Pages of Intent

[Aileron]

Aileron sits down at the writing desk in the royal bedroom of the palace, pulling out a large tome and flipping through the pages filled with text until he comes to a blank one. Sounds of the children enjoying the warm, but comfortable evening brings a smile to his face before it falls from his lips, his visage taking on an almost muted look as he begins to write.

The city has given me an opportunity, a chance to do now what I wasn't able to do because of my absence. Tonight myself and Jade ran into an old friend, engaging in conversation the topic of Jade's body being forcefully taken away from her was brought up. I can see the pain on her face in the city whenever the name Aria is mentioned and all I can feel is guilt and rage. I should have been here to protect her, to do something, anything. Then I heard the words that will change the course of my dreams for the foreseeable future. "It's very likely that the manifestation of what is Zalar and Aria's combined form may find their way to the situation as well." My mind is still reeling at the prospect. That if I couldn't protect her then, I can at least give her the revenge she is rightly entitled to now. I won't be able to sleep because of the thoughts of how to actually do this deed will make me toss and turn. I know I will need to make some precautions in the chance that everything goes wrong. I know there is no true death in the city, however if I can at the very least bring suffering and pain to the pieces of wasted dreamstate that harmed Jade..Well, I will consider that atonement for my own failing. For now, I can hear Olivia calling for me and yelling at her brother. I should go make sure Alexander isn't trying to flood a wing of the palace again.

As the quill in his hand returns to the well, his lips take on the smile once again as he exits the room.

[Aileron]

I have come up with a plan, it relies on a lot of luck aside from preparation but I'm no grand strategist so I leave some of this to fate. From talking with Jade I learned that Aria isn't someone to be taken lightly, as has been made apparent to me after hearing about her and her mate dispatching the head warden Alice..something. I also have been made aware that this possibly may not be their last attack in the city, which I shall use to my advantage.
Fate has also deemed me worthy to have an ally in this endeavor as well. I appreciate the cooperation however it also leaves room for more chance of failure, but we feel that the positives outweigh the negatives.

It's apparent we will need to subdue Aria, Zalar or the combined form of the two that I was informed about. My mind is taken into my own "recent" past with the Darkness and how an attempt to make the city essentially start anew in time was thwarted. The original plan from what I was told was to have someone of significant power or lineage sit upon the throne in the Lower Palisade wearing a Crown of Parity forged by Magnilia and her home of that time. That didn't come to pass but it gave me an idea. What if we can still have someone of that caliber sit on the throne? I have no idea where the crown is nor it's state. However, I saw recently that one of my statues that I created to help defend against the Darkness still exists and is located in the Library in the Unknown. The crystal in that statue is made from a piece of every house in Underlight. It should hold enough power to at least allow someone to control the flow of time itself for a short duration. If we can make that happen, neutralize Aria by using time itself..she and whoever else is with her would be rendered harmless.

Who can sit on the throne, however? I'm going to leave a notice for any remaining Warden in their stronghold on Edgeward. I want to know what their plans are now that their leader is gone, and why for some reason everyone in the city doesn't seem to appreciate their presence in Underlight. It is in that meeting I will also feel them out on their willingness to aid in my part of this plan. If they are willing, and I can follow through with making something to help one of them use the throne...well..then all that is left is for my ally to come through.

So many moving pieces, so many chances to be pulled out of the shadows and put into the light. I feel nervous for the first time in a long time. This can't fail, it won't fail..I made a promise.

[Aileron]

It's to my own amusement and irritation that I constructed this seven pillared annoyance so well. The only way to get the crystal is to slowly wear away the clasp holding it into place. This concoction of few parts poison one part essence of the molten liquid from Chasm seems to be doing the trick, however it will take more applications to loosen it enough to retrieve. Time is of the essence and I'm finding my own patience hard to grasp onto and hold.

The message I left in the essence room of the Edgeward Stronghold hasn't been answered. I checked the room and the parchment is gone so I'm assuming it's just waiting for now. I figured a crown would be too on the nose for this so I decided to start the forging of a circlet. Nothing fancy but I'll make sure there's no points to stab into their head. I still have my pride as a craftsman to uphold to..myself I guess.

Not seeing much of the other one involved in this plan is starting to unsettle me, however I push forward with everything for now in hopes that not all is lost. In doing so my thoughts dwell on what if the worst possible scenario happens. I'm not afraid of the worst, not afraid of anything in the city of Underlight for that matter. I acknowledge to myself that this is a flaw in my own character, fear is good, fear ensures wise choices for survival. My work in achieving SoulSovereign can help however in at least giving a chance in case I have to sit on that throne myself.

The first step in broadening my own Resilience to make it stronger is to mix it with an empowered font connected to the city itself then pulling it back into my own avatar. What if I take that idea and broaden it? Our connection to the dreamstate is but a thread of our own essence, what makes us what we are in our core, memories, emotions, elements. That is why a Soul Essence is left when someone is struck, it's merely those threads, that connection made solidified. I'm going to attempt to leave my own thread in the city. The Soul Well in the breach will be the best for this experiment. It has ample abundance of both Dreamsoul and Resilience. I will mix my own focal element and Dreamsoul with that of the room, tethering it, allowing it to cycle through the city. If it works, it will essentially leave my thread intact and Jade can then start to piece my connection back together. I'm going to do my first tethering tomorrow evening.

Still a lot of work left to do, must stay focused and let the hate I have welling deep down to fuel my determination.

[Aileron]

NO! NO! NO! NO! ALL THAT WORK AND TIME WASTED WITH NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT, NOT EVEN A DAMN SCRATCH ON THEIR SMUG FACES!

Marked out text continues throughout the page. Half of the page is torn away and writing continues on the next.

Everything is...wrong. My "ally" is no where to be seen and I now know why I wasn't contacted by any remaining Warden. Sirus intercepted my note and seemed to have some intent on making Aria and Zalar suspicious of me. I believe I kept the situation under control. I haven't told a lie thus far to anyone in the city, and I intend to keep it that way until I fully have to. I let my rage get the better of me after the confrontation, however. I went to the statue and forced the crystal from it's clasp, using a mixture of the rest of the concoction and brute force of my fist, leaving my hand in a mangled and bloody state. Someone will have to clean the wall of the library as well, though I won't be mentioning it.

I need a new plan, and soon. Jade retrieved some of the latent memories left in her avatar from when Aria took possession of it. Aria and Zalar plan to leave the city, a fact that was corroborated by a whisper. I know they need the portal on Edgeward to do this, maybe I can use that..maybe...I can do SOMETHING! I find myself in a mixture of rage, failure and nothingness. Am I so inept that I can't fulfill a single promise to her?
I need to take a walk to the barracks and clear my head. I'm running out of time , and patience. Next I am in the city I will have a plan. One that relies only on myself, which means I will continue with my experiment in the Soul Well.

[Aileron]

Energy is the key! How I was so blind to what was right in front of me, I have no clue. With enough buildup of energy into this crystal...AYE! AYE! It can work! I just need some materials from the Crystal Cave and to spend some time at The Grand Forge. They have to use the Ring in order to leave, have to, right? Aye, they made a deal with a house for an item that will provide more then enough energy to get it working. That has to be their plan, if not, I can adjust in the moment as long as I have everything I need. The devices I have sketched from my mind will only last a limited amount of time. The transfer of that much energy into a weapon requires specific timing. Too little and the desired effect will be muted and leave a chance for "survival", too much and I could find myself wiping out the room from the dreamstate. Myself... I know Jade is going to argue with me over this one. She will tell me no, bring up my promise to not make the same mistakes again. I have to make her understand that this is me KEEPING A PROMISE! That the only way for this to be done correctly is to use every available tool at my disposal, even if one is myself. I will gladly take that risk if it means success. I need to head back into the city to create some mining tools and a grinding wheel for the reflecting crystals. I start again anew...so much work.

[Aileron]

I have been conducting some tests on the energy flow to the Ring and Time Portal. Edgeward is in a sore state as it is and I would like to keep any destructive measures to a minimum. I write this as I'm currently building an explosive that is going to be embedded into my chest, but I digress. I found something interesting about the Ring. It seems the energy flow isn't reaching the anvil as much as it's being stunted from some source. It's almost as if this is intentional, and that maybe some tampering could be to blame. I can only theorize why this is and without any proof to show, I will just keep that information to myself. The Time Portal potentially could be drawing energy from the ring itself as well..which goes against what I just wrote so...I'll just stop arguing with myself and move on.

In testing all the power generators I could think of, I noticed that the city is producing less then it should. Have the portals around seemed dimmer, spinning slower? The item generators been working more slowly? I confess that I don't pay much attention to those details as of late. The only one that made me nervous was the Acropolis. Whatever those agents of chaos did in that place has made their power generator on the bring of creating a third great rift. I should try to find a way to deal with that but all of my attention has been put into getting these devices made. I have mined the twelve crystals I need and used a waterwheel stone grinder to shape and smooth them into what I desire. I finished the sand casting mold that I will use to make the casings and the outer ring portion of the explosive. The problem I'm coming across now is how to safely transfer the energy from the Time Portal to each device until it can be absorbed into my avatar successfully. I also take some solace in the fact that my devices are meant to help keep the flow of energy to a moderate level. Despite what I am using them for, they are meant to keep any energy overflow from happening.

I need to think, but the never ending clawing at the back of my mind that I have no more time to think is ever present. Time is running out, running short, and I'm falling behind.

[Aileron]

The Ring is in shambles..well..more shambles then it already was. The energy flow throughout the room itself is almost more then the room can handle. I'm so sick of making progress just to have to deal with matters that are a potential setback!! ....It's fine..it's okay...I'll just reinforce the connections between the devices more, another layer to make sure the potential excess of energy from the room itself won't overload either myself or the devices regulating the energy flow. I've also added protective blood sigils to the frame of the explosive in the event that the energy draw is too much. I've done what I can in preparing without actually testing.
I know I won't get a chance to do that. How do you test something that is meant to destroy a connection to the dreamstate? The explosive is ready, all that's left to do is have my chest carved out and have the explosive put in. I should actually add more reinforcement to the connections between my avatar, the explosive and the crystal inside now that I think about it. I will do that first thing when I go into the city again.

I find myself lately asking "Am I a man my children will be proud of?" I hope I am. What I do in the city won't matter because they will never know, but I hope that they would be proud of their father's sacrifice for their mother. I think about my own father and even with the fleeting memory I have of him, I'm proud of the man he was...of the influence he has had on me. I would sacrifice myself for Jade on this shard if anyone ever hurt her as she has been hurt in the city. This isn't something brushed aside for me as I have seen it brushed aside by the city itself. She has given me more then I ever thought possible. For now I must meet up with the Umbra Venator. Seth and Lorin need to be settled in for their new permanent duty.

[Aileron]

Pain is such a strange concept. Different things FEEL so vastly different, especially when you're in the city. Tonight I had the explosive embedded into my avatar and I was taken to the depths of my mind to the moment where my back was nearly split in half. The smell of blood, the peeling of the skin and severing the muscle. Betrayal is something I still have a hard time putting behind me and thus a memory that I would rather not visit yet again. Thanks to the help of Sirus, Sadara and Lotus, the explosive is secured and the outer connections are embedded into my avatar. Sirus indeed has a deft hand with a blade as I suspected, the slicing for blood isn't just for show. Sadara as always used a gentle touch to press the explosive into place in my chest and Lotus cauterized the metal to my avatar. It's never the most attractive odor, flesh burning, but we do what we must for progress. All I can do now is wait for the moment those pieces of dreaming filth decide the time to go back home has come. I'm ready, I've prepared myself for what will most likely occur after the deed is done. I will try in the moment to have some kind of protection put up for those who will be in the room. As much hate as I have flowing through me, it's not meant to be directed at anyone innocent. But then again, who out of any of us is innocent in that place?

[Aileron]

It's been over a week since I lost my connection to the Dreamstate. Was I successful, was I a failure? I don't know and at this point I can't tell if it really matters or not. I believe Jade finally may head back into the city. I think she took the time away because she didn't want to face the fact that what we knew could be a possibility did indeed become the end. I told her not to worry, that she would still be protected, even if I'm not the one to do it right now.

I'm relying on her now to help Jade with finding my thread in the city and attempting to reconnect that which has been lost. If anyone can, it's her however I really don't know if the city is ready to handle her. I've given her what knowledge I can of the city, it's people and how it works. Told her to focus on my thread, follow it to the gates and from there...well...I guess we will find out. As for myself, I will do as a Champion should and get back to work. I'm enjoying this time back home, and plan to make the best of it.