The Broken Prophecy (Walls O' Text)

Show Content

Spoiler

In the Grand Church of Lecroa, there is a great artifact. They call it the Crystal of Truth.
On the Day of Truth, a group of apprentices are permitted to touch the crystal. Sometimes it will show a vision of the future. If this happens, the apprentice who touched it is granted full priesthood.
Edwin was one such apprentice. When he touched the crystal, it showed a vision.
A horrifying one.
A monstrous army swarmed across the land, ravaging all in their path.
For several minutes, the disaster played out in terrifying detail.
Then, suddenly, the vision changed.
A girl with long black hair donned a suit of armor, and carried a shining sword and shield as she climbed aboard her steed. She rode into battle against the monsters.
Then, something happened that no priest had ever seen before.
The vision divided in two, with different images appearing on different halves of the crystal.
On one side, the armored girl stood victorious, and the people rejoiced in freedom.
On the other, she was dead, from wounds sustained in battle. The image changed to her funeral, and then to the forces of evil overrunning the land completely.
There was much discussion among the priests who had witnessed the ceremony. It was clear that a great evil would arise, and soon. And if the heroine in the vision were to die, it seemed clear that all was lost.
There were murmurings about the vision, particularly that a woman would be their savior, but ultimately, it was decided that they had to act on it: the crystal had never shown a false vision before.
Several of the priests had noted the name on the gravestone during the heroine's funeral: Alicia Lakewood.
Edwin said he knew the name, and the face. There was a woman in his own village by that name, and she closely resembled the heroine from the vision, though somewhat younger.
He was given responsibility for guiding Alicia to her destiny.
He soon came to regret speaking up about it.

Alicia disliked Edwin. More precisely, she disliked the Church of Lecroa, and disliked Edwin by extension.
As a result, when he explained that Alicia's future was of great importance to the Church, her response was to shove him to the ground and walk away.
She turned back when he yelled that specifically, her future involved learning the art of the sword.
"Well, that's another matter," she said with a smile. "I've always wanted to show those smug knights a thing or two. When do we start?"

The next ten years were not very pleasant to Edwin. Granted, Alicia had started to dislike him personally somewhat less, but she was still just as difficult to deal with.
She was particularly troublesome when another priest of Lecroa arrived to see how she was doing; Edwin's vision had caused enough controversy by naming a woman as the savior. He dreaded to think of what would happen if the other priests found out she was an unbeliever as well.
But she did not share his concerns, and he had to go to great lengths to convince her not to get into a theological debate with his visitors.
Nonetheless, even that paled in comparison to his problems when the demons finally arrived.

It was a shock to Edwin to see the demons - he had seen them in the crystal's vision, of course, but that had still seemed distant. Now they were here, and real, and the worst part was that he was fighting them.
It had been made clear to him that "guiding the heroine to her destiny" included assisting her in battle, and Edwin was hardly the best choice for that job. He had trained alongside her over the last ten years, but he was far from her equal; in fact, he suspected he was probably well below-average as a fighter.
It was fortunate for him that the demons tended to focus on raw power over actual technique; even with his very basic level of competence, he was able to handle one or sometimes even two if he was very lucky or they were very small.

Alicia, meanwhile, had shown her prowess against the demons, and had so impressed the men that she was given command of the mission. She lead her army to several small victories, raising morale all around; this lead up to the first assault on one of the demon strongholds.

The Obsidian Spire had just suddenly appeared one day; some even suspected it was the source of the demons, or at least that it was somehow empowering them. Alicia declared to the army that today, they were going to destroy it, striking a major blow against the demons. The company erupted in cheers.
Except for Edwin, who knew that he was going to be riding in Alicia's unit, because he always did, and that meant he was involved in the most dangerous encounters, even if he mostly just stayed back and let the more competent knights do the fighting.
He was always very worried, even when the battle went well in the end.

This battle did not go well.
The demons guarding the tower were stronger and more competent than the ones in raiding parties. There were dozens of casualties in just a few minutes of fighting.
Nonetheless, Alicia pressed on. She could not allow the deaths of so many brave warriors to be in vain. The tower had to be destroyed.

At the tower's gate, an enormous four-armed demon stood watch. He hurled a blast of dark energy at the approaching riders; most jumped from their horses immediately. Two were not so lucky, and screamed as their bodies rapidly, but painfully, turned to ash.
The survivors fought hard, save for Edwin, who largely stayed back and tried to figure out what the demon was trying to do and warn the others. Despite his best efforts, three knights fell in the process of cutting off two of the fiend's arms; another died stabbing it in the leg.
Edwin was terrified. He had seen deaths on the battlefield, but never so many at the hands of one foe. Soon it was down to just Edwin and Alicia, and Alicia was badly wounded.
The demon grabbed Alicia with its last remaining arm; before it could do anything else, she stabbed it in the chest. It screamed as her holy blade pierced its wicked heart. Then it crumbled to the ground.
Alicia smiled triumphantly for a moment, then collapsed. Edwin checked her body; she was dead.
His immediate thought was "oh hell", followed shortly after by "what am I going to do now?"

Edwin sighed. With Alicia fallen, the world was doomed. The vision had been clear on that. Why stay and fight, in that case? Nothing he did would matter.

He turned around to flee. And then he saw the battlefield before him.

The other knights were not faring well; as best he could tell, they had lost half their number. They had not yet seen the carnage at the gate; they did not yet know Alicia had fallen. Would they lose their resolve if they heard?

He looked down at her corpse again. He could imagine her voice, what she would say to him if she saw him like this.

"Edwin, you idiot! I don't care what your silly magic rock said, this battle isn't over yet. We can still win, but we have no chance if you give up now!"

He wondered, briefly, if there might be a way to cheat the prophecy. Perhaps he could impersonate her, and carry on the mission in her stead? Or even turn to the forbidden arts of necromancy, and reanimate her corpse to fight on...

Suddenly, he heard a strange sound, like a flame lighting. He turned around, and saw a demon grinning wickedly, holding a shadowy fireball in one of its hands.

It hurled its projectile, only to be swiftly decapitated by another knight.
"What are you waiting for?" he shouted at Edwin. "Get to the tower! Before we lose any more men!"
Edwin nodded, and saluted.
"Understood! I will not fail!"
"May Lecroa be with you!"
"With you as well!"
As the knight raced away to face another demon, Edwin picked up Alicia's corpse and ran through the gate, unsure of what he would face.
He never expected the sight he found inside.

Show Content

SpoilerLooking for suggestions as to what's inside the tower. Feel free to make other suggestions if you want.

The tower was filled with strange and wondrous machinery, stretching all the way up the walls. The bizarre technologies alone would have shocked Edwin, had his attention not been completely diverted to the enormous demon they surrounded.

The hideous creature was large enough that it filled almost the entirety of the tower. Gigantic shackles held its feet and arms in place, and it stood eerily still.

Was this tower nothing more than a resting place for this monstrosity? Surely if it were to awaken, it could easily bring about the end of the world. Edwin shuddered at the very thought. His ruminations were interrupted by a booming voice.

"What have we here? It seems one of you mortals has managed to enter my spire after all."

Edwin looked up to find the source of the voice. He saw a figure in crimson armor and a black cape sitting on the great demon's head. The figure laughed and leapt from his perch, landing unharmed mere inches away from Edwin. He cast his helmeted gaze upon the prone corpse of Alicia, still in Edwin's arms.

"But your hero is dead, isn't she? You've made it all this way, and there's nothing you can do. Soon the mighty Rhakkashalgaros will awaken and destroy your pitiful world. And no matter what pitiful attempt at heroics you try, you are destined to fail."

The crimson knight walked over to a strange console and began pressing buttons on it, paying no heed to Edwin.

"I could simply kill you right now, of course. It would be so simple. But that would barely be any amusement at all. No, it would be far more entertaining to watch you crumble before the realization that your vision is coming true, and you have no hope of stopping it."

Edwin fell to his knees, dropping Alicia's body to the ground. His eyes welled up with tears. He felt powerless.

Then a thought struck him.
"How did you know it was my vision?" he asked.

"Because I saw it as well," the knight said with a fiendish laugh. "Behold!"
He pulled a lever on the console, and the machinery shifted. A large gem arose from the center of the floor. Edwin gasped - he recognized that gem.
"The... The Crystal of Truth?"
"Yes. Or rather, a second crystal, identical to yours. It showed me the same visions - and more. I knew the hero would come here, and I ensured my strongest minion would face her. With her death, nothing stands in the way of the Great Awakening."

The gravity of the situation was too much for Edwin. His despair was nearly overwhelming. Was there truly nothing he could do?
No. He could not accept that.
He rose to his feet as he readied himself mentally for what he was about to do.

The Crystal of Truth was where this had all started. It had shown Edwin the vision of destruction, and of the one hope that was now lost.
He decided that even if he could do nothing else, he could at least strike a blow against the accursed crystal and its damnable vision.

Edwin raised his sword and charged at the crystal. It might not be the same one that had started this whole disaster, but it would suffice. He brought down his sword and the crystal shattered into pieces, unleashing a blinding flash of light.

When Edwin recovered his senses, he found the crimson knight standing before him. The demonic man grabbed Edwin's arms and twisted them painfully. Edwin dropped his sword as he screamed from the agony.

"As futile a gesture as that was, we still had use for that crystal. I will have to punish you for destroying it. Once I've had my fun, I suggest that you simply sit still and watch the end of the world. Of course, if you insist, I can always see to it that you meet your end first."

The crimson knight's words angered Edwin. He struggled against the demon's grip until he could free one hand, then he punched his tormentor in the face with all his might.
Stunned for a moment by the blow, the crimson knight released his grip. Edwin seized the opportunity to strike his foe again, knocking the fiend away. It gave Edwin the opportunity to retrieve his sword.

"I underestimated your strength, human," the knight hissed angrily. "But it would be foolish to think yourself a match for me."
The knight held out his hands, and two swords of pure darkness appeared in them.
"Now, you will perish for striking me."

Edwin reflexively stepped backwards; he was better at avoiding combat than engaging in it. But as he did, he felt his foot slip on something - likely a shard of the crystal - and he fell to the ground.
The crimson knight simply laughed at Edwin's misfortune.

"What a pathetic excuse for a warrior. I'm astonished you've managed to survive this long. But that ends now."

The knight raised his swords and advanced towards Edwin's fallen form. Edwin tried to pick himself up, and as he did, his hand touched another shard of crystal.
What happened next astonished him.

Show Content

SpoilerWhat happened when Edwin touched the crystal shard?

The knight, the gigantic demon, and the tower itself all seemed to vanish around Edwin. He found himself floating in the air, surrounded by what seemed like thousands of crystals. Each showed a different vision.

In most, he simply died at the hands of the Crimson Knight. Others showed him terrifying images, even worse than the vision of destruction ten years ago. He saw the horrors of the demons' invasion and the awakening of Rhakkashalgaros.

The sight of it nearly drove him mad. He felt more helpless than ever, as though he had been taken out of time only to see how little he could actually do once he was sent back.
But just as he was about to cry out in despair, he heard a familiar voice.

"Edwin, you damned fool! You always give up so easily!"

It was Alicia. Slowly, a transparent image of her faded into view in front of him.

"Alicia?" he said weakly.

"Shut up, Edwin. You don't have time to ask questions right now. You want to look, over there."

She pointed to one specific vision, amidst all the chaos. In it, Edwin rolled to the right, dodged the crimson knight's blow. He then held up the crystal shard and shouted "I will forge my own Truth!"
Then the vision suddenly ended.
Edwin had so many questions, but before he could say anything, Alicia vanished. But he could still hear her parting words.

"Good luck, you idiot. Don't mess this one up, or I'll never let you hear the end of it in the afterlife."

And then, just as suddenly, Edwin found himself back on the floor of the tower once more. Acting quickly, he rolled to the right, and the crimson knight's swords struck the floor, creating a large gash across it.
Before his foe could recover, Edwin held up the crystal shard, as he had seen in the vision, and shouted.
"I will forge my own Truth!"
A flash of light surrounded him, and Edwin found himself suddenly clad in crystalline armor. His sword, too, had changed into a weapon of crystal.

The crimson knight simply sneered.
"Bold words, mortal man. But I'm afraid you'll have to practice your smithery in the next world."
The demon knight raised his swords and charged. But Edwin countered by slicing the dark swords with his own. Shining with light, the crystal blade simply eradicated the shadows entirely. The crimson knight was stunned.
"Impossible! How can a mere man wield such power?"

Those were the demon's final words, for Edwin's blade pierced his armor effortlessly and stabbed his wicked heart. He screamed in agony, and crumbled away to dust.

And then Edwin's armor and blade returned to normal. The shard of crystal was reduced to powder. It appeared that, mighty as this new power was, it was also limited. He began gathering shards for later use - perhaps the one he had used had been enough to change the course of the future, but perhaps it had not.

Suddenly, the tower began to shake. For a moment, Edwin feared that the demon would awaken. He quickly picked up a few more shards, as well as Alicia's body, and fled the tower to ready himself for whatever came next.

As he left, he turned and saw the tower sink into the ground. Just as suddenly, the demonic hordes turned and fled. The other knights looked around in surprise - had they won?

Edwin knew they hadn't. Not truly. He suspected that the demon, still slumbering, would awaken soon. Unless he stopped it.
But what could he do?

Edwin gathered his thoughts. The slumbering demon was still a threat, yes. But there were more immediate concerns.
The knights were in disarray; some were cheering the victory, others worried that this was a mere trick by the demons. It was up to Edwin to gather them, and ensure they were ready for the next fight.
He was somewhat nervous. He had given sermons over the years, of course, but those had been practiced. Besides, this was a somewhat different situation.
But the task had fall to him. He cleared his throat and spoke.

"May I have everyone's attention, please?"

Across the battlefield, the men turned to face him and saluted. He returned the gesture nervously, and continued.

"We have lost many of our number today. Among them, I am sad to say, was our commander, Alicia Lakewood. Before I continue, let us take a moment of silence to honor the fallen." Edwin bowed his head in prayer, and the knights followed suit. After a short pause, he lifted his head and resumed his speech.

"Some of you may have heard that Alicia was the one prophecied to save us from the demons. We did not speak of it much, but I am aware there were rumors - it was, after all, unheard of for a woman to lead a company, and a priest of Lecroa was always near her. With her death, no doubt you are concerned about our future."

Edwin paused and surveyed the crowd; there were murmurs passing through. He raised his hand to silence them.

"But fear not, my fellow warriors! For Lecroa has smiled upon us - within the tower, I found hope. We have not lost yet. A new path has opened for us, if we are bold enough to follow it."

The murmuring resumed. A rather large knight stepped forward and glared at Edwin.

"And what might this new path be? Did you really find something, or are you just trying to get us to keep fighting when we've already lost? What did you find, hmm?"

The knight's words stung. Indeed, Edwin himself was unsure if the shards could truly change destiny. But what other choice did he have?
Edwin summoned every ounce of courage he had and gave the knight the most intimidating look that he could muster.

"Alicia would be ashamed to hear you say such a thing," he said firmly. "She fought with every ounce of strength she had against the demons. You all followed her into battle, and she brought us this far. Would you dishonor her memory by abandoning the fight now?"

The knight was taken aback. He lowered his head shamefully, and walked back into the crowd. Edwin looked over his audience with a newfound confidence.

"Here is the task before us, men. Within that tower was an enormous demon. It lies in slumber now. I killed its protector, but the tower has fallen into the earth now, with the demon still inside. We must find some way back into the tower, and we must slay the demon before it can awaken. And in the meantime, we must continue the battle against the armies of demons that still roam the land - though our foes today fled, I doubt we have seen the last of them."

Edwin raised his sword into the air.

"But we will not fear them! We will protect our kingdom - no, our world - from these monsters! No matter the odds, we shall not give in! We shall fight on! For the world! For Lecroa! And for Alicia!"

The men raised their swords in solidarity and shouted.

"FOR ALICIA!"

Edwin breathed a sigh of relief. It had been a difficult battle, and there was more to come. But they had won a great victory.

The men made camp shortly after. As Edwin lay down to sleep, he pondered the task that lay ahead of him in the morning...

Edwin's dreams that night gave him little comfort. He saw Alicia's death again, he saw the crimson knight laughing at him, he saw the great demon awakening and terrorizing the kingdom.

He woke up feeling as though he had barely slept. The memories were still too strong. He sighed, and prepared himself for the task ahead.

The men searched for underground caverns nearby, in hopes of finding a path to the tower's resting place. They failed.

A few knights wondered if the tower was even still there - perhaps demonic magics had moved it away, so the demons could launch their next attack elsewhere.

Several knights spoke to Edwin, suggesting possible moves. Some wanted to return to the castle, in case the demons tried to depose the king. Others felt the demons might strike at the Grand Church. A third suggestion was to check the nearest town - perhaps the demons had attacked, or at least passed by, in which case there might be eyewitnesses who could direct the knights in their way.

Edwin decided that, despite their reduced numbers, it would be best to split the company up and investigate all the major possibilities. One of the men asked which group Edwin would be going with. He thought on it for a few moments before announcing his decision...

Show Content

SpoilerYou could suggest one of the places I listed, or you could suggest another location entirely. Also, feel free to suggest general courses of action.

Edwin left with the group headed to the Grand Church. In addition to shoring up defenses, he hoped to consult with the elders of the church; perhaps one of them knew more of the nature of the Crystal.

The knights rode on, and arrived at the Grand Church. Edwin told the knights to remain outside; traditionally, only members of the priesthood were allowed into the church itself.

Upon entering, an aide told him that he was expected. One of the older priests had seen a vision in the Crystal showing his arrival, and it hinted that he carried grave news.

He soon found himself before the Council of Elders, informing them of his failure to protect Alicia, of the second Crystal of Truth, and of the power its shards held. There was a murmur among the elders, and he was asked to leave the room for a few moments while they discussed this matter.

Edwin waited nervously until he was admitted back in. Then, the oldest of the Elder Priests announced the conclusion that they had arrived at.

Show Content

SpoilerWhat did the Elder Priest say? And feel free to suggest a course of action for Edwin, too.