Behind the wall, in the temple of choosing, in the room where Luathas stands watch, is a room. This room hasn't been entered since The Age of Hy-Braysl ended. Aisling eyes have never seen the door, since hidden behind brick and mundane. But, there was one man who dared to dream. One man who heard the legend of this place, a place that never ages, a place of beauty, a place where peace reigns supreme. This legend, told by mundanes around the world, but never mentioned to aislings, for fear of the paradise becoming impure, for the nature of an aislings has changed from its original meaning of knowledge, adventure, and peace... to death, destruction, and war. This legend is called: The Ageless Land -~-~-~-~-~--~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~--~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-"Incredible! Absolutely incredible!" The aislings in the bar quieted down immediately and all looked over to find a man hunched over a book, ranting and raving. "That is dam ingenious! Purely ingenious! I'd never think of looking there!" Then, with a laugh, everyone simply labeled the man insane and ignored him, all but one person. This one person was a treasure hunter of sorts. He'd found every kind of treasure there was to find, from Hy-B Axes, to Talgonite Shields, from bent crux to holy scrolls. He'd found the first Talgonite Axe; he'd discovered the very first Conix Fragment. Nothing new caught this mans attention, for he'd found everything, seen it all. But for some reason, something about this strange raving mans rants caught his attention. The treasure hunter rose from his seat, walked across the bar, and firmly placed a hand on the readers shoulder. "What is this that you have found important enough to disrupt the entire bar's happenings?" And as if the reader hadn't even heard him, he turned the page in the ancient text he was admiring more than reading. Then, after a few more pages, and the treasure hunter's grasp not loosening at all, he finally placed him bookmark, and closed his book. "I've found! out about a land, no, a paradise. One the mundanes have kept from us for Deochs on end! They call it 'The Ageless Land' for it has been there since the age of Hy-Braysl and they claim it has never changed." The reader laughs, and continues, "but how could they know that? The door, or the portal, hasn't been opened since before deoch!" The treasure hunter simply snuffed and released his hold. As he turned to leave, the reader turned and looked at him, "I assure you, this place is real. And it is a place only the most skilled could find, and tame. It truly is the treasure of temuair. It would make any mans findings look like pocket lint. But, I doubt YOU could find such a place, I mean, just look at you. You can't even listen to a man talk about such a place without getting bored, not to mention how weak you appear." The treasure hunter stopped in his footsteps and the reader grinned. "The names Eventine," says the reader. "I take it you are the famed Amantar?"Amantar looks up! at Eventine, his blood red eyes centered on Eventines shimmering blue. Eventine tenses up, knowing he shouldn't have said that, seeing Amantar's anger well up. But then, to his astonishment, Amantar burst out laughing. "'The Ageless Land' you say? Mundane legend? You must be even crazier than they think of you. That place is nearly impossible to find! And the journey through the catacombs behind the temple of choosing alone could kill you! Only an idiot would risk their life for such a goal!" Upon laughing more, he simply walked out of the bar, thinking to himself, -I haven't had that good a laugh in a looong time. But still, that does sound intriguing, and what a way to go out for an old treasure hunter like myself. You know... this is all too tempting... but what the hell! -Amantar turns around, about to walk back to the bar to find out more information, but before he can take a step, he's face to face with Eventine. "I knew I could get ya to do it. Follow me, and get suite! d up." @}~>~~~~~/~~~~~<~{@ "Okay, here's where the entrance should be. Just repeat after me, and we'll get it opened..." Eventine changes position and opens to a spot in the book. Then he whispers to Amantar, "Klatu Verata Nictu." Amantar, feeling really stupid, shouts at the top of his lungs, "KLATU VERATA NICTU!" And all is quiet, nothing changes. "I thought you said it'd open the door, Eventine! Why the hell did I make such an... Eventine? Anyone?" As he looks about, he realizes he's seemingly in the same room; only he is absolutely alone, with only a small doorway in front of him. Amantar mutters to himself, "Dam wizards, always pullin the wool over yer eyes..." as he walks through the door. Walking down a long corridor, he stops suddenly, and looks around. Everything looks just like the rest of the corridor, except the walls look a little roughed up. Amantar groans and pulls out one of his apples. "These were good too..." He throws the apple in! to the corridor where the walls are a bit roughed up, and suddenly, the walls shut within the blink of an eye, then open, leaving nothing but apple scraps and applesauce. "Great Fiosachd! How the hell am I supposed to get through that?!" Then, a faint voice echoes through his mind, that of Eventines, telling him what to do. Sighing, Amantar chants again, "Klatu Verata Nictu." Then in a flash, he's at a door. Amantar reaches forward and pokes and prods the door. Then suddenly, the entire stone under him spins, and he's in a great, beautiful place, obviously a place taken directly out of the age of Hy-Braysl. But, as he stands there, a grim realization comes to him. "This place is only ageless because its not tainted... by me being here, I've tainted it..." As he speaks, the skies grow dark, the plants wither and die, and a great being appears in front of him. "You came here to seek wealth, fame, and glory. Without peace in your heart, you've destroyed your own paradise, in wh! ich you now must remain, forever. You will become ageless just like this land, and you will never die. Your eternity will be spent in this dead, forsaken land, full of death, evil, and misery. You've tainted the holy land, and now you must stay with it. You are now its guardian. If anything happens to this place, if another living soul enters this land, your soul will be destroyed, shattered." As the spirit fades, Amantar drops to his knees, weeping. As he looks around, he sees a dead a barren land all around, even behind him, there is no more stone wall, no corridor, only death. As the ages went by, his body shriveled, twisted, rotted. He soon began killing the creatures he found, and eating them raw. He had become the Angel of Death; he had become the living embodiment of Sgrios. Nazashanna Malenroh ((Sorry fer all the spellin errors :p))