The Everlasting Haze
Dame Maeve was defeated, the Seals were weakened, and everyone retreated to their homes to recover from the battle. Little did the people of Glomdoring know that something else retreated with them. Odd things began appearing in the Glomdoring forest, dark shadowy figures that they would perceive from the corner of their eye. Then fear began to set in. Paranoid, dark thoughts began to fill the minds of the Glomdoring, trailed only by a whisper of a single word, “Father.” Not even Fiik zi’Prouep nor the harpies of the forest were safe, both succumbing to the shadowy figures who seemed to have driven them mad.
Residents of the Glomdoring quickly took notice, with Kregarn and Xenthos being heavily victimized by the beasts, followed by Calesta, before theories began to spring up. Crek Ysav’rai suggested that perhaps Manteekan, the Nightmare had His hand in the matter. Him, along with Xenthos and Kregarn, reached out to Juur, a spriggan with ties to the Nightmare, for answers. Juur had sensed the presence long before they arrived, and recalled what he knew of what he called the “spookies” to the forest. All went silent soon after Juur’s confession, and the Glomdoring was left to ponder on what these spookies were, and where they had gone.
In the middle of Avechary, the sun appeared high above, piercing through the dark sky as it blazed brightly. Tendrils of flame whipped out from the burning orb, stretching far into the Void as the sun flared brightly. Amidst the inferno, a number of black figures fell from the sky, landing within the Glomdoring. Quick to investigate, Xenthos was first to stumble upon the creatures, who identified as bogies, yet they were in pain and confused, whispering only a single word, “Father.” Narynth, Nienla, Salome, and Kregarn would soon join Xenthos as he sought out answers, just in time to see another, more powerful bogie land within the forest. Balphomet, Bastion of Fear, proclaimed himself the leader of the bogies, and reached out to the commune for help.
Manteekan, for months, had been shaping what Balphomet called the Everlasting Haze. Recently, the solar flares interrupted its creation, and a number of fiery fae began attacking the realm. Manteekan, unable to both hold the Haze together and reach out to the Glomdoring, sent the bogies to request help. However, the solar flare would quickly prove more troublesome than first thought. The bogies were unable to find their way back to Manteekan, as their ties to the Elder were cut off by the flare.
Xenthos, however, had another way around. Him and the others quickly took to Ilosia, their algontherine, and sailed the Ethereal aetherspace, searching for the Everlasting Haze. After a long journey, full of twists and turns, they found the Haze, but found themselves unable to enter. Balphomet attempted to reach out to the Lord Nightmare, but had little luck. Tethering himself first to the Lord Shikari’s realm, then secondly to Hoaracle’s, both not far from the Haze, Balphomet was finally able to pierce through the Haze and the ship soon docked, the small force he had gathered wandering out into a mist-filled grotto filled with many hostile fae.
The Everlasting Haze was still under siege. The nimbuli, coronuli, and embaruli were fierce, quickly attacking the gathered forces, cutting through them as they continued their attempts to melt the Haze. Reinforcements were called, first an additional team from the Glomdoring composed of Crek, Eliron, Kalaneya, and Athree, followed soon after by allies from the Gaudiguch and Magnagora, including Talan, Synkarin, Ixion, Vladimere and Cocidius.
The now growing army, who Balphomet proclaimed the Regiment of the Damned, fought their way through a number of fae, their numbers growing as they slaughtered the hostile abominations. Morr, Yarou, Marcella, and Esca soon joined the group, and it was not long before the Haze began to solidify once more. Manteekan began to appear high above, piercing through the Haze to urge the army towards victory as He maintained His hold over the Haze. The sun fae grew stronger as their numbers grew fewer, yet in the end, they were defeated, and Manteekan sent a wave of energy through the Haze, freezing both it and the fae, who were quickly disposed of by the Elder.
Manteekan descended, thanking those gathered who helped Him, and opened His temple, the Chapel of Lost Souls, so that those gathered could speak with Him. Many questions arose, numerous about the presence of the fae, yet even the Lord Nightmare knew not why the sun fae had attacked. As the crowds began to disperse, Manteekan whisked those of His Haunt away, and all went quiet through the Everlasting Haze.
