"Wake up."
The voice sounds far, far away, distant. Your ears are ringing.
"Wake up." It is more urgent now, and you feel something tug at you, a haze dissipating. Your limbs unstiffen, you exhale, warmth seeps into your body, and you are once again in control.
You are in the throne room again, and the black crystals are gone. Everything is broken, shattered, the castle in shambles, and yet the figure standing in front of you is perfect in every shape and form, the epitome of majesty and glory. The Great King is not dead. The Great King is returned. His sword rests by his side, and even though it is sealed and chained, you feel it, you feel the name resting on the tip of your tongue, the memory of its name sealed away. The sheath calls to you, and you feel a strange sadness from it, as if it somehow resonated with Lancelot's death.
The Great King looks up, and you too cannot help but do the same. The ceiling is exposed, the sky is dark, and above it is a vortex, ugly and horrific. Shadows move all directions, and then it occurs to you they are fighting each other. A shape similar to a dragon buries its teeth in what looks like a harpy as several small shadow birds attack it.
"The final stage of the beginning of the war has begun," the Great King speaks, and your gaze returns to him. You cannot help it, his voice commands the attention of all, "it is time for us to begin as well. There is still hope for those of us who remain."
He does not draw his weapon, but turns around. "Now, show me where the gate is, Merlin."
Behind the Great King stands Merlin, appearing behind him like a shadow. Your throat locks up, you cannot speak. You know what Merlin is capable up, and the dread returns again. The Great King has not noticed. The two of them walk forward, back into the room beyond the throne, back to where Lancelot died, back to where you knew you tore him to pieces. They speak of plans of which you understand very little.
And there is no blood in the room. There is simply a mirror, a very familiar mirror housing a gate. On the other side of the mirror is a twisted figure made of shadows. It looks feminine, perhaps, and it screams in a language unknown to you as it slams its fists against the mirror. On its head rests broken red crown. You feel like you recognize it, but the memory too ebbs.
"My liege," Merlin kneels next to the Great King, "it is time."
"Show me," the Great King speaks, "Show me what must be done to save what remains of us."
You notice the terrible smile Merlin hides barely under his hood as he moves forward and with a single sweep of his staff shatters the mirror. Something screams from behind the mirror and then scatters into thousands of pieces, red butterflies that try to vainly escape only to instantly dissolve mid-flight.
What remains is the gate, unsealed.
"Great Knights," Merlin calls, and those who would consider themselves Great Knights move forward, unable to control their actions again. "Your time of sacrifice has come. Step through this gate, and it will open for the first and last time."
There are seven seals that encompass the gate, and you notice them belatedly, each one a different colour, representing each Great Knight faction. Merlin taps his staff against the gate and it resonates, as those who would call themselves Great Knights take another step forward.
"Merlin," the Great King suddenly interrupts, "is this necessary?"
"It is necessary. It requires exactly seven Great Knights to open the gate and seal the darkness of this world."
One by one, all the Great Knights step forward. As each Great Knight moves forward, placing their hand on the gate, the seals slowly unlock. As all seven are placed, the gate shifts. It is something you cannot tangibly see but feel. You feel as if beyond the gate there is something waiting for you at the other side, a world perhaps, and it briefly tugs at you, lulling you forward.
"Do not gaze into the gate once it opens!" the Great King warns, "it will drive you to madness."
The gate shakes, the doors slowly, finally moving-
- and then nothing.
The gates do not open. The sacrificed Great Knights remain. There is a moment of silence, and confusion.
"Merlin," the Great King places one hand on his sword hilt in a moment of sudden clarity, "what have you done."
Merlin simply raises his staff, his chained weapon, black crystals once again forming around him. This time though, they do not impede the knights, they simply form facets, reflections for all to gaze at. "It is not what I have done, but what I will complete." He does not laugh, and there is no victory in his gaze. It is void. He strikes his staff end onto the floor, and the chains around his staff break, unsealing the weapon. Immediately, the staff transforms into its true shape, a long ebony creation with a dark black crystal, the same colour as the crystals surrounding them.
As the chain on his weapon shatters, so do all the chains on each and every knight. The lock sealing each weapon simply dissolves into black mist, an enchantment created by the most powerful sorcerer of Camelot.
"Merlin!" shouts the Great King, but his voice is distant again. You cannot hear it past the pain as you seize up, as you instantly collapse, as your heart stops, as your lungs give away, as it feels like a thousand crystals lodge into your flesh and cover you in agony.
Your weapon is consuming you and you feel from it a great uncontrollable hunger and confusion. Shadows uncoil from your weapon, wrapping around your arms. Your body moves, possessed by the weapon alone, and you are simply the vessel. You can only stare at your reflection in horror as it jolts forwards.
Merlin turns his staff towards the Great King. The chains around the Great King's weapon slowly begin to disappear one by one.
"These weapons were once mine," Merlin encroaches on the Great King's territory. "They do not listen to your commands. Their power returns to me, and they serve my army. You were always the perfect pawn, everything I gave you took: your weapon, your power, your legacy, and even your name. I will take it back now. This is my revenge."
The Great King staggers backwards, against the gate. The last chain on his weapon unseals, and the lock falls into the ground with a loud clack.
Silence. The sword remains the same, unchanging.
In that instant of opportunity, Merlin staggers backwards, defending. It seems like the Great King has the upper hand, but Merlin calls out and you, hatred seeping through each word, and your weapon moves with a life of its own, forcing you to attack Great King. There is another clash of weapon against weapon-
And suddenly you are in control. You are a knight again, and you wield your weapon. For a moment you are victorious-
- And then you are spectator as the hunger takes over again. The struggle blurs. Your memories begin to strain under the pressure. You were once complete. A creature perhaps, made of pure shadow, forged into the shape of a weapon and sealed. A knight perhaps, once upholding honour and glory. You cannot remember.
You cannot remember everything else fades away, leaving just empty white.
In front of you are two doors. One is a gate made of pure blue, and you feel your memories swirling around it, memories of becoming a Knight, of your sacrifice, of honour, and valour. The second is of dark black, and you feel a set of equally strong but opposite memories. They speak of pain and longing and shadows, of being robbed of a life you once had, sealed, used, over and over until all you sought was revenge.
You cannot remember which door was yours.
OOC
THE TIME OF CHOICES:
Welcome to the final corridor of choices. Who you side with will determine the final outcome of the battle. Good luck finale players.
If you have NOT done any of the previous chapter prompts, but would like to participate in this final chapter, you may still do so! Just tally up what your character has done SO FAR. If there is a special prompt/ your character is part of a special role, please also respond to the rp prompt there as well while replying.
gaia_crown [ STEP 1 ] [ RESPOND TO THE FIRST POST ]: Read the above rp post and respond to it in this thread. When you are done that response, move to step 2.
gaia_crown [ STEP 2 ] [ CREATE A MEMORIES SOLO THREAD ]:
Create a thread titled [ MEMORY SOLO ][ CHAR NAME HERE ] in this subforum. This is now your solo memory thread. For the steps following, write them in your solo memory thread.
Memories now peel away from the doors and move towards you. Each one is different, and some contradicting. Click on the spoiler below, and see which gaia_star prompts are applicable to you. Add up the amount of black OR blue points you have. The door your character chooses is the one with the higher points (if you break even you get to pick). You will also need to respond BRIEFLY to the rp prompt for each one applicable. You may consolidate prompts into one post in your memory solo thread. Each prompt just needs to be a line or two, nothing more, so you aren't writing essays forever. The only prompts you need to acknowledge are the ones applicable to you. Please respond/tally ALL PROMPTS APPLICABLE. A good example would be something like:
- "Dialogue from memory one-"
- A flashing blur from memory two-
- etc etc
- Memories are divided into WEAPON or KNIGHT. If it is a knight memory, it is something that happened to your character as a knight PRIOR to their memories being unsealed. If it is a weapon memory, it is something that happened to the weapon (which has assimilated your character). You can make up a weapon memory, but remember that weapons are creatures of shadows (ie: pre Halloween) so create a memory accordingly! Shadow creatures can serve either Merlin originally, be free roaming agents, or serve the Sidhe queen. They can either be demon, reaper, ghost, undead, or monster, of your choice.
- If your character does NOT HAVE A SEALED WEAPON it is assumed some time passed by icly in which they gained one and became a full knight. It is up to you whether or not you want to backdate rp it here. If they were not gm quoted you can make up a sealed medieval weapon as long as it is within medieval weapon standards. You do not get the three sacred cards attached to the requirement though (ie: if you only had one card, and you are now a full knight, you still only have one card).
gaia_star ANYONE WHO HAS UNSEALED THEIR WEAPON: Instantly blue door. You gain control of your weapon, and it responds to you. You walk through the blue door regardless, and realize the actions of your weapon and you are one. Through fighting with it, it has bonded with you. You walk through the door, two as one. Your weapon will now also speak to you in battle. You may now use a charged attack. This is basically a special version of your existing attack. Roll 8d4 to unleash it, and the damage you do is equal to your roll. You can only use it after successfully hitting a monster 3 times in succession. You CAN use this in the arena.
gaia_star ANYONE WHO HAS THE SIDHE QUEEN'S MARK: +10 blue door points. You feel the intense hatred she has for Merlin. This is her last parting gift to you.
gaia_star IF YOU FOUGHT PERCIVAL: +5 black door points. A memory unlocks. You feel Percival's despair as he fights you, and it is overlapped with another memory. You have seen Percival before, and you fought against him as he pinned you down and trapped you. It is a weapon memory.
gaia_star IF YOU FOUGHT MORGAN: +5 black door points. A memory unlocks. You feel Morgan's anger at you, and you realize you have seen the Sidhe Queen before, in their true form. It is a weapon memory.
gaia_star IF YOU FOUGHT GAWAIN: +5 blue door points. A memory unlocks. You realize you have met Gawain before. He helped save those sick in your village in the past. It is a past knight memory.
gaia_star IF YOU FOUGHT MORDRED: +5 black or blue door points (your choice). Your memories are jumbled related to Mordred. He appears to be both kind and terrible. You remember he was never on your side.
gaia_star IF YOU FOUGHT GALAHAD: +5 black door points. A memory unlocks. You recall seeing the grail Galahad held before. You encountered him while guarding the grail from him. This is a weapon memory.
gaia_star IF YOU NOMINATED YOURSELF TO LANCELOT FOR GREAT KNIGHT: +5 blue door points. A memory unlocks. You have met Lancelot before. He is the one that inspired you to become a knight. This is a past knight memory.
gaia_star IF YOU WERE IN THE PRISON: +5 black door points. A memory unlocks. You realize you have been chained before. You feel pain, fear, and then nothing as your body twists into a weapon and you are sealed. This is a weapon memory.
gaia_star IF YOU WERE IN THE SANCTUARY ORP: +5 blue door points. A memory unlocks. You remember a small fragment of the life you once had, and your family. This is a knight memory.
gaia_star IF YOU WERE IN THE TOWER ORP. +5 blue door points. A memory unlocks. You remember that you once came across an enchanted artifact. It contained a flash of your future. You saw a future where you would die. This is a knight memory (make up a random death).
gaia_star IF YOU WERE IN THE lake spirit tales. +5 blue door points. A memory unlocks. You remember that not all shadows are terrible, and some are simply here to help. You recall encountering one in the past, and talking peacefully with it. This is a knight memory.
gaia_star IF YOU ARE A BLACK/RED/GREEN KNIGHT: +5 black door points. A memory unlocks. You remember coming to this world as a shadow creature, having to fight others for space and land. You remember trying to find yourself, only to be swept in a terrible battle between the horsemen, Morgana, and of course Camelot. This is a weapon memory.
gaia_star IF YOU ARE A BLUE/GOLD/WHITE KNIGHT: +5 blue door points. A memory unlocks. You remember what brought you to Camelot in the first place. It was the collapse of everything around you. It was the despair that drove you forward and gave you determination. This is a knight memory.
gaia_star IF YOU ARE A VIOLET KNIGHT: +5 EITHER black or blue door points (your pick). A memory unlocks. You remember a memory of you having to make a decision, and you running away from it. This is a knight OR weapon memory.
gaia_star IF YOU HAVE LESS THAN THREE SACRED CARDS: +5 black door points. Your indecision burns strong. A memory unlocks. You remember being sealed away, as a weapon, forever chained, weapon. This is a weapon memory.
gaia_star IF YOU HAVE FIVE OR MORE SACRED CARDS: +5 blue door points. Your loyalty to serve burns strong. A memory unlocks. You remember training to one day become a knight. This is a knight memory.
gaia_star IF YOU ARE A GREAT KNIGHT: +10 blue door points. Your loyalty to serve burns strong. A memory unlocks. You remember looking up to a great knight. This is a knight memory.
gaia_crown [ STEP 3 ] [ WEAPON OR KNIGHT? ]: After you have tallied up your point total, see if your resurface as a weapon (black door) or knight (blue door). Again if your points are even, you can PICK which one. In your MEMORY SOLO, have your character consolidate all their memories and come to a decision of what they are. As they come to a conclusion, feel free to write an exit post as they move to the following thread.
KNIGHT: Your character undoubtedly is a knight. They move toward sthe blue door. With what few memories they have, they stumble forward. Go HERE.
WEAPON: Your character is undoubtedly a weapon, now unsealed. A creature of shadows. They move towards the black door. With what few memories they have, they stumble forward. Go HERE.
Welcome to the final corridor of choices. Who you side with will determine the final outcome of the battle. Good luck finale players.
If you have NOT done any of the previous chapter prompts, but would like to participate in this final chapter, you may still do so! Just tally up what your character has done SO FAR. If there is a special prompt/ your character is part of a special role, please also respond to the rp prompt there as well while replying.
gaia_crown [ STEP 1 ] [ RESPOND TO THE FIRST POST ]: Read the above rp post and respond to it in this thread. When you are done that response, move to step 2.
gaia_crown [ STEP 2 ] [ CREATE A MEMORIES SOLO THREAD ]:
Create a thread titled [ MEMORY SOLO ][ CHAR NAME HERE ] in this subforum. This is now your solo memory thread. For the steps following, write them in your solo memory thread.
Memories now peel away from the doors and move towards you. Each one is different, and some contradicting. Click on the spoiler below, and see which gaia_star prompts are applicable to you. Add up the amount of black OR blue points you have. The door your character chooses is the one with the higher points (if you break even you get to pick). You will also need to respond BRIEFLY to the rp prompt for each one applicable. You may consolidate prompts into one post in your memory solo thread. Each prompt just needs to be a line or two, nothing more, so you aren't writing essays forever. The only prompts you need to acknowledge are the ones applicable to you. Please respond/tally ALL PROMPTS APPLICABLE. A good example would be something like:
- "Dialogue from memory one-"
- A flashing blur from memory two-
- etc etc
- Memories are divided into WEAPON or KNIGHT. If it is a knight memory, it is something that happened to your character as a knight PRIOR to their memories being unsealed. If it is a weapon memory, it is something that happened to the weapon (which has assimilated your character). You can make up a weapon memory, but remember that weapons are creatures of shadows (ie: pre Halloween) so create a memory accordingly! Shadow creatures can serve either Merlin originally, be free roaming agents, or serve the Sidhe queen. They can either be demon, reaper, ghost, undead, or monster, of your choice.
- If your character does NOT HAVE A SEALED WEAPON it is assumed some time passed by icly in which they gained one and became a full knight. It is up to you whether or not you want to backdate rp it here. If they were not gm quoted you can make up a sealed medieval weapon as long as it is within medieval weapon standards. You do not get the three sacred cards attached to the requirement though (ie: if you only had one card, and you are now a full knight, you still only have one card).
gaia_star ANYONE WHO HAS UNSEALED THEIR WEAPON: Instantly blue door. You gain control of your weapon, and it responds to you. You walk through the blue door regardless, and realize the actions of your weapon and you are one. Through fighting with it, it has bonded with you. You walk through the door, two as one. Your weapon will now also speak to you in battle. You may now use a charged attack. This is basically a special version of your existing attack. Roll 8d4 to unleash it, and the damage you do is equal to your roll. You can only use it after successfully hitting a monster 3 times in succession. You CAN use this in the arena.
gaia_star ANYONE WHO HAS THE SIDHE QUEEN'S MARK: +10 blue door points. You feel the intense hatred she has for Merlin. This is her last parting gift to you.
gaia_star IF YOU FOUGHT PERCIVAL: +5 black door points. A memory unlocks. You feel Percival's despair as he fights you, and it is overlapped with another memory. You have seen Percival before, and you fought against him as he pinned you down and trapped you. It is a weapon memory.
gaia_star IF YOU FOUGHT MORGAN: +5 black door points. A memory unlocks. You feel Morgan's anger at you, and you realize you have seen the Sidhe Queen before, in their true form. It is a weapon memory.
gaia_star IF YOU FOUGHT GAWAIN: +5 blue door points. A memory unlocks. You realize you have met Gawain before. He helped save those sick in your village in the past. It is a past knight memory.
gaia_star IF YOU FOUGHT MORDRED: +5 black or blue door points (your choice). Your memories are jumbled related to Mordred. He appears to be both kind and terrible. You remember he was never on your side.
gaia_star IF YOU FOUGHT GALAHAD: +5 black door points. A memory unlocks. You recall seeing the grail Galahad held before. You encountered him while guarding the grail from him. This is a weapon memory.
gaia_star IF YOU NOMINATED YOURSELF TO LANCELOT FOR GREAT KNIGHT: +5 blue door points. A memory unlocks. You have met Lancelot before. He is the one that inspired you to become a knight. This is a past knight memory.
gaia_star IF YOU WERE IN THE PRISON: +5 black door points. A memory unlocks. You realize you have been chained before. You feel pain, fear, and then nothing as your body twists into a weapon and you are sealed. This is a weapon memory.
gaia_star IF YOU WERE IN THE SANCTUARY ORP: +5 blue door points. A memory unlocks. You remember a small fragment of the life you once had, and your family. This is a knight memory.
gaia_star IF YOU WERE IN THE TOWER ORP. +5 blue door points. A memory unlocks. You remember that you once came across an enchanted artifact. It contained a flash of your future. You saw a future where you would die. This is a knight memory (make up a random death).
gaia_star IF YOU WERE IN THE lake spirit tales. +5 blue door points. A memory unlocks. You remember that not all shadows are terrible, and some are simply here to help. You recall encountering one in the past, and talking peacefully with it. This is a knight memory.
gaia_star IF YOU ARE A BLACK/RED/GREEN KNIGHT: +5 black door points. A memory unlocks. You remember coming to this world as a shadow creature, having to fight others for space and land. You remember trying to find yourself, only to be swept in a terrible battle between the horsemen, Morgana, and of course Camelot. This is a weapon memory.
gaia_star IF YOU ARE A BLUE/GOLD/WHITE KNIGHT: +5 blue door points. A memory unlocks. You remember what brought you to Camelot in the first place. It was the collapse of everything around you. It was the despair that drove you forward and gave you determination. This is a knight memory.
gaia_star IF YOU ARE A VIOLET KNIGHT: +5 EITHER black or blue door points (your pick). A memory unlocks. You remember a memory of you having to make a decision, and you running away from it. This is a knight OR weapon memory.
gaia_star IF YOU HAVE LESS THAN THREE SACRED CARDS: +5 black door points. Your indecision burns strong. A memory unlocks. You remember being sealed away, as a weapon, forever chained, weapon. This is a weapon memory.
gaia_star IF YOU HAVE FIVE OR MORE SACRED CARDS: +5 blue door points. Your loyalty to serve burns strong. A memory unlocks. You remember training to one day become a knight. This is a knight memory.
gaia_star IF YOU ARE A GREAT KNIGHT: +10 blue door points. Your loyalty to serve burns strong. A memory unlocks. You remember looking up to a great knight. This is a knight memory.
gaia_crown [ STEP 3 ] [ WEAPON OR KNIGHT? ]: After you have tallied up your point total, see if your resurface as a weapon (black door) or knight (blue door). Again if your points are even, you can PICK which one. In your MEMORY SOLO, have your character consolidate all their memories and come to a decision of what they are. As they come to a conclusion, feel free to write an exit post as they move to the following thread.
KNIGHT: Your character undoubtedly is a knight. They move toward sthe blue door. With what few memories they have, they stumble forward. Go HERE.
WEAPON: Your character is undoubtedly a weapon, now unsealed. A creature of shadows. They move towards the black door. With what few memories they have, they stumble forward. Go HERE.
