[DirectorBright]

It was said that faith held one back
That it limited my potential
That the only path towards Arcane mastery was through Sorcery
That if you wished to choose your own destiny, carve a path none have walked before...
To be a 'little god' as they say...
... you could not do so while in service to one of the great spirits.

They said that mortals were 'held down' by it
Slaves to a greater will
That I would never be allowed to grow so while 'chained' in such a way
That the power would never be 'mine,' ever bound to a domain that wasn't my own

That there was only one way for man to truly advance on his own two feet
That sorcery was my path forward
That the way to transcend my limits lay in the sea of stars

That I was wasting my time with this antiquated and outdated 'faith'

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They were wrong

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LOCATION: Southeast Martyr's Vigil
DATE: Friday, September 12
TIME: 4 PM EST

You can accomplish anything with enough time and imagination
The question is, what?
You only have so much time, after all.
Or do you?
You can accomplish anything...
... with enough time and imagination.

[DirectorBright]

Energies spiraled up into the heavens within Martyr's Vigil on that day. A blaze of arcane power, tinged crimson with a faith rarely seen in this land.

Whispered rumors and word spread like wildfire through the castle-city, of old scars mended, of not one- but two, healed and made new before the many that had come to bear witness. Of darkened flesh and gleaming metal interwoven seamlessly with the natural forms that came before them.

Of Mankind shown a new path forward.

A statement went out, a call from one of the last few remaining followers of the Pariah in Meranthe, carried far and wide by recording upon drones and messenger's letters.

An announcement from The First Umbramancer, Grey Aundeoth, Radiant and Champion of Caius.

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I was told that a world in which mankind's future was seized was not one in which my people, my home, could exist

That it should never lay in our hands

Quietly, I began to work

Ceaselessly. Relentlessly. Endlessly.
In places none looked. Towards goals none pursued.

I was told that we were a bane upon this world

That we smothered the ambitions of man beneath our wings

That under our rule, humanity would suffocate and wallow in apathy

That we must be destroyed in the name of this dream

I did not believe them
For where were their great works, their boons to others?
What had they done, save consume and destroy in some vainglorious pursuit?
A snake that eats it's own tail

They say the sun had set upon the old ways

In those darkened paths where many had turned their gaze away, I found something more
The ultimate power of mankind has always been our ability to believe in something larger than ourselves
Our capacity to persevere, to grow, to stumble and fall- then rise again and carry forward

The Pariah loved humanity so much so that he left his station to walk with us
To try to understand what it meant to live and die as we do, even as his kin shunned him for it
Through this bond, this aspect, this domain, I have found the power to wield what would have been seen a myth

To heal what was thought unhealable
To push back the ravages of time
To grant power formed by the hands of man in service of a dream

A new dawn is coming

One where every aching scar can be mended
One where the failing of your flesh can be corrected
One where we shape our own futures, our own path and destiny
One where we build our own tomorrow, plate by plate, wire by wire, and rune by rune

Not as servants to some outer plane that consumes your soul and drives men mad
Not as darkly pact-bound slaves to greater wills what despise us
Not as a plaything for some ancient figure's amusement
Not as a pawn in the war of  Tyrant Gods

As those who embrace what it is to be human
As those who wish to seize what is rightfully ours
As those who by cause and righteous fervor claim our place atop the world
As those who continue ever on the great work of Man

It is a future that has been painstakingly worked towards
Over lifetimes
Over generations
Over a century of existence

Through Joy
Through Pain
Through Love
Through Loss
Through Triumph
Through Despair

As war brews on the horizon
As the storm rises against all we've made for the sin of daring to believe our future lay not soaked in selfish bloodshed
As I grasp upon power forged by the hands of mortals
As the flames of anarchy rise on the horizon and threaten to burn away this new path forward before it has a chance to rise
I know the truth

I have crossed the boundary
I have made reality yield to my call
I have done it by vein, wire, and rune
I have done it by veneration of the one who loves humanity so much he forsook his own throne
For the hopes of those I love, for the dreams of those I've lost

Now I offer this gift to you

We do not need the flames of anarchy's ambition to light our path towards tomorrow

Let the sun set and the light fade from this place

Our future lay within the darkest reaches of the night

Where the only star to guide us lay in the burning fires of our hearts

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Won't you join me?