Penumbra

Guild Goal

We seek the Greater Expansion of the Dreamstate, by any means necessary.

The Penumbra 1

By Purple Lace and PAMSWEETS

I had to make sense of it all somehow. There would have to be proof without exposing all I had come to realize. It was too soon, they were not ready for what awaited them. At least, there was time.

The journal smelt rustic, still holding a faint scent of Fenr'al. She opens the old, tattered journal to the first few pages, her ringed pinkie running over the words, eyes closed as she recites from memory.

I have read these words, this journal how many times? Only now... it was clear. The passages began to flow together in a mirage of fluid colors, sounds, and scents. The Realms started to swirl in a harmony which gave the appearance of a sphere of intense energy.

She flips thru a few more pages then slaps the book with her right palm. The Scar glowed red-hot, and when the book laid open flatly, a scorched mark smoldered diagonally to the corners of the two pages.

Balance... It was talked about so casually, haphazardly, but would they know? Could they see the grave imbalance that surrounded them? Perhaps they, like the Harbinger of Chaos, had become entangled in the Weaver's Web, maddened by their own logic, their own lust for power... control... creation. The Goddess of Dy'Nar requires great stores of energy to create. This energy comes from the entropy of the Harbinger. They would choose to harness the Harbinger, keep it captive and not allowed to feed the Goddess. The Weaver would have her way, unless those who sought the Balance were willing to take that daring step, unleash the Harbinger and allow him to...

She closes the journal abruptly, hoping to quiet the passages reverberating in her mind. Knowing all too well what needed to be, but not how it could be allowed to occur.

Perhaps the answer lies in the young, the untainted, the boundlessness of the fresh minds. They were uninhibited by the logic and reason of those who came before. These young ones just might hold the key to unlock the Web, free the Harbinger of Chaos and feed the Goddess of Dy'Nar.

Burnt Journal

She reaches for the journal quickly, a determined look on her face. Knowing something was wrong, trinkets falling everywhere as she drew forth the smoldering remains.

My book! She opened the charred binder and looked inside in horror. One of the few shreds remaining was the lower half of the last page. "Rafe" signed in a deep blue ink.

"How could he! And the last page at that!"

She threw the book across the cave, it shattered and dusted the ground with flakes of blacked ash. Sliding down the wall muttering to herself, "How could he have done this... now the book is gone.."

Well, there was only one thing to do and do quickly. Concentrating some Dreamsoul, she forged a clean journal, pulled the quill from her hair and sat down on the ground.

"I'll just have to write it all back down..."

The quill laid gently against the parchment and she closed her eyes. The quill glided effortlessly back and forth across the page. After a time she set the quill down and looked at the fresh piece of parchment. Nothing, the page was completely clean.

"It was all so clear, so crystal clear to me and this is all I can recall???"

A low growl escapes her lips as brings the page closer to her face. There... barely etched into the surface were slight indentations in the paper. Disgusted she rolled up the parchment, tucked it under an arm and went in search of her daughter.

"Maybe PAMSWEETS can make something of this, my eyes are too weary..."

The Umbra

The Black Box was cool and comforting, soothing and calm. I was at rest, at peace, surrounded by all I knew as placid and reassuring. So why did I want to leave? Why was I compelled towards the Dreamscape? The answers were as close as the Darkness, as far as the Realm outside the Box.

I laid there very still, arms crossed over my chest listening to my Realm. No light, no sound, no movement around me nor from my body, no breeze, nor air, nor taste. The bliss of complete nothingness wrapped around my stilled carcass like a blanket. The only movement I could recognize was the rapid rush of thoughts which seemed to deny my body the eternal calm which wanted me to take that step to the Great Beyond. My mind simply refused to take that last... leap.

There was unfinished business, something which I must attend to before I would be able to... let go. That one, brief yet mind-altering glance I had of the `outside' urged me on. I knew there were others.. other Boxes out there, and they would need a guide, a legacy, an explanation. They would be soon faced with the choice I had, this decision between eternal bliss and the Realm of utter possibility.

I could sense Totality calling me, almost taste the scents from Cache, nearly see my daughter call to me. My eyes looked up at the top of the Box to see the emblem burning its imprint on my otherwise blank confinement. It was time.

My eyes closed, I suppose, or looked inward to that place I called my home.. distant swirling clouds of light and dark mixing in perfect harmony. I lusted after those clouds, that swirl, that Shadow. I felt it pulling me forward, up, out, beyond. Whispers growing louder, faces coming into perspective, the City was encroaching upon my Blissful Instability. How could I refuse it? Could I deny it? When would the nightmare end?

It was then I heard (?) something snap. Like a thread being stretched too far, too tight, a high pitched `ting', and then nothing. I looked around. I had never been here before, but familiarity prompted me to explore my surroundings. I was neither here nor there... I was between. Again the emblem struck out in my mind; the drawing had taken form. Before, it was merely a slight indentation on an otherwise pristine parchment, but now... it had become a reality.

I jumped back, startled at my own faint whisper... "The Umbra"

A Shadow'd Sketch

PAMSWEETS couldn't help but perk an eyebrow in curiosity as the thin, seemingly blank piece of parchment was pressed into her hands by her mother. She struggled for an instant with the edges of the crinkled, curled paper, slightly marred from being clenched tightly in a frustrated fist.

At her mother's insistence, she brought the sheet close to her face, searching for the lines which she had been assured were there. Indeed, they were, marks not of a pen nib, but sandy etchings, almost as if the page had been scarred in its creation. The scars made a strange pattern, and as her eyes unfocused to take the simple design in as a whole, her mind seemed to snap away from her grasp for an instant, relaying a subconscious thought unearthed by the viewing of this engraving.

Yes, the pattern lay here in her hands, awaiting her commitment, all she had to do was follow it. This was her task; Shadow the darkness, reveal the Penumbra.

Her thoughts came reeling back to her as quickly as they had escaped, and she realized her mother still stood in front of her, arms akimbo, her face awash in a mix of rage and for a moment, she thought, ignorance.

"Does she not see this? Can she not see what it is, with all her insight?!"

But she knew the rage was not directed at her, nor was she entirely sure herself what this was. It must be completed, of only this, was she aware, and the thought still pulsed deep at the back of her skull...

The Shadow Within the Shadow...

Her mother was waiting still, and she knew the time had long passed when she would have typically given her reply of curiosity but confusion, and instead she let out a mumble, her tongue tangled with her own half-understanding.

"I.. I'll start on it right away.."

Without waiting for her mother to question, she turned towards the portal and slipped through, her feet already making their path to Threshold Caves, for it was the encroaching darkness she needed for this project.

She labored long and hard, hours slipped by with her head bent over the roll of paper. Her tools lay sprawled across the floor of her Ambush, consisting of ink and brushes, and of course, the parchment, its curled edges secured with spare chakrams and elemens. The work did not come naturally nor easily to her, she was no aspiring artist, but of all the times her brush gingerly came down, running over one line or another, not once did she resent a line made.

Finally, it was done. She leaned back upon her heals, dropping the brush at her side. She surveyed herself before her work, finding ink stains on her gown and hands, her braid frazzled with countless times of being flipped out of her way. But it was when her eyes scrutinized the finished piece held up before her that she knew she must show Lace what she had done, and soon.

~*PAMSWEETS*~

Dreamer of the Entranced

Princess of the Penumbra

The Penumbra 2

She sits down against one wall, her gown draping to one side, her hair down the other. Looking around at the different trinkets, the unique bobbles around her, scattered in an order only she understood, the journal lifted from her pack, resting in her lap as the quill fell into her hand.

'The Penumbra'

Her hand quivered, the words seem to burn into the delicate parchment. She glanced at her hand, fist clenched around the pen, a trickle of blood drips from her palm as she continues.

I must tell this tale, for it may result in my ultimate demise. For that reason, I will journalize. My only fear rests in the possibility of my exploits will be found by greedy power seekers instead of one who will come forth... and carry on my ... adventures.

The Penumbra is a guild, but no ordinary one. Meaning a Shadow within a Shadow, as in an Eclipse, our member are scrutinized, selected upon deed not word, and are expected to carry on the guild's single goal to the best, varied and unique ways they are able.

Our mission? Goal? Ideal? It is quite simple and to the point:

We seek the Greater Expansion of the Dreamstate.

She brings a silk handkerchief to her left hand, setting the quill down. The scarf binding the slight prick tightly, she picks up the quill and continues.

There are no limits, there is no hierarchy. The Penumbra on one side is equal to the other. We meet in seclusion, in secret little spots off the well-beaten path. Most members know one to three other members. No member save me knows just who is a member, their status, current mission or project.

Any Expansion is still an expansion, be it big or small, light or dark, singular or City-wide. No idea is turned away, for it is the single idea which feeds the Dreamscape. Without the single, seemingly meaningless idea... the City itself would implode.

My journals are filled with our beginnings, though most will not comprehend that which we see as beneficial to the nature of the City. They need not bother. Some only know how to consume; those able to do otherwise huddle in dark corners and whisper about the future of our Realm.

The Shadow is a primary focus for us. Val'Des described it best with his recollection of his Vision which in itself created the ideal for the House at the edge of Umbric. A Shadow is the perfect combination of both light and darkness. If there is a ray too much light or a covering overwhelmed with darkness, the Shadow cannot be conceived. The mere concept that shadows are able to form defies logic. It shouldn't happen as often as it does; it is not something best done with the mortal hand. No, the Shadow forms under its own condition, its own circumstance, and its own temperance. But form, it does.

Penumbra and Iden

The first leader of Penumbra was Ravegeone. Folko never was a part of an official group but he was a follower of Prelate. Ravageone then betrayed Prelate and grouped himself with Iden. There was these two extreme powers...Penumbra and Iden. For some reason when Kabals left..Penumbras first goal was to weaken elders of the city to the point that they would disappear. Iden on other hand and his followers were damaging the walls of the houses. performing rituals and stuff. after some time...facades start to crack and they all closed short after. Prelate returned when houses were destroyed and Penumbra reported that they used the artifact...Corrupter of Souls to break the wall in the city walls. but when they attempted to do it...the portal appeared in that place...thats how citadel was found. so...because there was a large amount of members of past OoSM and Keepers of the Eternal Shadow in Penumbra..Prelate did this....he snapped the Corrupter of Souls in two part...one for Order of the Sable Moon and one for keepers, creating their primes out of the pieces. PAMSWEETS and Purple Lace were the Leaders, other members included Intrigue, Sable, Black-Lotus, Rafe, WinterValentine, Kellergeister, and Jack of Shadows.

Reference

• www.angelfire.com/ab7/dranak/groups/prenumbra.htm
• http://members.tripod.com/purple_lace0/index.htm