"Something is happening at the Stone here on the Plane of Earth,
Globglob! The Geomancers are saying it's filling with power, but...." Just
then, the Stone of Truth split down the middle, a foul gas blowing forth from
its center. Timmie continued, screaming into his aether broadcaster, "Aaaah!
It's releasing a strange gas and seeping with a black, oily substance, and we
can't go anywhere near it!" The Stone glowed with a sickening light before
surging with power, sending a wave of energy outward, knocking down the small
furrikin and the five Geomancers who had gathered on the plane. The fumes from
the Stone continued to fill the large chamber, their acidic property slowly
corroding its rocky walls.

Several minutes passed before anyone stirred. Kaet i'Xiia, the most trusted
advisor of his guildmistress, Syril d'Murani, was the first to awaken. He
gazed through the smoke for several seconds at the unconscious bodies
surrounding him. His eyes, however, lingered the longest on the motionless
form of his guildmistress. An evil smile spread across his face, for he had
been presented with a most wonderful opportunity. He searched the ground
excitedly for his staff. He had longed for the opportunity to dispose of
Syril, so that he may gain a position of power and bring prestige to his Great
House, i'Xiia. His family had looked down upon him for so long. Being second
to a d'Murani was simply unacceptable; he had always been considered weak and
disgraceful to his House. His mind ceased its wandering when he noticed the
petrified wood of his staff out of the corner of his eye, but was dismayed to
find that it had been shattered when he had fallen.

He crouched, scanning the ground for a suitable rock to form a replacement for
his weapon. Upon finding an appropriately sized stone, he picked it up,
clutching it lightly in his hand as he muttered an incantation under his
breath. The rock glowed with a faint green light, but gave no indication that
it would transform into a staff. Grasping it a bit tighter, he again chanted
the incantation. Once again, the rock showed no change. Frustration grew
inside of him, and he squeezed the rock with all of the strength he could
muster, cringing in pain as a jagged edge of the rock pierced the skin of his
palm. His blood oozed into the crevices in its surface, and he could feel the
stone pulse in his hand, as though it had come to life. He chanted the
incantation once more, and his mouth spread in a twisted smile as the rock
lengthened, sprouting crystals and pulsing with a gangrenous green glow.

Wielding this new staff in his hand, he turned toward Syril. Her eyelids
fluttered slightly, then slowly opened as she regained consciousness. She
remained on the floor, speaking quietly. "I sense great power from the Stone.
The expedition was a success?"

Kaet smiled once again, "Oh, yes...my Lady. Yes, the expedition was indeed a
success. I very much look forward to returning to the Prime plane with my
fellow Geomancers." He motioned toward their companions, who were just now
getting to their feet. "I am sure the festivities will be very entertaining."
Syril smiled, and began in agreement, "Yes. With this new supply of power, I
will lead our guild..." "It is unfortunate...however," he began, speaking over
her in a powerful voice, "that such a terrible accident happened on such a
joyous occasion. I am sure the entire city will mourn your untimely death."

Syril's smile faded from her face as she stared at Kaet. A sudden realization
came over her as Kaet pointed his staff in her direction. She watched in horror
as the staff swelled in size, and called to the others to come to her aid. They
had abandoned her, though, and Kaet's shriek of delight was drowned out by a
loud rumbling as a large boulder flew from the end of his staff, hurling into
Syril's body and crushing her. Her final, agonizing scream echoed through the
caverns, its reverberation loosening rocks and causing them to clatter to the
ground.

"It is time we returned to the Prime plane. They will have been speculating
about what gruesome fate met us by now," proclaimed Kaet, giving a light
chuckle. He approached the Stone of Truth, which was now seeping large
quantities of the viscous, black oil. The others trailed behind him, staring
in awe at the Stone. A moment before Kaet moved to place his hands on the
Stone, a soft, scuffling sound was heard behind them. The group turned,
finding a ball of fur crouched behind a nearby boulder. "My Lord, what of the
furrikin?" asked one of the Geomancers, taking a step towards the poor, pitiful
Timmie.

"Kill him," said Kaet, his expression remaining blank as he uttered the
chilling phrase. Placing his hands on the Stone of Truth, he squinted for a
moment in concentration before disappearing in a pulse of energy. The
Geomancers around him followed, leaving Ingaria to perform the task.

--------------------

The House of Prophets looked as though someone had stopped time. The high
domed room was full of people silently staring off to the south; the only
indication that time was still flowing was the swirling smoke that emanated
from the Stone of Truth. Kaet scanned the crowd for any Geomancers, finally
spotting one and making his way toward him.

"What has happened here?" he whispered quietly to Rayol a'Veston, one of the
former guildmistress's lesser advisors. Rayol stretched out his neck,
whispering under his breath into Kaet's ear. "The city panicked when the Stone
cracked, it was chaos. The Grand Vizier has just announced that his son, Rakdyn
d'Murani, will be the new Master Prophet. The citizens..."

Kaet had heard enough, and was already pushing his way through the crowd
toward the Grand Vizier. Murmurs broke out of the silence in the crowd, people
pointed at Kaet as he barged through them. "What is this? A d'Murani the
Master Prophet? That position belongs to House i'Xiia!" Kaet shouted, his eyes
flashing with anger as he barreled toward the father and son. Startled at this
outburst, Rakdyn took a step back; but his father, so full of pride, took a
step forward. "Kaet, dear boy. I do hope that your little outburst is over
with. The last thing we need at this time are false claims and accusations by
the i'Xiia." responded Rushdam calmly, winking charismatically at the crowd,
"And on that note. Where is my niece, Syril? I have been looking forward to
speaking with her, I would like to know what took place on the other planes."

It took all of his self control not to exclaim at that moment, in front of
such a large crowd, that he had killed Syril himself. He conquered his
emotions, paused for a moment, and frowned as he began, as though the thought
was too difficult to put in words. "Grand Vizier, both Lady Syril and the
furrikin were lost during our observation of the Stone. I had warned her not
to stand so closely to the Stone, that the energy levels had made it extremely
unstable, but she did not heed my warning. An energy pulse took her."

At the exact moment he finished speaking, the crowd gasped. But this gasp did
not convey shock, nor did it convey sorrow over the topic at hand. It was a
gasp of horror; of hopelessness and of sheer terror. Kaet turned to find the
Stone of Truth spew forth more smoke than before, pulsing the same green light
as his staff. Chaos ensued, and the crowd was overtaken by confusion and
fright. Kaet was only able to feel a semblance of fear for a moment, as the
noxious cloud was quickly overtaking everyone within the House of Prophets. He
watched as people crumpled to the ground, entering into violent spasms and
emitting low, guttural sounds. No one had time to run, as the cloud engulfed
them before they could turn around. It was only seconds until the cloud
swallowed Kaet whole. He fell to the ground, enduring the same convulsions as
the cloud's other victims. The taint filled his lungs, seeping into his blood
and entering the pores of his skin. His flesh became flaky, and peeled off as
he scratched every inch of his body wildly, as though he were plagued by an
infernal itch. His eyes sank into his skull and rolled to the back of his
head, yellowing from the smoke. He felt as though a giant hand had grasped his
mind and twisted it, skewing all understanding and logic as he tried to fight
off this foreign being.

And then there was silence. The twitching bodies had, for the most part,
stilled, and the cloud from the Stone had died down once again. Kaet slowly
came to, and a sickening smirk spread across his lips. He let out a loud,
menacing laugh. "So this is the true power of the Astral Plane!" he exclaimed,
stretching his arms out and gazing at them in wonder. His skin was leathery and
charred black, his veins pulsing beneath the surface. His eyes had shrunken,
their sockets now appearing to be far too large for them. He stood up, staring
at the people around him. He found that many had stood up, but the ground was
littered with what appeared to be lifeless corpses. Before anyone could
register that people were dead, the corpses on the ground began to thrash
about, their eyes widening and their mouths open in a silent scream. The
entire Hall watched curiously as those they had believed to be dead sat up, now
existing in a state of undeath.

Unlike those who were still living and had been altered by the gas like Kaet,
the undead looked exactly how one would expect; like living corpses. They
began to rise, inspecting their monstrous figures, their eyes flashing with
hideous joy. Kaet shook his head so that he could better focus on what needed
to be done, and beckoned to his Geomancers, who proceeded to follow him back to
their Tower.

Kaet turned to face the group and held his arms into the air triumphantly. "I
welcome you all to a new era. This wonder, filled with a presence more
important than our understanding, will lead us to greatness. No longer will we
serve the so-called Light. It is rumoured that even the Holy Emanations of
Shallamar have embraced this new power. It is only a matter of time before the
entire Basin is held in its embrace, and we will be seen as the first, and the
most faithful, and we will be rewarded greatly." The Geomancers looked at each
other, nodding excitedly, their lustrous eyes conveying greed and pride.

"Lord Kaet...what must we do now? Many believe that is it the Soulless God
Kethuru who has given this great gift to us, which has not only changed our
mortal forms, but also the element we associate ourselves with," questioned an
unknown Geomancer.

Kaet looked out at the Geomancers gathered before him. "Hmm...yes. You are
quite right in that. You must give me some time, it is best not to undertake
this new task with haste or carelessness."

--------------------

He set out the next morning, leaving behind the Geomancers in hope that he
could find some sort of knowledge of or purpose for Kethuru's presence. He
left Magnagora by way of the southern highway with the outline of Gloriana on
the horizon, still not exactly sure what he was searching for. The air was
thick with the smog, but Kaet noticed the most curious thing. As he trudged
along on the highway, the thick, swirling cloud surrounding him revitalized him
and gave him strength. With each step he took, he felt this renewed energy
pulsing within his veins.

It was impossible to see too far ahead from where he was walking. He had been
traveling for several days now, still having found no clue as to what he should
be looking for. He just felt, deep within himself, that he was going the right
way. Exactly four days after he had left Magnagora, he knew he had come to the
place where he would find his ultimate purpose. It was the edge of the dark
cloud's domain, a place where it looked as though an invisible wall had been
erected, separating the old world and the new world.

He stepped into the clear air, immediately feeling as though he were being
choked by the thin, clean air. The invigoration he had been breathing in was
gone, and he coughed violently, having become accustomed to breathing in the
thick fog so deeply. After several minutes, he was finally able to control his
coughing, and he looked about himself suspiciously. He turned, looking back to
where the darkness ended. How long had passed, he couldn't be sure, but he
eventually entered back into the cloud and its comforting presence, sighing in
contentment as he leaned against a nearby tree.

Night came, and so with it came the Voice. At first, it was only a faint
whisper, but as time wore on it became louder and louder. Kaet collapsed on
the ground, cupping his hands over his ears as the voice screamed hellishly
inside of his mind. The foreign tongue spoke using foul phrases he was unable
to understand, but the tone conveyed a sense of urgency, as though it were
commanding him to do something. Red lightning erupted out of the cloud above
him, and Kaet jumped to his feet, running from Kethuru's cloud in order to
escape it. He broke out of the dark cloud, and felt himself gasping for air
once again. His stomach churned, and he doubled over in pain as it knotted and
kneaded in on itself. He broke into a violent coughing fit, and he was sure
that he was close to vomiting. He felt a lump in his throat, and instinctively
opened his mouth. What came, though, was something he never would have
expected. His eyes opened wide as he looked at the air in front of him. He
felt the thick, moist gas on his tongue, and blew it from his mouth into the
clean air around him. He watched in amazement as it spread in the area
immediately surrounding him. His stomach settled shortly after, and the gas
ceased to flow from his mouth. What he had let out spread quickly, converting
the area into a dead, sickened wasteland. His body was once again filled with
the revitalizing feeling that the presence brought.

A scream broke out in the far distance, "It's spreading! The Taint! Run for
your lives, the monster is coming for us!" Kaet couldn't help himself, and
gave a sadistic chuckle. "So that is what this is called, a 'taint.' They
fear what they do not know. How could they when they have not experienced this
transformation which strengthens the body and hardens the soul." The Voice,
which he began to assume had been Kethuru, had since left his mind, and he was
content with knowing that he had fulfilled that which was asked of him. He
advanced to the edge of the small area he had tainted, and began to expel the
dark fog once again. He soon learned that he did not possess enough power to
taint very far, and even then, he could was only able to taint small plots of
land at a time. Five days had passed from the time he had left the city when
he began his journey home. He felt a bit weaker, having expended all of his
power in his tainting efforts, but the trek did not prove to be too tasking.

On the sixth day, he had made it home to his beloved Magnagora. During the
time he was gone, the city's streets and buildings began to look as though they
were melting, the taint having eaten away at the stone surfaces. He entered the
Tower to share with his guild what he had learned. He explained to them the
voices that he had heard and the feeling he had experienced before the taint
had spread in the air out of his mouth. He told them how it required great
amounts of power to spread it, and that it was referred to as the "taint" by
those who had not yet been touched by it. They stared on at him in awe, eager
to learn how to use this new skill.

They gathered power from the Stone of Truth and left for the edges of the
taint, spreading it and kidnapping any of the untouched they could find to
throw them into the taint and transform them. It was only several days later
when they suddenly felt an emptiness in the taint. They found that those who
they now brought into the taint were not transforming as many had before them,
and it was then that they realized that Kethuru was gone from it. Many were
alarmed, and they gathered once more in the Tower, seeking guidance from their
guildmaster, Kaet.

Kaet was not troubled; in fact, he found this to be yet another wonderful
opportunity for himself. "My friends," he began, speaking as though the
Geomancers were his children, "can you not see that this is our time to shine,
to lead Magnagora to greatness. Kethuru has left us, but not before he passed
onto us, the Geomancers, the knowledge of the Taint. We are the taint's
children, and it flows from us and invokes magnificent changes. It is we who
understand it the best, who live in harmony with it, and who spread it. We
will use the taint to empower ourselves; to transform the earth around us so
that we may reap the power of its soil and destroy those who oppose us. And I,
Lord Kaet i'Xiia, will forever be remembered as the man who led you in this
endeavor."

The room burst out into applause, the Geomancers cheering and chatting
excitedly. It was at this moment that Kaet slipped out of the Tower, making
his way through the dark taint to the i'Xiia Tower.