain of her own words as her res generation was severely weakened by this place. Her spells would be limited and whatever power this initiate wielded would likely not be so hampered. If Kierra Doma cared not who she was that was fine, she would show the Warden what she was instead. A ruthless and hardened bitch with a heart of steel and soul of twisted blackness.

[Mirage]

The Warden paused, setting her hands on her hips as she looked back over her shoulder and smiled, raising one eyebrow, "Oh, is that so?" She licked her lips and turned back, tapping her foot as in in thought before she laughed and looked back once more, "Alright, I accept your wager. Face my initiate, and if you kill her you can replace her. If you die... well then you will be dead wont you?" She then turned her back on Anna, making toward the left most past and waved a finger to the next path to her right, "You will find her a ways down that path. Simply inform her of my decision and proceed." And with that the Warden was gone.

This path, just as all the others, were remarkably uninteresting. Time was a figment here, and so she could not tell quite how long she walked, however, suddenly, or maybe not so suddenly, something NEW would come across her path. It was... a statue? A statue of a bald man in monk robes. His hands were clasped in front of him, as if in prayer. It was the only statue that Annalisa had seen in the entire Heartlands thus far. When Anna approached within arms length of it, its head would suddenly turn toward her.

"Greetings Wizard Annalisa Marin." Its voice was deep and gravely, like he was gargling stones, "It is a pleasure to speak with you. I trust you are well?"

Odd as it was to converse with a talking statue, perhaps it was odder still to have one inquire after your health in a place such as this. The statue shifted, stepping out into the path to face the Wizard, "Do not be alarmed. My name is Krawlek, and I have come to assist you. Now you go to face Kierra Doma's assistant yes? Then allow me to inform you that if you face her in combat you will be killed." He stated this matter-of-factly, "My condolences, however, it does not have to be this way." He slowly unclasped his hands, revealing what looked like a little knife that could easily fit into Annalisa's palm, "If you really want to become Kierra's initiate, then take this concealed knife and when you see her tell her that you have come to deliver an important message. The girl is a bit of a simpleton, and gullible at that. Then, when she comes close drive this into her neck before she has the chance to cast a single spell."

Krawlek extended his hand, palm up, the weapon rested there glittering in the red light for her to take it, "Do this, and you will become the Heartlands Initiate, and no one need know how you acquired victory." Its face up till now had been passive, but now those stone lips turned upward in a smile that looked almost sinister in the red light.

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna felt a wave of relief wash over her mind as Kierra rose to her bait of a challenge, the sorceress pleased by this outcome. A quick mental prayer was offered to the Defiler before her mind returned to the situation at hand. She had to kill this initiate in combat, not exactly the most ideal of scenarios but if it was what she had to do to survive then she would have to do it. It should not bother her; she had slain a number of men and women before today. The tall Chaon desperately crushed the human side of herself she had been arguing with not too long ago, she needed to be hard hearted and black of soul. It was why Rhysol had chosen her.

As the Warden vanished Anna turned her gaze to the path, unremarkable as usual and honestly it looked the same as the others. The tall woman wondered if she might ever find her way out of this wretched place, if she might leave and find that days had passed. The Heartlands seemed to exist well outside of time itself, frozen in this state. It was a place of eldritch power and identity, far more alien than even those spirits had been. If she did succeed in killing whoever was Kierra Doma’s Initiate the fact she might have to live here was frightening, even to her who had stared into the eyes of Evil and Chaos.

As she walked the path she was greeted with an odd sight, a statue of an old bald man was standing in her path and her paranoia was the degree at this point where she slowed her pace as she approached it. When she came within and arm’s length it suddenly turned its head towards her, sending a start through her chest and sending her back a step. Was it some form of golem? And it was asking how she was in this wretched place? The irony of this made the ragged woman wish to laugh.

“Well enough as can be considering the circumstances.” The tall woman offered, her tone guarded.

It continued to speak, introducing itself as Krawlek and stating that it had come to be of assistance to her which she was very doubtful of. All anything seemed to desire of her in this place was to either eat her, get her to change her ways, or kill her. The sorceress did not dismiss the creature out of hand though, this was ironically enough the most cordial conversation she had gotten here and it was with a statue. Pity her hair was loose about her head and she looked rather unhinged for her journey to this place.

Anna felt her stomach drop as the stone man told her in no uncertain terms that fighting this woman would kill her, though deep down she knew he was right. She was weakened by this place and with her abilities so very weak she would be crushed by one of Maelstrom’s apprentices easily. The creature earned her interest by stating that there was another way, a strand of dark hope she was willing to cling to as if her life depended upon it. Which it very well did.

The glint of metal gleamed crimson in the light of the Heartlands, Anna staring at her own reflection in the tiny blade offered to her. Krawlek offered her this weapon and advised her to murder the initiate when she drew close to her, Anna blinking. Her hand slowly moved outwards to take the knife, pausing in mid motion as she remembered the warm blood of a slave running down them not so long ago. It was such a low thing to do, so cowardly, so craven, and so very traitorous. Rhysol would certainly be pleased by such an act, and this combined with the chance of survival pushed her to pluck the blade from the stone man’s hands.

“Very well then. Though, as I find myself neither gullible nor simple I must ask you, sir. Why are you assisting me to kill this woman? I’ll do it of course, but I get the feeling you are not one to offer weapons to passerby’s every day.” The sorceress said as she subtly slipped the tiny blade into her sleeves and stared at the smiling man.

[Mirage]

Once the weapon was taken the man would return to his praying posture, "Do not be so sure of that. As to why I do it, lets just say it is for equal parts my own amusement and to vex the Warden. The current girl is dull, boring. No fun at all you see, but you..." He leaned in a bit closer, the sound of scraping stone echoing as he did, "You seem interesting, and possibly a challenge. I would much prefer if you were to become the initiate. I would prefer it greatly in fact."

Krawlek stepped back into his position, growing still once more to allow Annalisa to pass, "Her name is Natasha, and she is an Eypharian from the Ekytol region to the south. She once was an Initiate of the Bloodhills under Eli Brent. From what I have heard they had a passing fling, which I imagine was quite dexterous. Oh, and speaking of which, mind the hands. Especially the one's you can't see."

The path would end at some distance later, and there she would find another circle of trees. However, in this place no grace grew within the circle and jagged rocks jutted up from the cracked earth. At the center of this sat a woman, thin, with long black hair tied back in a warriors braid. Her skin was a beautiful olive color, but most striking were the six arms that were held in odd posses for meditation. Two clasped in front of her, two clasped behind her back, and the remaining two clasped over her head. She was perfectly still, meditating with her back to Annalisa. The choice belonged to the Wizard. How would she go about defeating the Initiate?