Tehthu
As the rebuilding of the City progressed, some began exhibiting mysterious bites, and dreamers became aware of a new threat to the City: Tehthu. Tehthu became a scourge to the Dream City, sparking great discord, causing a plague of mysterious maladies, and taking Ariana captive. When he first appeared, Tehthu was a demon, entering the dream in the guise of a man. It was only sometime after his discovery that the demon assumed his true Darkmare form.
In an effort to help save Ariana, and remove the demon from the dream, Kelrith reached into the chaos for an artifact, but to his horror, he discovered that he had introduced a new evil unto the Dream. Kelrith immediately called for a search for the item, which he named "The Corrupter of Souls." He vowed to eliminate the artifact from the dream, claiming that it had the power to transform dreamers into Nightmares.
Many fell to Tehthu's miserable curse, and a new form of chaos was unleashed in the Dream City. Tehthu was a dream-wide problem, forcing the cooperation of House Calenture and Dreamers of Light. The Elder, Aprilic took possession of Ariana's weakened form and communicated puzzles and hints to the dream to aid in her rescue. From deciphering these riddles left behind in Tehthu's wake, it was learned that three guardians of Dreamers of Light, and three guardians of House Calenture were required for a ceremony to remove the Darkmare from the dream. On the day of the summoning, these six combined with Aprilic, and employed the Corrupter to call forth Tehthu. After a great battle, Ghea scored the last stroke which collapsed Tehthu and freed his essence.
Aprilic volunteered to sacrifice himself to prevent Tehthu from escaping his prison. The Corrupter was to be bound together with the essences of Aprilic and Tehthu using the Dreaming Stone, and then banished to the rifts by the Orb of Calenture. When the ceremony was completed, Ariana's soul was freed from Tehthu's clutches, and the whole Dream rejoiced.
Much later, it was later discovered that Kelrith did not imprison the genuine essence of Tehthu, and because of this, Tehthu's evil presence remained in the dream, while Aprilic's soul was cruelly banished with the corrupter. This act of deception convinced many that Kelrith had been driven to insanity by his work with the Corrupter.
Draigon, a Guardian of the House Calenture, also fell victim to Tehthu's curse. Upon his defeat, Tehthu had dropped an artifact, named "Tehthu's Box," which Draigon had taken into hand. The curse piloted Draigon into deepest insanity, causing him to turn against his house; eventually spreading to others, including Lenix. A ritual helped restore Lenix to his right mind, and Lenix then helped Kelrith and others find a cure for Draigon.
Aria - A Tale of the Past
This story I researched when I found a few glyphs in the Caudal Rift, before they faded to something completely indecipherable. I wish to share this little tale with you my friends, since I don't know how long it will be before I can relate it to you again, in person within the dream.
This story takes place before The Great Loss. A young woman was making a trip through Edgeward Barrows one time, taking no real care of the world around her, as her only intention was to relax. She was a young DreamSeer and a newly ordained teacher, taking a break from teaching students for a short time. Her name was Aria, a Freespirit teacher of the dream.
Aria walked by a portal and heard horrible screams from the other side. Nervous, yet curious to see what was going on... she stepped through the portal and was aghast at what she saw. A dark figure draped in black robes and chaos stood in the center collapsing dreamers left and right. Soulspheres were coalescing in and blinking out of existence with strange talismans forming at their feet. In a bold, and somewhat stupid move, she judged the figure.
The dark figure turned to face her. She gasped as she recognized the form of a powerful Horron. A Dark Mare judged at the 8th sphere. It was Tehthu. Tehthu had saw her... judged her... and worst of all... began to laugh with an echoing evil. He spoke in the dreamers tongue, as all mares did before the Great Loss.
"Ahh... another piece of dreaming meat. I shall drink of your Death Essence DreamSeer, and there is always room for more, even after such a feast as I have had today!" Tehthu laughed evilly, and loudly. Aria realized that he was using DreamStrike! She then pulled out a chakram, a special artifact found in the now sealed Threshold Caves. It was an artifact called the Chakram of Clouds. She whirled on him and fired. The Chakram of Clouds, though unable to cause any real damage, had the ability to confuse and confound any entity it was fired upon, regardless of power or where it was fired to on the target.
But this time... nothing issued from the chakram, but something issued from her and into Tehthu. The Darkmare, a little confused at what happened, used an art and began to chuckle deeply. Tehthu regarded the dreamer with a strange and eerie calm. "Thank you for your gift, it has just saved your life." Aria looked at Tehthu in confusion. "What? What are you talking about?" Tehthu spoke calmly, yet with a hint of sarcasm. "When next we meet, I shall drink of you then. Consider these next few dreams as borrowed time. Until our next encounter, Aria. Clear dreams."
Tehthu teleported to another spot of the dream. Aria used her arts to try to locate the dark mare... but a force was preventing her. In a flash she realized what Tehthu was talking about. Her gift... was making sure NO dreamer could locate him. Also, her other gift was the chakram artifact that slipped through her numb fingers, and that Tehthu scooped up for himself. She shivered at what she had done, inadvertently but surely. She desperately sought to repeat it... on herself. For days she experimented... but nothing came of it. She tried time and time again, but failed. Sadly she walked about the dream and then met a young newly awakened dreamer, one of her only students.
The student exclaimed "Teacher! Where were you? I tried to locate you for days but I couldn't! What happened to you?" Aria, shocked, tried to locate herself, and the same field of protection that prevented her from finding Tehthu made her invisible to the art as well. In rabid excitement, Aria hugged her student tightly, who stood in rather blushing confusion. She located Tehthu in Horron's lair and devised a daring plan. Using the art of Chamele and this new art, called Mind Blank, she crept upon the Darkmare and blasted him from behind, forcing it to drop the Chakram of Clouds.
Angrily, Tehthu looked about, screaming. "Dreamer! I sense your presence, I shall drink of your death essence... NOW!" Dark rages of fire and knives blazed through the air, as a Razorwind cut Aria to the edge of coherence. She turned on the dark mare lord and fired the chakram at point blank range! Tehthu, confused, was unable to act fast enough. Aria awoke to escape oblivion... and when she reappeared in the threshold a few minutes later, she was treated to the sounds of Tehthu screaming in utter fury. She smiled and quietly enjoyed the moment. She had corrected her error, and won.
Also see Temple of Darkness for more information on Tehthu.
