The Search Within
Scathain sat quietly in the soft light of the empyrean candles, surrounded by texts of the ages he poured himself into the research. He had slowly, and magically, made his way to the Lyceum of the Heiromancers by assembling the various components together to create the recall gem. Methodically and silently he plodded through the old tomes. Searching for an answer to a riddle that was posed by the Sage Momrath. An ancient Falatacot, reincarnated by a dark trick of the lifestones
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Momrath had told him many things that sprouted Scathain's plan to find the Lyceum. Upon Momrath's arrival the stone lifestone shattered as the energies had been focused through it. He had told Scathain his story and much about what he recalled upon his arrival in Dereth. late in the evening of the Paladins great meeting. Momrath also had told him of the changes that were unraveling deep within him and his friends. The lifestones purpose was to gather the energies of the recently departed and re-assemble them back into a corporeal form. This was understood by all in the land of Dereth. What everyone didn't know is where and why they existed. Momrath, being ever cryptic, only had told Scathain that the energies of the dead weren't powerful enough to energize the lifestones, nor was the everpresent mana of the fizzling mages that lied about. The lifestones energy was being drawn deep from beneath the surface of dereth from the heart of the planet. Energies that had nature and spirit, energies that "the old ones" were apart of and had onced been before splitting apart into there current essences. The lifestones had been cutoff from part of this source, or more likely been infected by the force of "the great master". The lifestones no longer could draw the energies they needed from the great tap of pure energy beneath them. They were now reaching out further and drawing more random sources. A mixing was beginning to occur, the soul energies of the dead from long past were now being drawn upon from the crypts, shadow and virindi energies were being sapped into the lifestones to. This energy, not being pure, was basically infecting and infusing into the population at random. Cerebus odd behaviour and the Virindi possesions seemed to be proof enough of this to Scathain. Many people in dereth bore virindi magics and used them, but not all had succumbed to the virindi singularities will. Momrath's description did bring clarity to a murky mystery.

The heiromantic texts confirmed his fears and Momrath's theories. Lady Miette, according Momrath was the incarnation of Lady Adja of Ithaenc, that somehow the lady's soul was blending with Miette's throught the lifestones. Sure enough Miette had many of the items of the lady and had learned spell's of her name. The mere fact that Scathain could read the ancient Yalanie was almost proof enough for him. He had spent time studying magics in Arwic but nothing like this, somehow his dreams of this place and the strange vision of mage armor and fire all about him had seeped into his conscious knowledge. Somehow Scathain felt he was absorbing part of an old soul, whose he didn't know. Beads of sweat formed on his brown and he thought about this, was the spirit good or evil, what did it intend. He wiped it, the sweat and the concerns, aways and returned his thoughts to the matters at hand. From what Scathain could discern the lifestones were a growth from deep within that had sprouted out for a reason. The lore of the ancients spoke about the construction around the stones as a way of focusing it for mana, for electrical energy and for magical fields. When the Isparians had arrived many years ago the stones didn't exist to there knowledge and had only began to sprout after the destruction of the olthoi queen. This puzzled Scathain greatly. What had the olthoi to do with the growth of the crystals, the lifestones. Had they destroyed them, cut off the flow of the energy to the surface. Had the olthoi queen somehow used this energy? Could the bugs have enough intelligence to do so? Momrath spoke of "the great master", a force of uncomprehencible evil, that was influencing the "structure of life" with in the earth. Scathain new a link was there. The life stones, the olthoi, the great master all were pieces to the puzzle but the library of the mages was not yielding this answer.

Early in the morning while fumbling through some text he found in the headmaster's study, Scathain began to yawn and stretch when a certain book caught his eye. It had said, Re-animation and Soul infusions. A slight grin began to spread across his face. As he reached for the book, his candle began to flicker. His eyes grew heavy, as if a pulse of electricity had hit him he cringed. Looking down he spied dark black tendrils wrapping around his leg, he felt the life force begin to ebb from him. Knowing he had only second he threw himself toward the book with the hope that he would drag it with him to the last lifestone he had bound himself to.. but he was too late.