Prologue II

"A good ship, late of a bad cause."

Players Involved: FBH, Ent

Return to Ascension Isle: Legacy

Aranitha was in the courtyard of the dingy noble manor when the Jibril bugcraft swooped down and landed, bringing the Lord General Marianne Saint-Just. At first she thought they were there for her, and she prepared herself to stride out and confront the woman who killed her Lance-mates, and who now brazenly carried her Banner leader's Arclave. Preparing to spit defiance, clutching a broken bar of iron in her fist rather than a sword. . . and then they grabbed someone else. Pulled out a thin-blood fey boy, and executed him, and Aranitha did nothing. Just felt a wave of relief, and then shame.

The stranded Zenith Knight Aranitha Fury Morrigan, a minor Fey Princess of the Lios Alfar Kingdoms, finds herself hiding in the courtyard soup kitchen of the Emeraldine House. Full of despair and self loathing she is about to flee into the city when she hears the words of Jonas Flavius, promising better days ahead for men and elves, together. Stung by his words, Aranitha resolves to assist the elves of CZ Central and get her revenge on Lord General Marianne.

"We could have used someone like him." Chey says as they wrap the body.

"You'd just 'ave got him killed, Chey," Says another.

"Doesn't seem like his non-involvement helped him much." Says Aranitha.

Aranitha assists in the burial of poor Pravel Hexum, and makes the acquaintance of the intense revolutionary Chey and the cynical Graysel. On revealing herself to be a Zenith Knight, Chey decides to send Aranitha to contact the "Clockmaker," a rogue but brilliant Thaumatechnician living outside the city amidst the mudflats. Pravel apparently worked for the Clockmaker for a time, before running off to join the city gangs. This Clockmaker owes Chey's group - the 25th Libra movement - a favour, and may also be able to procure a magical Arclave sword for Aranitha, allowing her to face the Lord General Marianne.

Aranitha slips out of the city, using her magic to pass through the security checkpoints that dot the city. Riding a magrail train to the harbour she sees the rows of crashed Stratodyne aerial battleships and remembers the last time she was here, under very different circumstances:

They are flying through the night sky, leaping over a glowing city of lights that does not yet know it's at war. Lance Banner Leader Kayvon is ahead of her, Sergeant at Arms Cliona at her side. "There," Kayvon shouts, "All of them, like ducks in a row!"

He lowers his lance at the floating Jibril Stratodynes hanging over the bay, his aura glowing so bright, "With me now!" Aranitha adds her power to his, Cliona does the same, the two Fey pouring their Ether into the young dragonbound. He triggers the void lance with a cry of triumph. The sky splits, and Aranitha can see alien stars, the veil ripples with the energy to rip worlds apart. . .

. . .And the stratodynes groan, suddenly thousands of tons of metal with nothing to do but fall, crashing from the sky into the bay, with thunderous splashes, kicking small tidale waves of luminescent water over the sputtering lights of the docks.

Remembering on the rattling train, Aranitha smiles to herself.

Kayvon hovers with the lance, looking for an instant like the prince he might yet become. "For the Glory of Zenith!" he cries, so loud they can hear him on the ground. "Now quick, to the Archive. Nothing can stop us now!"

The memory turns bitter.

After stowing away within a Coreve crusader convoy to leave the city, Aranitha reaches the mud flats on the western side of Mirune Bay. There she finds a flock of crows circling the towering bulk of a crashed Jibrilite High Battle Stratodyne, the Splendor Solis. Entering the silent titan she finds the Clockmaker, known to his friends as Gregorio Arhyna, in his lab in the bow ballast room. But Gregorio is not alone, and is indeed in the middle of a tense standoff with a group of Nexlexi gang members, led by the dapper street sorcerer Clive Staples, who are intent on presenting him with an offer he can't refuse.

Clive leans in to look at a piece of discarded clockwork on a workbench. "Pfeh. So, you left in all a huff, like. But things have changed, see. Now we's gone *respectable.* Nexlexi is working for big names now, real big names. And big money. Jibril gold." He straightens and twirls his silver headed cane. "So, see, we're moving into public works, in areas where the Authoritays aint. You'll like that. Fixing up the old Ether circuits wot them Zenith burned out."

"I would probably like that, yes. . ." Gregorio says as his eyes look around for an opening. . . or an exit.

Above them all, on a catwalk, Aranitha pads silently into the chamber. Above her lines of crows silently gather in the rafters.

Clive grins. "Then you just gotta come with us. And you can stop holding court with all these zombies. We even can get you back into court, the REAL court. Y'know there's even a ball, and Frost hersself will be there. See - respectable."

Gregorio nods. "Quite an offer indeed you're making. . . Too bad it's not my kind!"

The offer rejected, a fight breaks out! Greg and Aranitha speedily dispatch Clive's minions, but then Clive begins to gather his sorcerous power, swearing to take Greg's head, if nothing else, back to his mistress. Gregorio then reveals his latest invention, the lethal attack flies. Bursting from the carcasses of the swarms of undead crows that ring the rafters, the glowing metal insects rip into Clive's body and tear him to shreds. Unfortunately the fight has damaged the highly flammable lab, and Aranitha and Greg are forced to flee, although not before Aranitha recovers Clive's cane, and a strange glowing butterfly from his torn clothing.

Greg and Aranitha run up the bow walkway, and dive out the hatch, tumbling down the makeshift gantry outside the Statodyne. There is a loud *COUGH* and a cloud of black smoke, and a puff of rolling flame boils out of the spinal gun port above them. Crows erupt into cawing circles overhead.

Gregorio instinctively ducks his head as the flames shoot above.

"As I was saying. . ." Continues Aranitha, unperturbed.

Gregorio proves easy to convince, and agrees to assist Aranitha and 25th Libra, in part because he will also need their help to reconstruct his destroyed lab. Aranitha in turn discovers that the glowing butterfly she recovered is actually a "selkie," a magical creature that was the source of Clive Staples' sorcerous power. The Selkie is none to pleased with her for being the reason for the death of its late master, but unable to survive for long on Arth without a living host, the Fey princess and the Fairy are now stuck with each other.

"If we're stuck with one another, then I shall be a gracious host. I, Aranitha Fury Morrigan, of the line of Morgana do greet you."