From: Stana Hierspiel <darkannex@yahoo.com>
Subject:[FARPG] Sullam: The mystery deepens
Date:Mon, 5 Jul 1999 17:01:55 -0700 (PDT) 

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The Valley had not been touched by a mortal hand in ages. The green
would not have been so bright, or the sky as blue, if the pall of death
had
brushed it.  Yet as the figure climbed spider-like against the sheer
cliff face, one would have guessed rightly that the apple had been
brought to Eden.
          Some of the Unicorns gazed in rapt fascination as the human
scaled the vertical rock, others ignored the venture, grazing in
contentment, or lolling in the sun spattered meadows.
          Sullam, the first mortal to enter the vale of the Unicorn in
nearly a thousand years, temporary guardian to the Unicorn Princess,
Davora, felt for the next handhold in the crumbling shale and pulled
himself upward. His legs were aching dully with the exertion, and his
breathing was as rapid as his ascension.  His intense blue gaze was
focused on some point beyond as his fingers and toes unerringly located
the next place of purchase.
          He could have seen the top if he looked, would have seen that
after whole days worth of climb he had nearly arrived, but he did not
look. The
end of the journey wasn't the reason. The challenge, the dare of it,
the need to feel... they were far better means to a far better
conclusion.
          He clung briefly to his hold, as strong winds ripped at his
hands, trying to pull him free. His fingers curled in protectively, and
he hugged the rock.
          Concentration released for the moment, he looked down to the
dizzyingly far ground, and he laughed.  Loss of balance now would mean
death, yet he laughed.
          Then he started climbing again.

From below, the golden child smiled, rose lips up-turned gently in a
knowing smile. She clapped softly as she watched the human reach the
top and pulls himself slowly over the edge. Then she turned, footsteps
silenced in the grass and ran across the meadow into her grove.
          Within the amber colored stone swirled streaks of red and
blue. The strands weaved gently, curling in a never-ceasing helix. With
a cherubial pucker of her lips, Davora reached within the Helix and
watched the colors flooding through her arm. Then she was removing the
tablet stored inside. The glass filigree stone shimmered, and resolved
itself
into a smattering of words. She frowned as she willed them into
something more. Then the meaning slammed into full focus.

           It was nearing dawn when Sullam reached the ground again.
He had rested for 5 hours following the climb, and then had begun the
descent. Slipping, losing hold more than once, he finally touched the
floor and immediately headed across the grounds to where the girl was
waiting. Without breaking stride he scooped her into his arms, grunting
only a little with the effort. She giggled.
           "You're getting stronger. The first time you did that you
couldn't lift a blade of grass."
           He grinned. "I've had plenty of time to work on it."
          By now he had adjusted to the Princess' unique ability to
blend innocence and wisdom in her tiny form. He had always believed hat
true knowledge was unhampered by prejudice, and who less jaded than
children? And although Davora may have appeared only six, she was a
Unicorn's six, and far beyond human age.
          "It's time for you to go," the Princess said, and at his
affirming nod, lifted the tablet. "I want to tell you a story."
Suddenly her
lilting voice became high with excitement.
         "And what story is that?" he asked patiently, setting her down
on the floor of the grove.
        "This story!" she waved the tablet gently in the air, watching
as the sun diffused through the crystal, prisming against the fading
night.

Sullam stretched once, banishing the discomfort he felt, listening to
her beautiful accents as she began to speak.
         "About a thousand years ago, there had been a man, a mortal.
He was wise for his kind, gentle and good. He befriended the Unicorn
people, and fell in love not only with our way of life here; he fell in
love with the Princess.
        "As time went on, the Princess reached her maturity, and
noticed that her Guardian, the mortal, was growing old. This startled
the Princess. Dismayed, she bestowed on this beloved man the tile
of emissary and gave him the Unicorn Pendant.
         "This pendant had been in the Unicorn's care since the time of
Great Chaos, when the forces of Good and Evil clashed for supremacy in
a conflict that destroyed the world. This pendant of the Earth was
fashioned by the Mother to contain balance and combat chaos. . The Half
-crescent moon eclipsed the darkness, finding a foothold in the night
of soul.  It and its others were the defense against the immortal
element.
         "In the battle, the Balance was disrupted, destroyed, and the
Pendant sickened.  The eclipse of the moon was lost, the golden scales
tipped towards chaos.  After Chaos fell slumbering, the Mother gave to
the Unicorn the task of preserving the Pendant and restoring the
balance.  And over time, this Earth-stone has been passed from Keeper
to Keeper, immortal to immortal. Until it passed into the hands of the
human.
          "Not only did his aging slow, but it began to reverse until
he was at the height of his mortal years. The Princess was delighted
that her play-friend remained, but the Pendant, in the hands of
mortality once more, fed off the imbalance of humanity and warped. It
warped the Earth around it, causing uncontrolled surges of Nature to
occur, and it warped the wearer, until he burned with the same rages
and calm of the seasons.
          "He became the Balance of Nature, out of Balance. Inflamed,
he turned against the Unicorns, and the mortals he had shunned, and
reams of creatures fell to his madness. Such things of creation and
destruction were wrought, of which cannot be told.
          "In the end, he was brought down by the same madness that had
raised him, and his body was returned to the Mother. The Pendant passed
once more into immortal care, and while Balance was not gained, neither
was it lost. In time the Pendant slumbered, as Chaos did, as all did.
But no longer.
          "The time of rebirth is at hand. The time of destiny, the
time of Mortality. The time when Unicorns will once more know death.
And in that time lies our destruction- and our salvation. We too,
follow the
circle of Destiny.

          She stopped reading, and looked into the still eyes of the
human. He had held himself in calm for the narration, thoughts furious
behind the placid facade.
           "The Pendant will not stay dormant in another mortal's
care," he stated.
            She smiled gently.
           He didn't ask why she had given such a thing to the foreign
girl. The point was moot, the deed was done. He tried not to think of
what mess it had made out of her already smothered soul..
            "I've known more destruction caused in the name of Destiny
or Deity than I care tell," Sullam said quietly. "Another life offered
to that Cause should not matter, though she does not believe in it.
She will be another lamb thrown out to the slaughter, for the Gods I
learned were jealous and greedy. Petty when they should be great,
contradictory when they should be Single minded. I do not believe in
your destiny, Princess, nor your gods. I do believe in humanity,
however twisted it becomes."
            "The crescent eclipses the darkness Sullam," she responded
as before, "The golden scale can lend balance when there can me none.
This is a place not of normal time. The answer is here if you
can see it." She watched as he slowed, eyes shutting out the
distractions of reality.  In the area, there was silence. Time passed,
in a place not of time. Then like a swimmer coming to surface, he took
a deep breath.
             "The Pendant is incomplete?" he finally said, at first
doubting what he'd seen. Conviction grew within him. "A circlet of
gold, encircling and buffering the negative taint. It was lost in the
battle of Rending."
            "Truth," she answered. "But that it has not remained lost.
You  have the key."

She left him pondering that statement. She knew the
answer, and so did he, if his memory would service.