Good Evening Friends! Tonight we have chapter four of the Cult of Spears lore. Arrun takes us back to Dippy and informs us of a hint of how the Mistress had already influenced Dippy, before even finding him through none other but Gladys, who took Dippy into her home.  We begin to learn more about the Fall, the Shardfall Crystals, Nimbus, and what some believe caused the Fall in the first place.  Fate and Destiny are a strange thing.  But sometimes, the smallest act of kindness or friendship can sometimes change the world or someone’s life decades later.  The meeting of our 4 main characters are drawing near, just as we are drawing near to R32 and the Final Full Wipe in Shroud of the Avatar.  I hope you enjoy this next chapter as we continue learning of the events that lead up to the return of the Avatars whom we play in Shroud of the Avatar.

Chapter 4: The Final Winter

Before I had the pleasure of meeting Dippy, he went through a journey of personal growth.  The years spent learning magic and other skills as well as love for his new adopted home, brought about visceral reactions when learning of the history that lead up to his appearance as well as the history of Outlanders.  I firmly believe by letting go of focusing on his life before arriving in this world, and the harmony he had developed with those he befriended, would give him the strength to even subdue the Divius.

Life was simple in village of Evergrove, even a decade after Dippy had first made it his home.  Gladys rarely left the small cottage anymore as walking was becoming difficult for her, even with a stave for balance.  “Thank you son,” she said as Dippy helped her up so she could join him for what she felt would be the last time in the village library.  The collection had grown by leaps and bounds during the past 8 years especially.  Being just north of a major port, and the improvements in town thanks to the young outlander, had brought greater prosperity and trade to Evergrove.  But there was one book that Gladys had been saving, knowing that it might cause Dippy to leave her and the village.

She loved Dippy, and so did everyone in the village. The fact that he was an outlander became a thing of the past. In fact many came to forget it in time, including Dippy himself. However in their hearts, they all knew his time with them would soon come to an end.   If the legends were true, as an outlander, Dippy had a destiny to him.  Just being around him brought vitality and excitement to those nearby whenever he was in a room.  One with such a spirit truly must have more in store for him then a life in a small out-of-the-way village. And so when Dippy sat down next to her she smiled.  “It is time I share with you the story of a land that even I wish I could have seen.” Dippy’s eyes gleamed.  “Oh my boy,” Gladys placed her hand on his face., “You truly are incorrigible when it comes to this aren’t you?”  He laughed heartily, “What can I say, learning about this world intrigues me.  Even if the world has fallen into chaos.”  Well this book was given to me by one young lady I met back when I served Lady Cassandra in the capital.  In our time together, I met a young lady who appeared to be a servant of “her Mistress” as she put it. She was from the mountains north of the kingdom.  They regularly traded with us, and knowing my love of history, she gave me this one.

The cover of the tomb shared an unusual symbol, that of a cloud with a pink gemstone emblazoned on it.  As Gladys spoke, Dippy was amazed as he learned about the shardfall crystals, and the fact that they had magic power behind them.  They not only rended the world asunder, transforming much of the world… but they had saturated the world with all new magic.  The book blamed the avatars and outlanders of old for the fall.  Specific mention of some of the Divius being disgusted, due to the fact that beings from other worlds felt it was their place to bring change to the world. Despite this some of the Divius welcomed the outlanders, seeimg them as bringing back the order that the fallen Divius had wrought upon the world, by their jealousy and greed.  One outlander in particular, Lord Cayeux, was mentioned as one who fought a great battle against the forces of chaos, only to disappear after all was said and done.  It was believed by some that he would return someday and with the help of other outlanders, transform the world again.

Angry raged in the heart of Dippy.  It was obvious to him that outlanders and the fallen Divius were to blame for the horrors of the world.  Being from another world disgusted him and he swore he would learn all he could to strive to return the world he loved to the harmony and balance it had millennium ago.  Gladys stared into his eyes and knew what he was feeling. All she could do was give him a hug and softly whisper into his ear, “Don’t let these feelings consume you, dear boy. For Order is needed to bring justice and order, but it too can destroy the world, as chaos has done. For we need Chaos, for without it we wouldn’t have free will or the potentiality the Ancients envisioned.  Remember, Chaos brought you to me and all of us here in Evergrove.  We… I love you, my son… you have brought so much hope and life to me and so many here…”  Breaking down in tears, she slumped into his arms weeping for her adopted son.  Dippy began to cry. “I will remember, Mom… Balance…. I won’t ever forget.”

As she sat back down.  She looked into his eyes.  We should finish.  She described how lands were torn asunder. Novia had suffered much, as had every continent.  The large island of Itar suffered one unusual case however. (Itar is about half the size of what is now known as Grunwald, and is located to the west of Novia…. It is also due east of the continent of Segura, where Evergrove lay along the eastern coast.) One extremely large shardfall crystal landed in the capitol city of Itar and by morning the city and some of the surrounding area was no longer there. In fact the ocean had swept in to fill what used to be there.  The city, Aleph, was now floating above the clouds, in perfect suspension.  In fact the inhabitants began to call the floating island, Nimbus, for they were now “of the clouds”.

As Gladys closed the book, she sighed.  “Here, it is yours now.” “But it holds fond memories…”  “So do you, and besides, I am old and my time is drawing near.  You have a destiny to fulfill as you now know.  What that may be… only you can discover for yourself.” Dippy cried and held her close.  “Come, the winter festival is tonight, and we have many paper lanterns to make.”  Dippy laughed.  “Yeah, we spent all that time at the mill making the paper with our friends, it would be a shame to not make the best lanterns yet, to help celebrate another fine year.”  As they left, a young maiden of dark complexion peered around the corner of a bookcase.  She grinned and whispered into an uncut Sapphire with an unusual carving in it. “I have found him, Mistress…”