[Quest] at last, I have found you.

[Random Events]

in the dead of night

The night was still, the chirps of crickets and the croaks of bullfrogs long gone quiet. The wind did not stir the leaves on the trees; the sun did not yet dare to break Caliga’s hold on the dark. Solis himself was loathe to disturb this surreal period. 

Nothing moved; nothing made a sound. It was as if the whole of Terrastella were holding their collective breaths. Waiting for something not yet seen, not yet known, but believing wholeheartedly in what was to take place.

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It will be this odd silence that awakens Israfel. Drawn from a dreamless sleep by the feeling that something is amiss, or perhaps something is simply missing from the world. It’s to quite, too seemingly close to death—for a brief span of time all of the life and vigor has been sucked out like marrow from a bone, leaving the southwestern corner of Novus an empty shell of itself, color replaced with endless tones of black and gray beneath the moonless sky. 

Israfel may feel a tug on her heart: invisible but powerful, beckoning to her. If she heeds it, the unseen line will draw her out of the comfort of her bed, trading the warmth of her blankets for the cool of the open air. It pulls her from her chambers and down a silent hallway, hoofbeats echoing loudly down the empty stone corridor. The farther she walks, the stronger the tug becomes—until at last she stops before a single south-facing window, thrown open already to the outside. The stars shimmer in the sky, blinking silently from afar as the waves crash and roil mutely. 

It is here Israfel shall wait with all the other midnight creatures of her Court, quiet and patient, listening to the silence whisper. 

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It appears first as a speck, a flash of bright light on the distant horizon. But slowly, steadily, it expands: a burning heat radiates from its molten core, accelerating quickly over the sea. Wings can be made out from the indistinct shape, formed of the purest of golds. 

It crests the waves, glides over the rolling dunes of the beach, and heads for the Court. 

It had been a long journey, but at last the phoenix crosses the final leg. Her quest is nearly finished, her excitement growing and materializing as bright light tracing along the edges of her silk-like body.

Nor does she does not slow until the last second—bursting through the open window in a magnificent shower of feathers and light, illuminating the hallway from the inside out. 

”I have been looking for you.”

Her words burn inside of Israfel’s mind as she turns proudly to face her, beaming with dignity and joy. She has reached her bonded at last, her chosen one. 

Like cotton being pulled from the ears of the world, a crescendo of crashing waves and chirping crickets fills the silence from before, color rushing back in to fill the world once more.

And all is right again.

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When @Israfel is awakened by the odd silence, she will feel called to join the seemingly unspoken waiting that the rest of Terrastella is locked in. It is here that she will watch the phoenix ascend upon her in a brilliant show of light and feathers. There is nothing conspicuous about the meeting; Solaris wants to be seen and welcomed in every way as the magnificent creature she is.

Israfel has met her bonded.


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Enjoy! -sid