The Fall of Loria

[Lore Denin]

   Everyone outside the chamber was dead!  The last remnants of the Great Lorian Order huddled together in the gate room at the heart of Heaven's Ascending.  

 Leaving this land had always been the plan but not now and certainly not under these circumstances.   The DarkLords of the Colony of the Fallen had besieged the capital of Loria taking advantage of the absent king and his many missing knights.  The entire island was overrun; the last bastion of Virtue in the land they called the Origin was burning to the ground around the four who remained.

 Lore and Valiquin lay motionless on the hard stone floor neither dead nor injured but useless nonetheless.  The transition between worlds causes weakness and disorientation, a sickness that lasts for days sometimes longer and Lore and Valiquin had only arrived a few hours earlier, both blissfully unaware of the catastrophe unfolding around them.  Perhaps if they arrived earlier things might have been different. Talis shook his head in despair, what's done is done.  No sense dwelling on the past.  He beckoned to Sangtlem De'lor, the great gargoyle guardian, and the only remaining hope for their King and for the dream they all shared.

 "My magic will not hold,  you must take Lord Denin and Ambassador Lok back through the gate."

  Sangtlem nodded easily lifting the two men and draping one over each shoulder. He paused before stepping through the gate, "To know they are weak.  To understand they may die from the journey? To have been warned never to do so?"

  Talis never took his eyes off the door, the strain of maintaining the magical barrier showed on his face as it contorted, his voice quivered in pain, "We are out of options, if they remain here they are as good as dead.  The only chance we have is to get them through the gate and back to the Dark World."

 Still Sangtlem stood still not moving towards the gate, "To inquire as to your fate?"

"My orders have always been to ensure no one outside the Lorian Order enters this gate. Once you pass, I must destroy it.  It can't be destroyed from the other side.  I must remain....  the Darklords must not be allowed to enter"

  "To understand your duty, to admire your sacrifice, to be honored to serve by your side."

  "GO!! Get them out of here...", still Sangetlem stood making no move towards the gate, "To get going, NOW!! You stupid gargoyle!"  Talis's sneered as he finished the phrase, he never much liked Gargoyles and down right hated how they spoke the common tongue. Even now in his last moments he couldn't help making a not so veiled jab at the Gargoyle protector who remained perched in front of the gate like a granite statue.

 "I can only hold them back a few more moments.  MOVE DAMMIT!!  I won't have time to destroy the gate if you don't go - NOW!"

 Without another word, Sangtlem disappeared into the glassy darkness of the Gate taking with him the Lord of Loria and its lead Ambassador.

 With the last of the Order safely through the gate, Talis spun away from the door and focused his attention on the evocation he was holding in reserve. His lips easily passing over the complex syllabus of the incantation, timing had to be perfect but one does not last long as a battlemage if your timing is off. The few heart beats passed....

 The door splinter behind Talis, the last syllables of his spell passing from his lips.  Talis could feel himself being hurtled across the room like a rag doll, spinning helplessly, end over end until he hit the grey stone wall at the back of the chamber.

 He tried to blink away the darkness but the room continued to darken.  He realized his body was impaled by the many shards and splinters that had been the door, his back was broken from the impact against the wall. He was vaguely aware of the large pool of blood widening around his body. He continued to blink, trying to make out the shapes of the Fallen Lords as they entered the room.  He tried to get up, move, cast, anything but he remained motionless except for his incessant blinking. He heard one of the Dark Lords exclaim in glee, "The Gate, its still functioning,  they were not able to destroy it!"

Talis smiled....  yes it was a modified version of the spell but at its base - it was the same.  Darkness closed in on Talis's last thoughts, his mind drifted to the beauty of his final incantation and why it had always been his favorite.... was there anything better then that look of surprise.... when an enemy didn't understand..... the beauty..... of the......explos.... no that's not it.....the beauty....its... in.....the.................delay

                                                         
"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM"  

                                                         

 

[Watchertoo]

Welcome back Lore.  I am sorry for all you have lost in the UO world these past months but if things happen for a reason then it was meant that you would return and focus your game energies in the lands of Siege.  Your losses (and the production shards' loss) is Siege's gain.

Susie heard the words the runner spoke, but the impact was not yet felt.  Slowly she dropped to one knee, bringing her bow to her chest and began to speak the ancient Elvish prayer.  She bowed her head in respect for all who had lost their lives defending the lands of Origin.  This was a terrible blow to Virtue.

[CharGar]

Welcome back!

[Hoffs]

Welcome back. Sorry to hear of your loss.

[Freja]

Welcome back Lore Denin, my favorite Virtue Knight and welcome back Valiquin Lay.
I'm sorry for your lose but you are not alone, the people of Siege Perilous will be there for you.

As you know, Freja never liked the Virtue before she meet you, but after meeting you, she learned, true virtue can be found everywhere, it's about Truth, Love, and Courage.
Some, not all, who call them self Virtue, do not see the Anti Virtue in their heart, they need to choose Truth, Love, and Courage over Falsehood, Hatred, Cowardice.
She also learned, that Virtue are also found between the poor, weak and outlaws in the land, that they do care the Virtue in their heart.

To help people, Freja try to show people, they do have Truth, Love, and Courage in their heart and trust the power of the Virtue. If they do that, Falsehood, Hatred, Cowardice can't exist in their heart.
Freja did not really understand this before Lore Denin learned her about it.

The time you was gone had been chaos but something had changed, I see much more Truth, Love, and Courage between poor, weak and outlaws in the land now, so what you started are not lost.