Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ellianthe studiously paced the length of her throne room, tracing her fingers across the delicate engravings in the polished marble walls. Two fireplaces where being stoked to life by a couple of disgrumtled servants, angry about being awakened so late at night. Despite the pervading chill, the harpy queen was dressed scantily, in her thin guazelike nightdress. She had hastily pinned a sheer veil over her glossy black hair. Biting her lip, she peered out at the bloodred light of day oozing through bonelike trees, stripped of their leaves by the unforgiving winter storms.

The guardsmen posted at the door politely averted their eyes from their queen as they watched the door. A plump, grandmother like maidservant bustled into the room clicking her tongue with dissaproval after pausing to take in Ellianthe's disheveled state. Sarah, the maid held out a sleeveless overgown of deep blue silk, and started to button it up from the bottom, even as the queen absent mindedly worked from the top.


Wordlessly, Sarah clasped the heavy silver bracelets around her Queens biceps, and smoothed out the white gauze sleeves so they covered her forearms. The thin silver circlet already adorned Ellianthes brow above perfectly shaped brows. It had been the first thing she donned upon leaving her rooms. Her thin slippers were replaced with sensible brown boots.

Ellianthe had met with Lord Toleranth and his Allies just this past day, and now her seers awaited on the otherside of the towering oak doors to tell her yet more terrible news no doubt.

Ellianthe's face was solemn as she silently regarded the trio.

"We have seen so much in so little time, we rushed to the palace before we could piece it all together. We see death sweeping the lands, warm winds filling the white sails of a funeral barge. The mast topped with a gold pennant signifying royalty. Many lives snuffed out in a single moment. Angry mobs pounding on the walls of Aelethia's palace as pools of blood ooze from the crack under the door. Twin sorceresses looking as much beast as human entering this world by mysterious means. In there eyes you can see the burden of seers, and yet they do not bind there eyes..."

The Queen held up a silencing hand. "Is every vision of calamity? Have you not one small spark of hope to light our way through these dark times?"

They shook their heads. It was hard to tell with the sparse lighting of the meeting chamber, but it seemed to her that they were hiding tearstained faces behind the veils. So the almighty seers were not the heartless fiends they portrayed themselves as. It softened her heart towards these mysterious folk to see her heartbreak echoed on those stone like faces.

Biting her lower lip, she tucked a raven lock behind a tapered ear as she contemplated the meanings of their words. She had seen the leader glance at her when she mentioned the funeral barge. She shrugged off the icy tingling down her spine.

"What does all of this mean? What is your council, what would you have me do? Is all hope lost?"

The one farthest to the left, a man judging by the deep voice, shrugged self consciously. “These are only possible occurrences, there are so many forks its hard to trace them down to a single choice that we can influence. Its slow going, we fear it will be too late by the time we figure it. That’s ruling out the possibility, Gods protect us, that the choice has already been made and this bleak future rears over us like a hungry griffon."

She winced visibly. "Gods forbid indeed." She shivered, rubbing her arm for warmth, but it wasn't because of the room's pervading chill.
"Sarah? Please send for the minister of affairs, and the housekeeper. Have them move everybody into the upper floors of the palace. No one is to set foot into the water. If they need to go to a separate wing then they must use the bridges on the third floor. Have our mages, and alchemists work together to find a counter for this poison and put a heavy reward on the head of the alchemist who caused this catastrophe. She's no good to us dead so see to it that she's kept unharmed and handles as politely as possible."

A seer scuffed her foot against the stone. "In every one of the visions we mentioned there was cold, cruel laughter in the background.... In the vision of this palace... You could hear hordes of demons feasting just inside the doors. Women screaming...raucous laughing.... babies....Babies..." She began to shake; the man guiding her gripped her arm for support as she regained her composure. “It was that Demon Lord, Laos. He is reining over the world we saw. We can't be sure, but there’s a good chance that this fork will be snuffed out of existence if his efforts are snuffed out. We can only continue doing what we've been doing. Finding the guardian. Unleashing the power of Pandora's Box.
Queen Jadira must also be saved. Her future is clouded, but Esperanza must rise again if we have a chance. If all else fails we could try the key spell of the four towers. It would be dangerous and take many innocent lives, but it could end up saving many more."

As they spoke the second seer, the man off to the left had been sidling closer to the throne. Ellianthe watched out of the corner of her eye. Suspicion flaring in her gut as he tucked his hands into the loose sleeves of his white habit. The metallic glint confirmed her suspicions, and she dived from the throne even as the wickedly sharp knife struck the throne with a twang.

She rolled over, her pale face heated with rage to see the man rapidly advancing upon her. A man no longer it seemed. A woman loomed over her. Tall spiraled horns curling majestically from her temples. Her red eyes glinted with a savage bloodlust. Her hair was as black as the Queen's own,
Cascading down her back in a sleek fall of loose ringlets. Leathery crimson wings protruded from her shoulders. Her nightmarish look was completed by the jointed tail adorned with a devil's point. She was obviously royalty among demon, her neck and horns adorned with precious jewels, and metal. The loose habit dropped to the floor revealing the scantily clad woman completely.

Every arms men in the room rushed to aide her, the demoness turned and
Systematically ripped the throats out of first one, and then another soldier.
Ellianthe held up her hand in a silent plea for the men to stop, but they knew their duty. The woman viciously ripped through them with teeth, tail, and claws. As the last man advanced upon her, sword ready, and sweat beading on his brow, she flattened her hand and drove it through his soft middle. Her fingers re-emerged out of his back bloody, and holding a few of his vitals. She squeezed and they broke, spilling their contents on the marble floor. "Run Sarah!" Ellianthe screamed at her maid, the older woman stood rigid in shock, mere feet from the door. With an evil sneer the demon launched herself in Sarah's direction, the maid let out a terrified whimper as she scrambled toward the door. The attempt was futile thought. Ellianthe could see, the woman had gathered too much speed, and Sarah wasn't young anymore. She squeezed her eyes shut with a muttered prayer. A dull thump filled the chamber followed by a scream. One of the seeresses had planted herself squarely in the monster's path and had taken the blow. Her upper half lay against the wall, intestines tumbling out in slime coils.

Sarah escaped, the door clanged shut. The Queen motioned for the third seeress to hide behind the throne, hopefully the woman was smart enough to find the servants entrance and escape. She did. That Left Ellianthe alone in the chamber with the demon. The Harpy Queen was in shock as the demoness lunged for her. Within her she felt something snap, and her panic was replaced with cold anger. She got to her feet and met the lunge with her elbow, driving it into her stomach. It drove the air out of her attackers’ lungs, and stopped her in mid air but other than that did no serious harm. Her abdomen was rock hard with muscles.

This was Jadira, she barely recognized the Queen of Esperanza in her present state but still she knew it was so. Jadira picked Ellianthe up and threw her like a sack of flour into the hard metal throne.
Ellianthe winced as she made impact, feeling her left side bruise immediately after hitting the clawed arm rest. Jadira advanced slower this time, but with no less conviction. The blood spattered over her sensual frame only increased her appearance of a wild animal on the hunt. Ellianthe gasped, trying to fill her empty lungs with precious air as she simultaneously grappled to get the knife out of the think upholsters. It had sunk hilt deep in the back of the throne, slicing through the cloth and metal like butter.

Jadira had reached the throne; she almost gently removed the Queen's hand from the knife, and not so gently bent the forefinger back until the bone splintered and broke. Ellianthe's scream echoed in the cavernous room. Her pearly wings unfurled, knocking The Demon back a few feet and buying her the time needed to rise high enough into the air to be out of reach. She broke through the stained glass roof with ease and through the protective spells with only a little differently.

Sarah had spread the word, disregarding her orders to retreat to the upper floors; Harpies were fleeing in every direction. One of the advantages of having wings. Most of them headed north, towards the other Harpy cities to seek shelter. After a moments hesitation Ellianthe turned east. Towards Esperanza, the resistance, and most importantly, the four mage towers.