Lightless Hollow
Connecting Planes
Plane History
Rubedo Reborn
Following a recent history lesson about the Lightless, and the origins of This city, several dreamers have been spending time in the Lightless Hollow. Familiarizing themselves with it, and trying to get to know the history and feel for those that once dwelled there. Sadara and Mengyao being two of the notables. They had noted a couple of times lately, that there seemed to be ghosts.
On the evening of Saturday, The ghost made itself known by Marking Sadara when she had sat in his throne in the Coffin Hall. Rubedo Morvant, Highborn of the Lightless Survivors, marked Sadara with a hand print on her arm and told her that if his Soul Essence was not found and returned immediately... he would suck her energy away to fuel his rebirth. Somehow, during this, Ra'as apparently became cursed as well.
Sadara and Mengyao sought help from a group of dreamers in the library. Aileron, Advisor to House Calenture, attempted (With Sadara's blessing) to sever the connection between Rubedo and Sadara... but Sadara was pulled back to the Lightless Hollow, bound to Rubedo's throne, and had her avatar stripped from her. The group followed, and Aileron attempted to offer himself in Sadara's place, but was confined to the throne alongside her, also sans avatar. The throne itself began siphoning dreamsoul from everyone who came near, making retrieval of the bound Sadara and Aileron, problematic for the group.
Arnaya, Lance Ruler of House Calenture, retrieved Rubedo's Soul Essence. Poppygirl (ruler of Order of the Sable Moon) and Jevik Bane (Free Spirit, GK Teacher) readied their Gatesmashers... and when Arnaya returned with the essence, smashing it against the ground, they struck to try and destroy the Soul Essence. The Soul Essence however, vanished the moment it hit the ground and their blades hit the stone floor. Almost immediately, Rubedo's ghostly form began to solidify as the Soul Essence appeared on his throne. At the same time, Sadara and Aileron were released, their coherence returning. Many of the assembled dreamers barraged the Ghostly form, the throne, and the Soul Essence with their flames, attempting to destroy pretty much any of the 3 in order to prevent Rubedo's rebirth.. without success. The flames simply danced along the stone of the throne, limning it in fire.
As a last resort, Arnaya attempted to impale Rubedo before he fully solidified. Driving her spear through his chest towards his soul essence and releasing a built up harmonic burst, also to no effect. Attempts to carve the Soul Essence from his avatar while it was still freshly rejuvenated were also futile, with the strikes literally causing no damage or marks on Rubedo. Aileron eventually pulled Arnaya off of Rubedo, and Rubedo extended his hand... just sitting there... for some time, with only minimal interactions.
During that time, Coraal revealed that the Lowborn had been closer bound to the Highborn, and weaker in their own, than most had previously thought. With Zar'tenya's dreamstriking of the Highborn, causing the destruction of their linked Lowborn as well. Rubedo was able to summon one surviving Lowborn... the female lowborn, Nohbudee.
Rubedo made several comments about how the others (other Highborn) should have listened to him and let him wipe out the city overhead to rebirth their own, and how the dreamers had sent Zar'tenya (using less than complimentary terms to describe her) to finish them off and how the cities dreamers had failed or should have been more thorough.
Luther Doth arrived for a brief time, and after a couple of minutes, turned over Lilith Morvants Soul Essence to Sadara to do with as she chose... stating that it was nearly completely drained anyway. Aileron, Jevik Bane, Poppygirl, and Arnaya took up guard positions around Sadara, while Rubedo openly declared that he had no interest in her soul Essence during this time. Cuero however, invis'd and attacked Sadara. Sadara gave the soul essence to Arnaya, who removed it to the safe keeping of House Calenture. Cuero collapsed Sadara shortly afterwards, but did not continue hostilities. He later said that he was pushed to attack Sadara by telepathic whispers.
Luther left right after handing over the Soul Essence, and Coraal swore his service to the Lightless realm. Meanwhile, the Shadow Consortium has stated that they will be respecting the Lightless as a sovereign realm.
Will Rubedo follow through on his intentions to drain the city? How will Coraal's service impact and influence the politics surrounding the Lightless and Rubedo? Does Nohbudee also basically rebel against the Highborn's rule, or is she a loyal follower of Rubedo's?
~ Arnaya, Soulmistress
Lowborn Reborn:
A common question that has arisen lately, is "Who are these "Lowborn" I keep hearing about?". While the people to definitively speak with on the topic are Coraal; Elmer; Mengyao; and Tamarisk, here is a brief primer on the basics of the Lowborn.
Several years ago, a small city rested in the exact location that ours does now. One dream, something (event specifics are still unknown to this writer) happened, and several fragments of two other cities crashed into the smaller one, bonding to it and drawing an immediate surge of power from it to sustain themselves. What triggered this Clash is currently unknown, but what is known.. is that the initial draw of energy didn't just affect gens, sanctuaries, portals, and the like... but the actual dreamers of the city themselves. Leeching the vital essence of their minds, presumably restoring the connections to those cities, to the dreamers who once dwelt in them.
This caused nearly the entire population to essentially be dreamstruck on the spot. Those few that survived, were headed by a group of 4 powerful dreamers of the city that came to be known as the "Highborn". Ascheron, Athenodora, Lilith Morvant, Rubedo Morvant. Each of those 4 bonded certain weaker citizens of the city... essentially pulling them back from the edge of Oblivion. These weaker dreamers subsist largely on vital energy granted to them by the Highborn... those who served more generous Highborn patrons, were generally clearer of thought and speech... which those that served more restrictive Highborn, often (like Merp) displayed a great deal of difficulty comprehending advanced or complicated topics, and expressing themselves in more than the most fundamental ways.
The entire remnant of their city, was sealed beneath layers of the merging, Larger cities. Trapping those of the Lightless (What they came to call the remains of the Highborn/Low Born city) within the dead realm until they were able to finally dig their way out and discover what it was that had trapped them.
The Highborn, in particular, Lilith and Rubedo Morvant, blamed the Clash that destroyed their city, on the dreamers that they found populating the world above their own. Viewing it as a deliberate act on the part of those dreamers, destroying the Highborn's city and population in order to save their own. And so, were immediately hostile towards the dreamers of the city. Taking energy from weakened strongholds, etc. Ascheron, took a more mercenary and mannered approach. Seeming to reason that, since these new dreamers were here... they might as well work with them to try and get what the Lightless needed. While Athenodora took a cautiously hopeful approach. Openly speaking with various dreamers and sharing their story, trying to move past the grief and loss to build a better future for what remained of their people.
In response to various Highborn (Mostly Rubedo and Lilith Morvant's) actions, the assassin known as Zar'tenya took it upon herself to remove this threat to the city of Underlight, and assassinated the highborn. Without the Highborn to sustain those bonded to them... most of the lowborn too, vanished as they exhausted their energies and were claimed by oblivion.
With the rebirth of Rubedo Morvant, some of those lowborn at least that were once bonded to him, have been revived. Most notably: Merp and NoBuhdee (though Nobuhdee seems to have managed to survive the loss of her bonded Highborn patron, theories as to how she was able to accomplish this are still forthcoming). Rubedo Morvant at least, still remains convinced that the Clash of cities was deliberate act by the dreamers of the city above. Though the circumstances and precise outcomes do point to the possibility of a deliberate guiding hand, who's hand exactly and for what reasons... remain unknown to anyone I have spoke to about this topic.
What new information will come out about the Lightless and its residents? And perhaps more importantly... how will the dynamics of their interaction with the city change without the moderating influences of Athenodora and Ascheron?
~ Arnaya, Soulmistress
Journey to the Lightless
A few months ago, the Lowborn Argul visited Frey, Magnum, and I at the Emergence Academy. I offered him a trade of three dreamer essences for him to show us the Lightless Hollow. He altered a tunnel in the wall to accept us. We first arrived in The Lowborne Pens. He showed us around – each Lowborn had their own cubicle pen with the items they had collected from our City.
Afterward, he took us to The Coffin Hall, where he explained that the Highborn sometimes use to talk to the “Dark Bringers” aka dreamers of our City. The room had four thrones in a layout of a semicircle – which he instructed us not to sit on. Argul reminded us that to use our energy sparingly, because natural regeneration is not possible in the Hollow.
The next room he showed us was the Narthex of Sacrament. Argul’s demeanor immediately shifted to terror, as he shied away from the center of the room. I questioned him on what the room was for and he replied with “It’s where they do things.” When pressed on who “they” were and what they did, he explained that he wasn’t allowed to say names. He wasn’t sure what they did, but he knew it was bad and it hurts him. He said it wasn’t a safe room for the Lowborn, and it was good that “they” weren’t there now. “They” didn’t go high in the Lightless often.
We offered him assistance and he directed us to seek out the “BEST lud”; apparently he knows all the things and doesn’t ever take Argul there. As I understand it, he was referencing Lord Ascheron.
He told us that it wasn’t good to stay there, then took us to The Inky Black. It was a dark hall of tunnels that led to various planes throughout our City. I made a list of each plane, in case this information proves to be useful: Chasm of Souls, Ossuary of Dread, Evernight Plateau, Threshold Caves, and Lower Umbric Plains.
He said they weren’t all of the tunnels, but they were the ones near the surface. He also said they were only used to get to our City, not for us to get to theirs. We would need to move through rock to get to the Lightless.
References
https://forums.underlight.com/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=3324&p=20718&hilit=history#p20718 https://forums.underlight.com/viewtopic.php?p=17692#p17692
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