Araqiell-glory days

[thedragonman12345678]

((for an idea of what araqiell looked like as a "deathlord" look at my avatar, except there would be a skull over his face under the hood, and the armor more heavily plated))

pathetic mortals... as we speak, they march upon my castle... I am intrigued to see that the mere cold has not killed them off... no matter. the icy wind of this place has toughened the the hides of my undead legions,no mere sword may hurt them. (the battle begins some time later) the hooves of my steed crush the skulls of the living beneath me, a sweet music to my ears! the humans are being crushed like the insects they are, they are no match for my army. then, the impossible happens... somehow one of their commanders shot my steed, with a blessed arrow, no less. but I am Araqiell, lord of the dead! even as my steed disintegrates,banished to hell,my feet slam into the ground and I charge at the mortal, swift as an icy blizzard. In a single motion, I draw my blade, Icefang, and behead the weakling. As I turn around I see nothing but dead humans, and what remains of my legion... victory! and soon, the gates of hell will be my own... and there is nothing to stop me!

[thedragonman12345678]

(this is a flashback even further into araqiell's past, back when he was a renowned hero)

the entire village falls silent as the dragon's shadow blots away the very sun,for most, it was time to run, but for me, there was a village to protect. the beast's hellish flame reduced a man's home to ashes,and my arrow reduces its eye to mush.brilliant. although partly blind, it could still fly. and that it did. with a beat of its wings, it took to the skies. but, its now impaired sight took its toll. it only flew a few seconds before crashing into a guard tower. unfortunatly, it was the same tower i was in. I must have blacked out a few seconds, because when I awoke I lay terribly injured in the ruin, beside the dragon. blood covered the ground... my blood. if i was not cared for soon, I would die. this mattered not to me. with a feral roar, I raised my sword, fireheart (later to be renamed icefang) and plunged the blade deep into it's skull. I could feel the life draining from me, the world, and the village I saved...fading...

(once again, Araqiell blacks out, and dies in his comatose slumber, and he is later reanimated by the deathlord that ruled before him)

I awoke to a howling wind, with nothing but stone walls and undead surrounding me. A crowned figur stood over me. "Rise, champion."as it's voiced boomed through the castle, I rose,or levited,more likely, to my feet. "what... hppened?" I asked. "you are dead, champion, a dead Knight."once again, it's icy voice seemed to echo through the halls. "n-no! I refuse to live as an abomination" I cried out. "you were already a werewolf, and to some, the are a greater evil than any undead" after it said that, i retored; "that was in my blood!!! born with me! this... is NOT!!!" it replied: "you...are born again,born again as my champion... accept this,or deny it, but you WILL NOT avoid it. " now, ready yourself, the demons march upon our lands... and no, the undead and the infernal are not united." my mouth agape, I looked into a mirror of ice beside me. my armor was no longer a blessed gold. now it had blackened,and the edges of it covered in ice... I looked to my beloved blade, fireheart and saw that it too had become blackened, and it was no longer warm to the touch, and frost covered the blade. I looked up to my own face, ite had become pale blue, my golden hair now a snowy white, my eyes glowed with an unholy blue light. what have I become?...

[thedragonman12345678]

alas, the demons had reached our icy fortess. as the undead legion charged out to meet the demons in battale, the deathlord stopped me, and told me to enter battle beside him. even in death, I was a king's champion. some things never change. when the king entered the battle,me by his side, the blizzard that had consumed the battleground intensified. he looked to me and then pointed to what seemed like a demon commander. understanding the command, I began to charge and I was astounded to see how swift this unholy rebirth had made me. in seconds I was upon the demon commander. "any last words?" I asked it. my voice had changed, as well, no longer the angelic tone it once was, it was now an unholy, booming voice of a coldhearted killer.as it tried to speak, I plunged my blade into it's chest, once again my newfound strength amazed me. when i turned around to show my kill to the deathlord, I saw a demon archer take aim at him. swift as death itself, I leaped at the archer, but too late. the arrow shot through the air, and impaled the deathlords chest. roaring in anger, I beheaded the archer, and dashed to the deathlord. he looked into my eyes as I stood over him,ingnoring the battle around us. I will never forget his final words as they echoed over the frozen wasteland: "even as I lay dying a second death, my new champion seeks to save me..." I felt an amazing rush of power over me. "the undead of these lands are weak without a lord, and only you have a spirit strong enough to rule them... do... not... fail me in this." as he spoke, the glow faded from his eyes,and his body seemed to disintegrate into the blizzard. finally, the battle around me had ended, what was left of the demon army had begun to flee. and the undead legion-my undead legion, looked to me, and as they did... I knew that this was to be my fate. neither heaven nor hell waited for me in death... no, I was destined to rule the dead of the frozen wastes... and I would not fail in this.

Ed: Moved to Tales and Stories

[thedragonman12345678]

(and now, we jump to Araqiell's final moments as deathlord,just before a shady figure,((presumably canas)) strips him of his reign over the dead)

*he sits, motionless in his throne atop the icy peaks of his deathly kingdom, looking out at his empire, which he has ruled now for 4 centuries.*

this... is strange... *looking down at the lands just ahead of his fortress* nothing is challenging my throne... and this only happens before the worst attacks...*a shockwave shoots across his empire,carrying a single messege to his people: "prepare" .* *he watches in pride as his undead legions amass with startling effeiciency* it will be days before my whole legion amasses... I can only hope we have the time. (the next day) i do not slumber, and I have watched a strange shadow draw ever closer to my lands... * he points to it, and his legions march toward it, knowing what they must do* this is no messenger... as I stand here, he tears apart my legion as if it were parchment... *he calls forth his steed, an undead horse, whose icy soul pulsed from it's rotting chest* now, I will ride, and send this dark force from whence it came! my steed moves over the icy plains, swift as a blizzard, towards my dark challenger. as I grow ever closer, I can see this is no mere shadow... but a risen lord, no different than myself... it rode no steed, but instead flew, on wings of darkness...this will be a welcome challenge. once it's blackened eyes see me, it plummets from the air, flying at my steed... but death brings great agility. I too leap from my steed, into the air, and draw my icy blade to meet his attack, but his shadowy blade seemed to pass through mine as if it where made of pure darkness. the blade lanced through my neck, but my head remained attached to my shoulder... but... my army seemed to stop fighting... and the world seemed to slowly fade away, as it did so long ago, when I was once a mortal... before I could lash out again, the icy peaks of my kingdom faded, and where replaced by wooden walls,and an odd tune floating through the air. mortals surrounded me... and backed away once they felt my icy presence. I grasped the neck of a nearby human and demanded: " WHERE AM I ?!" it whimpered like the weaking it was and finally said : " th-the kor mountains... just outside of the dasarian p-province!" as it spoke, it's life drained from it... and the others around stared in awe at the killing. pathetic mortals.

[thedragonman12345678]

Mortal... was there ever a more terrible word... all the greatest beings in this world, are mortal, and I have have been consumed by this...mortality... I was once a great many things... a hero, for the shortest of times,then, a feared monster,and alas, some even claimed that I had become lord of the dead... but mortality has robbed me of all these things... now,i go to a land known as "Dasaria". I do not know what may fate is to be there... I feel the evil still inside of me... yet the good in me is not yet lost... we will see...


[upon his arrival in cear, all who live there feel a chill along their spine,and what sounds like a strange name whispering through the trees... Araqiel...]

[thedragonman12345678]

at the mistyvale inn, Araqiell stirs fitfully in his sleep, as once again painful memories replace his dreams.

(in his sleep, Araqiell flashes back to the last memory had had of his wife, brelyna)

(he is was still a deathlord at the time, and this takes place in another battle defending his fortress of the dead in the icy peaks of lands forgotten)

weak, pethetic mortals, the only threat are those damned swords... it reminds me of my earlier days, but I am no paladin, at least not anymore. the battle is fierce, but they must not win. what these foolish zealots do not know is that I, and all other deathlords are here for a purpose. the dead here are too numerous, and dangerous, for even the great culnul to rule. and if these legions were left to their own devices, not even the black, icy seas of these lands will not stop them from overtaking all the land. we deathlords exist to control these dead, and protect the living world! what's more, if such vast numbers of undead were to fall into the wrong hands (like say canas, who took araqiell's legion and merged it into his own, and casting araqiell back into mortality while doing so) the repercussions would be swift, and terrible. one may even say the deathlords are the protectors of the mortals. but I am not the one to think such arrogant things. then out of the blue, a shriveled old woman leaps from the fray and at me ! arrogant wench! swiftly I knock her vulture-esque head to the ground and her wrinkled body followed, and with such sweet, satisfying terror she looks at me. something made me remove my hooded helm, something about this woman deserved to see the face of her killer. as she looked into my eyes, and looked over my face, shock seemed to wash over her (and now in his dream, he begins to see it through the eyes of the old she-paladin) what a glorius feeling! I was the first to volunteer for the attack on the deathlord's castle, since it was no doubt what took my love away, the day of the dragon attack (as you may have geussed, she does not know what araqiell has become).no doubt improsoned by that foul lord. the chill of it's dark castle in the horizon does not cause me to falter, but only strengthens my resolve! today, I will save my love from that black-hearted deathlords clutches, today, I will be reunited with araqiell. these dead are fierce, the cold must have strengthened their sickening hides. there! I now see that damned deathlord! now he will taste of my fury! may his soul be judged by rel! as I charge at him, he is looking away, and that bastard deserves no honourable death! but as I charge, he turns about with an unnatural swiftness and knock me too the ground. he stands over me, and something seemed... hesistant about him..no, it. as it looks at me, its eyes aglow with dark power. it's cloak blows in the harsh blizzard, making him seem all the more like a dark reaper. then, it starts to remove it's helm, as sad tune lingers in my mind... a tune of remorse, of death, of loss. as the helm reveals more and more of its face, my mind flashes back to all the sweetest memories of my beloved husband, araqiell. the helm clatters on the ice and snow returning me back to reality... and it's face... n-no it cannot be! I am looking into the face of araqiell! he was the deathlord, and the terrible tune in my mind seemed to howl with the winds, through the icy peaks and the darkened sky... how did he become this?! he was once such a good man...once... as his glowing, icy eyes look into mine, I reach out to him and spoke: " A-araqiell? w-why, why? WHY ?! " tears roll down my cheeks, and he replies "even the brightest of lights always go dark, brelyna... he knew my name! he knew who I was! surely he wouldn't kill me?! (now the dream flashes back to araqiell's point of view) this wrinkled shell now bares a resemblence to something...no, someone from my past. but who? I crouch and bring my face closer to hers... and then I realise, this was once my wife... just as this dawns on me, she reaches out to my face and screams to me: "why, why? WHY?!" only one phrase could fully explain all of this to her... and my voice, booming throught the blizzard, throught the icy peaks, cutting throught the sky; "even the brightest of lights always go dark, brelyna." I think a moment... how should I kill her, or should I even kill her at all? raising my sword, frost gathers on the blade, and I plunge the sword into the ice, and a gate way forms out of the shattered ice, and her homeland can be seen through it. I speak only once more; "even the brightest, always..." I wrench my sword from the ice, and the gateway began to glow with power, it was now ready, ready to send my love away from here. I pointed may blade at the portal as my helm reformed over my face, forming the hooded skull of frost that is all too familiar to me. she rises, tears in her eyes, and looks at the portal, but kept her sword firmly in her grasp. I had chosen. I will not choose wether she lives or not, she does. she will leave this place, or once again challenge me, and die.it is her choice to be made.
(once again the dream flashes to her veiw again, and we once again are seeing through her eyes.) araqiell steps away from me, and as I arise, the ice flows over his face and once again form the fould helm of a deathlord. what seems to be a portal to my home is beside him, and his icy blade points to it, ushering me away from here. he had given me the choice; die in battle, or live with the pain of knowing my only love is my worst enemy... my Araqiell knew no such malice... this abomination surely killed away the araqiell I knew... this was only an Icy shell of my former love! I charge, for I will not let this... abomination wear the skin of such a noble man! he dies today!
(and now we're back to araqiell's vewipoint) she grip her sword glares at me, and poises to strike. so be it. she obviously does not see that it is still me... no doubt she does not even recognise me. a shame. as she begins to charge, I smash the portal with my blade then, swiftly, I plunge icefang into her old heart. she deserved a quick death. many stronger folk would have died merely at the sight of my dark power.
(and now he awakes, the most painfull memory of his now mortal life fresh in his mind)

sadness overtakes him, and he wails in sorrow, tears roiling in his icy blue eyes. but nothing there that heard the mournful cries, nothing but his sword, Icefang, his frosty blade propped up aginst the wall of his room.