Elsewhere

A massive mountain was the site of this century’s conference. Projections, powerless clones of every Greater, Typical, and Lesser Being of Annwn were gathered here to discuss the issues faced by their world. Most of the mortals of Annwn were ignorant about the true nature of the world upon which they lived. They had always lived here, so they had no way to gauge exactly how special and different their world was from others. They knew about the Beings that inhabited the world alongside them, and they knew about the Veil that existed in parallel with their world. These were simply facts of life that had always been.

How could they know that their world was a very special plane of existence? A plane that was most definitely not a planet. Miners had never questioned the fact that metals would slowly grow back as they were extracted. Mages never wondered why they were only limited by their ability to control power, not the amount of power they could access. Empires never thought that gold would be a valuable commodity; after all it was a mostly useless metal. This was simply the way that things were, and there was never any reason to question it.

However, the Beings that were gathered at the mountain were not mortals, and they all knew the truth. Annwn was a world of plenty, and they had everything they could ever want here. The major problem that this conference was talking about was something the realm of Annwn had never faced before, not once in its billions of years of existence. Sometime soon, the date could not be determined exactly, the Realm Gate would activate. It was built when Annwn was created, and it had remained deactivated ever since the Beings were relocated from the multiverse to Annwn. Many mortals had followed the Beings that were once known as gods to Annwn, and they were the ancestors of the mortals that lived there today.

When the Beings had used their power collectively to construct Annwn the greatest among them had decided that once they entered Annwn it would be sealed against the rest of the universe. They used the remnant of the power that was left after building their new infinite home to fashion the seal. It was not perfect and would not last forever, but it would give the new plane a very long time by itself to grow and fashion its own self-identity. Only once in the long history of the realm had the seal been bypassed, and that was by accident. One of the more powerful Greater Beings had intervened in a war and warped the two sides away. He had not noticed that one of those being transported was a Shadow Fae, a Lesser Being. The Fae had fought the forcible relocation, and when the two powers clashed a ripple had spread through space time and created a vortex that drew a group of human mortal soldiers to Annwn from very far away. That was the beginning of the end for the seal around Annwn.

Ever since that day the Beings had been moving in the shadows and subtly preparing themselves and the mortals for the day that their world was no longer separated from the rest of the universe. There was no way to know what the universe would be like after such a long time away from it. The departure of most of the so called gods had plunged the majority of the major civilizations into ruin, and whatever had risen from the ashes was sure to be very different.

There were some important differences between Annwn and the rest of the universe. Once the Realm Gate opens every major city on Annwn would gain an Arch Gate. The Arch Gate would, through some very complicated magical theory, be for all intents and purposes the Realm Gate. When the Realm Gate activated it would reach out and connect to the nearest Gate it could find. Annwn was physically located within a massive black hole at the outer edge of a small galaxy. Anyone born in Annwn could pass through the Realm Gate and enter the universe and then return. The Beings were bound to Annwn and could not depart Annwn for any reason, but they could still connect to those mortals that agreed to carry a part of their power back out into the universe. No mortal not born in Annwn could enter it through the Realm Gate, unless they were judged worthy by the Council of Beings.

A sudden roar from the avatar of the Greater Being of Fire called the Council to order. The massive dragon, that had enough power to crush cities even in this near powerless form, opened his mouth and spoke.

Brothers and Sisters, the day of opening fast approaches and for that day I have assisted my Friend in preparing an ambassador. Please give your attention to he who is now known as Daath.

The eyes of the various forms all turned to look at avatar that stood easily next to the massive scaled dragon. They were wide eyed as they noticed him for the first time. Daath had not attended a Council since the forming of Annwn, and for this most Beings were grateful. Camnorous was one of the most powerful Greater Beings in Annwn, but it was Daath that was feared above all others. Daath was in the middle ranks of Greater Beings as far as power was concerned, but it was not his power that was feared. He had never been beaten. He was a master strategist, and was the most powerful mage to ever exist. Most of the Beings here were born as embodiments of natural forces. As such they thought in certain ways. However Daath was born as a simple, low power water elemental; and through his understanding of magic rose through the ranks of power until he stood where he was now. When Annwn was created he was one of the lowest power Greater Beings, but even here in this paradise he never stopped plumbing the depths of power and grew ever stronger. And now Camnorous was announcing that he and Daath had prepared and ambassador to venture out into the universe. Many were displeased with this notion, but they waited to hear what he would say. Most of those in the Greater Being rank already knew of the boy Daath had prepared. How could they not, when all of them had felt the pulse of power when Daath had fed a small percentage of his own life-force to the youngster.

Daath smiled at the Council and spoke with a quiet voice that seemed to echo despite his calm demeanor.

As Camnorous has said, I have prepared a mortal to act as the first ambassador to leave Annwn. Many things went into his creation, and I have only hid what he is being groomed for. He knows his fate and life have been manipulated and bears me no ill will for it. If the Council votes to allow him the position, then I will tell him what he needs to know. For now he thinks he is being trained to fight a certain army that is being grown in the Northlands by everyone’s favorite Shadow Fae.

Drax paused as the laughter of the Council rolled over him. Everyone present knew about the Lesser Being that was raising a massive army of the outcasts of mortals. The Shadow Fae was completely insane, a curse of his race, and actually thought he could raise enough mortals to challenge the Council. The Council ignored him as long as he continued to keep his army confined to the Northlands and did not attack the mortal settlements in that inhospitable clime.

The young man in question is known as Toric Fatesblood. He is of my Legion. He is a dracuman, and his mother is of Camnorous’s line. Through an unfortunate incident he became a Veil-Walker. I fed him a small percentage of my life-force and it forced an unexpected, but welcome, change in his body aside from the one I was pursuing. He awakened draconic memory in his cells and can now call upon the cumulative knowledge of his ancestors, including Camnorous. As he remains a mortal, a great deal of Camnorous’s knowledge is sealed against his viewing, so please do not get in an uproar about the Treaty. He is unique. He is an Instinctive Mage. He does not construct spells, instead he simply wills his element – Veil-Fire – to obey him, and it does. He can also form all the basic spells out of pure mana, of which he has a limitless pool thanks to his connection to the Veil. He has been acknowledged by an Elder Chimera as a Beast-Master. If the old paths of Ki cultivation are still followed in the universe, he will seem like a normal mortal. But his body is on the level of a Lesser Being at this point. Every time he sleeps he connects to the School and the Ten tell me he is learning at a frightening pace. He is the perfect ambassador for us, as the only Walker left in Annwn; any Being can dip into the Veil and access what he learns. Please Brothers and Sisters, ratify his position so that I may begin preparing him in earnest before the Gate opens.

The Beings that were opposed to any disciple of Daath being made the ambassador had a sudden change of heart as they heard the most crucial detail in all of Daath’s words. A Veil-Walker was indeed the perfect ambassador, as every Being had the ability to put a tendril of their consciousness into the Veil and absorb the information Toric collected. He would have to organize it in his mind so that it could be dumped into a place that would be prepared in the Veil, but that was easy enough to do with a bit of training. And it explained why Daath was asking the Council to agree to this in advance, instead of just springing this on them when the time came. Any revelation of information regarding the greater truth and the universe to mortals had to be approved of by the Council.

After a long period of silent contemplation; Vira, the Greater Being of Metal called for a vote. Votes among the Council were only cast by Greater Beings. The Typicals and Lessers would have their own smaller council meetings within the hour to discuss whether they agreed with the decision or not. If they did not they could vote as an entire council against the decision. If both councils vetoed the vote it would require a Grand Council meeting where every Being in Annwn would be required to attend and vote on the matter. Everyone hated Grand Council meetings, so they were extraordinarily rare; not to mention the fact that did the Typicals and Lessers go against the will of the Greaters. The vote came in and just like that the fate of Toric was decided. Once again his story would change.

No one, not even Daath, knew what this decision would set into motion.