Editing Announcements - 2009/08 - Reclamation (section)

== Rollout Article ==
{{Turbine 2008
 |  Link = http://ac.turbine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=494
 | Title = August 2009 Event Fiction
 |  Text = Queen Elysa paced back and forth in front of a giant map of Dereth and its surrounding islands.  In one hand she clutched a rolled-up parchment, twisting it in her hands in agitation.  The map itself was a marvel.  It was as long on each side as a human was tall, and incredibly detailed.  Lakes, forests, rivers, and mountains were all rendered perfectly and in full relief, so that one could almost feel the snow swirling around the peaks of the Linvak mountains, or smell the fetid stink coming off Blackmire Swamp.<br><br>The map was Asheron's creation, and he had created it in the council room of his private fortress on the island he claimed as his own.  He stood at the head of the table, looking down over the map in deep thought.  The wizard Harlune sat nearby, nursing a mug of ale and frowning at everything.<br><br>Asheron gestured at the map, and a small point in the northeastern Direlands began to glow.  “So,” he began, “your scouts report a new Apostate excavation here…”  All three of them looked at the map with varying levels of unease.  “What other details have they reported?”<br><br>“The scholars at the Arcanum believe the Apostates are re-visiting Levistras' plan to create a New Singularity for themselves on Dereth, and so establish this realm as a home world for them.  If they succeed where Levistras failed, that will be the end of Isparian civilization on Dereth, not to mention the enslavement or extinction of every other sentient race on Dereth.”  The Queen looked around at her two companions.  “I imagine even you two might have reason to fear if the Apostates become the ultimate power on Dereth.”<br><br>Asheron nodded slowly.  “Indeed.  Harlune and I have both survived great catastrophes on Dereth, thanks in no small part to the bravery and resourcefulness of your Isparians.  But if the Apostates claim Auberean as their own, I fear we will have nowhere to hide, and little power left with which to combat them.”<br><br>Harlune snorted.  “Not to mention the kind of havoc they will be able to wreak across multiple worlds.  Auberean is a crossroads and a center of power across multiple intersecting plains, thanks to its unique connections to portal space.  They'd be foxes in control of the henhouse, with access to every other henhouse in all of creation.”<br><br>Both Asheron and Elysa grimaced at the thought.  “What reason is there to believe they will succeed, then, if Levistras already failed once in such a plan?” Elysa asked hopefully.<br><br>Asheron sighed.  “They have discovered the presence of Aetherium in these lands.  In tiny amounts, to be sure, but it is present, and they seem to be gathering as much as they can.  Levistras knew nothing of Aetherium, and the New Singularity it attempted to construct was based on a much less powerful medium for the manipulations of its own rebel Virindi.”<br><br>Harlune spoke up.  “In addition, that archdemon T'thuun kicked over a lot of apple carts when it tried to come into the world.  The ley lines that bound and control the magic of Dereth are weakened and vulnerable to further manipulation.”<br><br>“If that's the case, no doubt the activities of the secret societies have also done some damage, and made the Apostates' task easier,” Elysa said with a meaningful glance at Harlune.<br><br>The old mage ignored that and took a long gulp of his drink.  “What else did your scouts say?” he asked.<br><br>Elysa unrolled her parchment again, and re-read it carefully.  She'd already read it a dozen times, but she read it again in the vain hope that the mysterious words would make more sense to her.<br><br>“One scout overheard the Lugians around the work site say something about unearthing an ancient Primus, whatever that is.  But shortly after that, the Lugians were herded away by a Virindi Apostate and they have yet to come back to the surface.”<br><br>Asheron and Harlune glanced at each other in alarm at mention of the word “Primus.”  Elysa was a veteran of combat and an expert archer, and her eyes missed none of this.<br><br>“What?  Do you know what this Primus is, and why they are talking about it?”<br><br>Asheron and Harlune looked at each other significantly again, holding the gaze for a long moment.  Exasperated, Elysa almost yelled, “Well?”<br><br>Finally Asheron broke his silence.  “Yes.  We recognize what they meant by this ancient Primus.”<br><br>Elysa looked expectantly at him.  She was a mortal, a common-born Isparian who had lived but a few short decades.  Though she was a Queen, Asheron was the most powerful mage in Auberean, the son of a proud line of Empyrean nobility, and thousands of years old.  And yet, he could not resist the strength of her will.  He'd preferred to be able to deflect her question, but decided he owed her the truth.  “This is an old and sorrowful tale, one that goes back hundreds of years, before I mistakenly opened up a portal to the Olthoi world.  I had been experimenting with portals, and on another world we discovered a very strange race of creatures.  They sent a diplomatic delegation to this world…”
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