Illustration by Travis

Prologue

The veil has fallen… and no one is safe.

For over a thousand years, the city of Aegil has remained hidden from the outside world. Concealed by an obscuring veil cast over the city to protect the citizens from the impending Darkheart Ritual, the city has since grown into a prosperous oasis. A place where modern technology has caught up to archaic magics, and the two live together side by side.

But everything changes when a mysterious being arrives and takes back their magic pure khazradanium staff, Khazridar, which powered the obscuring ritual. With the veil down, the factions in and out of the city ask the being to return the staff to them. The being agrees to give Khazridar to the faction that manages to impress them the most.

Who will impress the being and win back Khazridar? And what will it mean for the future of Aegil?

The Factions

Story

Act 1

Lumis Tenebris of the Alabaster Conclave enters with Sawyer Bentley of the P.H.D. Institute and their assistant, pausing them at the door to remove the magical protections around Khazridar’s chamber, then invites them in. He presents the staff to Sawyer and allows them to inspect it, though he is annoyed that they brought an assistant. When they state that he had asked them to bring an assistant, they both realize that they’ve been manipulated and the assistant lunges for Khazridar.

Lumis is able to trap her in a containment field and asks who she is. She reveals that she is Whisper of the Infinity Syndicate and Lumis attempts to kick them both out. Sawyer reminds Lumis that they need to finish their exam or they will be forced to take immediate custody of the staff. Lumis relents, resigning himself to watching over Whisper. She points out that Sawyer is wearing a necklace which they state is an old west artifact with anti-magical properties.

Right as they reach for the staff, the lights go out and when they come back, a figure in a purple coat is standing there holding the staff. He pulls it out of the stand that it’s resting in and there is a magical noise and effect felt by everyone in the room. It is revealed that now that Khazridar is no longer docked in the stand, the veil surrounding the city has fallen and Aegil is now left unprotected. The being introduces himself as Jericho and frees Whisper from her containment field against Lumis’ wishes.

Each of them tries to claim the staff back from Jericho so he proposes a competition for each faction to try to earn it. Whisper immediately kills Lumis and Jericho revives him, stating that nobody is to hurt or kill anyone until the contest is over. He leaves and Sawyer convinces Lumis to allow Whisper to go contain her people. Each of them sends a message to their faction to come help with the Veil Fall crisis.

Act 2

Jericho, Whisper, Lumis and Sawyer appear in a pocket dimension where they urge each of them to show them what they all came up with.

Sawyer goes first, dropping a few devices at their feet, surrounding them. Jericho finds themselves trapped in a time loop which they are able to pull themselves free from. They praise Sawyer on thinking outside the box and for jumping straight to the 4th dimension. Jericho states that they are more of a 5th dimensional being but dismisses that thought quickly and calls Lumis up next.

Lumis lays out a magical barrier and tells Jericho to cross it. They attempt to and are caught by a feedback that blasts them backwards. Jericho praises Lumis’ attempt but reminds him that it’s still a wall and a wall can be moved, which they do easily with Khazridar. They tell Lumis to look into their histories and Whisper comes up stating she’s getting bored.

Jericho invites Whisper to take their turn which she responds to by gently caressing their shoulders, walking around them. Jericho states that they must be using pheromones which she doesn’t deny. She moves around him, slipping her knife into her hand behind her back. Jericho asks if their lips are poisoned which she responds to by saying the knife is as well. Whisper then stabs Jericho a few times, shooting them for good measure. When she crouches down to grab the staff, Jericho pops up and laughs, stating that it was a good try to wait until everyone else went to tire them out before striking.

Jericho then is unable to pick a winner so they challenge everyone to take another day to improve their plans before teleporting everyone home.

Act 3

Whisper, Lumis and Sawyer enter and confront Jericho, demanding that one of them be given the staff. Jericho inquires what each of them has learned over the last day of conferring with their teams.

Lumis states that he and the Alabaster Conclave have consulted their histories and found that other towns had had similar ideas of protections and decided to utilize armaments alongside the veil to keep people away.

Sawyer states that if they can’t contain Jericho, they’ll contain everyone in the entire city, and nobody would be able to leave ever again.

Whisper states that she and her team agreed that the best way to impress him is to do something unexpected. She asks nicely, saying “May I please have the staff?”.

Jericho watches the pained expression on her face and states that her doing that cost her something and that he is impressed. Khazridar is awarded to Whisper and the Infinity Syndicate. Whisper breaks the staff and turns to fight Lumis and Sawyer. Jericho intervenes and states that a two on one fight isn’t fair and takes Whisper’s gun, killing Sawyer. He then leaves stating he’s taking her gun since she broke his staff.

Lumis and Whisper stood against one another to fight, and the lights faded to black.