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Trapped by darkness The citizens of the City of the Raiders had stared and watched the flashes appearing on the top of the meteor. Then a dark flash appeared, and things had gone calm and silent. The meteor was still floating in the air above the city. Whatever the researchers were up to, few could understand. The young girl Rodericia Raider and several of her friends had watched as twelve year old Blue had tagged along with the four weirdoes. The little kid had always been so different from everyone else, so kind and joyfull. But now he had probably got himself killed. So much for the supply boy. Everyone started moving again, going back to their usual blank selves. Even Rodericia felt very empty herself as she continued to throw the ball to her friends. No one played for fun, only to stay in shape. Back and forth the ball went. Then, as Rodericia had it again, a new flash of darkness appeared, and suddenly, over in the market place nearby, the four researchers stood. They had great smiles on themselves, and everyone around seemed to be affected by their cheerfulness. She noticed her friends giggling and laughing. She noticed how her own mood suddenly became lighter. But the happiness didn't last long... Blackness...
There were screams. There were running. There were chaos. The city was built at the bottom of a crater, and the meteor had
been floating above it like a balloon. But in that flash of darkness everything had changed, and the power of the meteor
had definetly gone away. No one would survive. Blackness...
Red light. Cave. Heavy air. Dust. Silence. Blackness...
For days upon days she had been stuck in the cave with the red-glowing thing. At first glance it would look human because it had
all the regular human characteristic. Yet hair was not supposed to be shining like that, and the same shine could be noticed
inside his eyes. The word "evil" sprang instantly to mind, especially since the thing always had an expression of pure annoyance. Blackness...
In an instant the cave vanished, with all except the creature with it. In front of her raised a giant, red eye, though it was so dim
and so far in the distance she could barely make it out. The creature had faced that eye, and though they were greatly seperated
they were still able to make a conversation. Whiteness...
Rodericia Raider was no more. As the Possessor, servant to the Terraformer, smashed itself up through the wreckage of the
former City of the Raiders, he brought with him a new creature even worse than himself: The Devastator.
The Devastator and the Possessor now travelled together back to civilization. Rodericia several times was irritated by her new companions lack of personality, and though try she might, having conversations with him beyond the mission was pointless. Eventually she focused more on their task, trying to ignore him. The Eye had given vague instructions, but among those were to collapse global society, to learn what they could, and to keep in the background without drawing attention. The Eye itself had for unknown reasons been so greatly weakened that day the meteor had stopped floating, so a lot of the responcebility would lie on the two servants of destruction as she thought themselves. For two years they wandered the world, igniting small fires of hate and anger toward technology, making arguments about how these things had caused the creation of massive weapons. Locating personaes with great prejudice and strong personalities, they had several small terrorist groups suddenly pop up all across the globe. Sometimes the Possessor would even take control of certain leading individuals fighting against this mayhem, thus change peacefull organizations into chaotic pranksters. But then things started to go wrong for them. The nations started making stabilizing projects in order to calm their peoples, and the small terrorist groups that Rodericia and her companion had ignited had been infiltrated, and soon armies would come and lay waste to the headquarters. While the Possessor had been busy somewhere else controlling some or other senator, Rodericia and several terrorist leaders were captured by an army raid and sent to a secret prison. Rodericia had been singled out as only a naive underling because she was only seventeen years old, and had eventually been transphered to a special mental school of some sort where she was supposed to be thaught the errors of terrorism. There she stayed for eleven years...
While in the mental school Rodericia had taken the opportunity to take courses in several kinds of subjects, among them how
nature and societies works. She had also had extra time doing nothing, so she had taken an interest in all kinds of fantasy books
and would read them when she was bored. But eventually all this ended as the personnel decided she had been there
way longer than she needed, and claimed she was merely acting the overzealous fanatic of a hater of technology.
Lost, confused, blank. Then the blur suddenly vanished and Rodericia awoke. In front of her was the Possessor, behind the being
was the Eye, and beyond was the darkness of the Void. The Possessor had for centuries altered and ruined society, while at the same time studied the sciences so far discovered by humanity. Science had been thrown away, and along with it the creation of advanced weapons. Thus the Eye continued to the next step, and soon small creatures started growing in size, growing into insane proportions. Insects and other tiny creatures were no longer tiny. They were huge, titanic, and Rodericia was amazed at the possibilities. Humanity had become primitive once again, but there was still a possibility that they also would rise again. And to avoid such a possibility was the job of the Devastator. At first she would seek out the most powerfull existing hidden communities, and then destroy them with massive energy blasts, ensuring that the strong would not be the ones to survive. However, after a time the method didn't seem to have the right results, and soon there would appear powerfull warriors known as titanslayers. This new prospect infuriated the Eye, especially because neither the Possessor nor the Devastator was able top put a stop the increase in numbers of these slayers.
It was Rodericia who came up with the next step: Fairy tale creatures.
But humanity had not given up, and soon a new order would grow. For two thousand years sivilization had been crushed and held down, but
eventually evolution gave the humans a chance. Drawing on the surrounding energies released by the meteor to affect life, they learned
to mentally alter those very same energies. The Age of the Wizards had begun, and once again the Eye was furious. Assassinations spread. One by one the great wizards fell, dead by the hands of an unknown factor. The Devastator did everything in her power to seek out the cause, but to no avail. For decades, even centuries, the wizards had ruled, and now no longer. Where once had been self-destructive selfishness there was now revolution. The wizards lost their hold over the people, and was overthrown. Eventually only a few of them remained, allowed to live so that humanity still could hold against the titans. But they were no longer trusted and no longer allowed with much political power. And infuriated both the Eye, the Possessor and the Devastator saw that humanity would actually become stronger because of this incident. But they weren't defeated... Humanity had to be divided, and Rodericia had some ideas of her own. The Eye was willing to listen, and a new plan was formed. But for this new plan to work they would need more minions to guide the evolution and oversee the effects. Thus the Possessor and the Devastator went out to seek and corrupt new souls to their cause. Easier said than done...
The first to join was a politician, a guy who only cared for himself beyond what was normal. Quite capable of lies and deceit, with great
undrstanding of the dark side of human nature. The Influencor was totally willing to cause disruption among nations in exchange
for immortality and power. Then the actual plan was set into motion, evolving the creatures known as the greenskins. Goblins and gremlins, trolls and ogres. Some almost as intelligent as the humans themselves, but still with more primal instinct behaviour. If they wouldn't cause enough trouble, then the evolution of the political Lizard Men might. Or the new moleman, or dwarf, would mine their way into chaos. And Rodericia was happy with glee to see even more from fantasy become real, especially the last part where certain humans were given the ability for telepathy, with pointed ears as antennaes for maximal effect. Elf was thereby born, and with clever manipulation from the minions of the Eye they were looked down uppon, scorn, and sent out to fend for themselves. Then, in the midle of the Age of Growth, despite the fact that much of the truth of history (especially about the elves) had been forgotten or manipulated, war broke out. The whiteskins and the greenskins has for a long time been goaded by the underlings to distrust and despise the other, and eventually Rodericia forged documnts with lies upon lies of how one intended to exterminate the other. Rulers saw no other options than to destroy their adversery before they destroyed them. Of course the war wouldn't last long, but it would bring a longlasting disruption of balance and harmony. But Rodericia's plan was not over. Among the elves two factions had been manipulated to arise, and through further manipulation the two sides was torn in seperate directions, one wich would abondon the path of magic the elves had origninally taken. Driven out into the plains and the wastelands, the seperatists encountered trouble with the greenskins. This was the critical point in Rodericia's plan, to give those creatures a more intelligent ally, and she urged the Eye to change the exiled elves' skin color through changing the blood color. Thus the orcs was eventually born, and the Age of the Divided was in blossom... Now came Rodericia's greatest role. Taking residence among the elves she would slowly and secretly draw attention to the "dark elves", making the "real" elves furious and shameful of the union of the orcs and the greenskins. Eventuaklly seeing the orcs as abominations the elves sent raiding parties to exterminate thousands of them. Thus the final stage of the plan was set, and a new war among whiteskins and greenskins had started, dragging on for centuries, and out of this age... And Rodericia the Devastator was pleased with herself as the mass slaughter carried on, while even her fellow underlings was shocked to see how much this mad woman now delighted in this madness. Rodericia Raider was no more. Only the Devastator remained. The plan was working beyond well, and she was certain she could get even the dragons and the Lizard Men to join in the war. But well into the Age of the Species she started to notice that both sides had started negotiating for peace. Although she didn't expect it to go well, she decided to keep an eye on things a little longer. Then she noticed something strange, and she decided to look closer. Messages from one side to the other had been manipulated, and several people acted wrong, as if they were bribed. Peace seemed close than what could have been possible. The Devastator reported this to the Eye, and she was ordered to find the cause.She did... Zordon, half orc and half human, had been selected as a message bearer between the fronts, and the man had taken it upon himself to direct the world towards peace. Enraged with this discovery the Devastator laid a plan for an ambush, ready to unleash her full wrath upon this wretched being. Her furious attack was unexpected. Armed to the teeth she bore down on the fool, and a combat of steel and energy was engaged. But this man was more than what he had seemed, and the Devastator soon realized she had made a huge mistake. This Zordon had magical powers beyond any previous encountered human being, and the energies he used was similar to her own. And he was the one winning. She knew she had lost, and just as Zordon was about to unleash his final spell, she looked into his face, and he looked back... They stare... Whatever went through their minds was incomprehensible, but deep inside each other they saw a mirror of their souls, or something like that. Rodericia was suddenly back, and she presented herself while Robin presented himself. They then went away from the troubles of life and got themselves married. The fact that without Zordons further manipulation the Race War eventually led to a total mass massacre beyond what the Eye had dreamed of, followed by a silently agreed peace, did not enter the minds of Rodericia and Robin. For the first time in their life the two of them were truly happy... ...Until Robin got cold feet dure to family responcebility and such, and ran off to somewhere. For eight years she searches for him all over the world, but with little luck. She refuses to acknowledge anything from the Eye and the other underlings as she has all her attention focused on her runaway love. But it avails to nothing, and eventually she is once again the Devastator. Her madness then returns, and she tries to forget Zordon a.k.a. Robin... The following years went slower than usual, but according to the Possessor the Eye would soon rise again to consume and properly destroy the world as it was supposed to have done almost five thousand years ago. The Possessor himself is eventually sent to the City of Kwan along with the Influencor to properly take control of some kind of undead dark mage or something. The other underlings all have their own small missions, though the Assassinator is mostly kept out of the way because he had taken to drinking again, making him disrupting to the plans while he was drunk. Then the Age of the Species ended and the Shattering was ignited... "Devastator! Influencor! We send you to the Doom Mountains. Aid the Possessor and the Assassinator. Find and destroy the Raider! He contains unpredictable powers, and is a threat to us! Do this or never return!" It was a simple order, and she didn't expect any problems with it. Aiming in on the energies of the Assassinator she transported herself very close to the infamous villain known as the Raider, preparing a quick ambush just as the poor sod went out of a building. But rather than be hurt from the infernal beam she threw, he consumed it instead. Ready to attack again, they were bth suddenly ambushed by ghostly copies of her target, and they both agreed on a short alliance to get rid of these things before they continued their own little fight. But just as the Devastator inhaled the energies from around her to power her spell, some other idiot with a similar energy structure as her did the same. White light. Wast sound of destruction. "What the heck just happened!?" The Devastators outspoken loud question carried a strange echo, and as she looked around she saw a great, blackcharred area. Where there had once been a house, there was nothing. All that remained standing was herself and... No. The robed man standing where the house had been couldn't possibly be Robin!? But it was him! And as they looked into each others eyes once again, Rodericia's soul was back. First a squabble, then a making up and stuff like that. Then they went off to talk about all that had transpired, not to mention show off their magical skills. Robin had become even more powerfull than last they met, yet Rodericia surprised him when she drained all of the surrounding sources of energy and turned the sky above the Doom Mountains red. A temporary effect, but quite amazing looking. Ripples! The Eye had died! The connection to it had been severed, and the immortal powers at Rodericia's command faded fast. The same would have happened to all other underlings as well. She met the Influencor and the Assassinator who could confirm this, but she cared little for this now. She was happy to be with her husband, and he took her to meet some of his new friends, starting with a knight named Ellen. Then they found the Possessor down in a hole, hiding, and back in his original shape from five thousand years ago, though he had seemed to gain a lot more personality traits since their last meeting. He even insisted on being called William for some reason, though he now had inherited the advanced powers of the Eye. However, the Possessor was not interested in continuing the destruction of the world, and Rodericia was all free to leave and continue her life with her husband. Explosion! The events were dazed. No one had know about the third oblivionoid named the Manipulator. The man known as the Raider had been used by this being, this personage known as Master Red. At first Rodericia hadn't cared much when this Ellen dragged Robin with her to fight it, but when the explosion caused by the Possessor and Master Red occured she was thrown across the Charoon desert and towards the City of Kwan. As soon as she woke up she went and found Robin again, then to discover that Master Red had taken a new host; Ellen. Not interested in fighting everyone but the Possessor runs off, and then Rodericia once again meets the Raider and learns that he too was a survivor from the City of the Raiders, the supply boy named Martin Bluewind. It was time to end things. While the Possessor and the Manipulator were connected to the Void, Rodericia killed the new host named Ellen, expecting Master Red to die in the process. But it was not that easy, and Master Red took a new host; Robin. However, Robin did not appear to be affected, and the Raider had the Possessor, or William, also possess Rodericia's husband. Still no effect, though William did leave again soon afterwards. Eventually Robin managed to kill Master Red somehow while the being was still inside his mind, and shortly after everyone split up and left. Rodericia and Robin then left behind the past behind and travelled over the sea to Guildia... Rodericia Raider was happy. Through the following two hundred years Rodericia lived happily with her husband in Guildia City. Leaving her past behind had not been as easy as one could hope for, though. Violence and destruction had been the center of her entire life, and it was something she did not manage to give up. She would never have a fight or disagreement with her husband, but everyone else was a different matter. She barely got along with her own children, and those who became her grandchildren would fear her temper. Even the Raider, the few times he visited, was difficult to get along with despite all they had in common. If William the Possessor appeared she would go cold and more menacing than even what was usual for her. She even became the head of the Mad Dog Killers Guild, and a throroughly feared lady all throughout the city. As Rodericia had finally started to age, she came to realize more and more that she herself would never truly be free of her darkness. Other peoples pain and suffering had been something she had enjoyed for too long, and she just could not change herself. Though she would still live a little longer, she had her husband agreed never to prolong her life beyond what age would do, not even to attempt the powers of necromancy to revive her when she one day finally would die. And two hundred years after the Shattering she finally did die, and old lady in her bed, surrounded by her husband, her children, and some of the grandchildren. Her final words: "If only..."
Agnar Idsøe |