Episode 38

Episode 38: The Ballad Of The Demonfell.

Morning comes, which means it’s time for Toraleth and the party to enter the tomb. They travel up to Mount Marack and enter, Toraleth pushing through his anxieties and fears. The Mountain’s Melody, sad and forlorn, follows them as they go. Inside the tomb is dark, dimly lit up by pools of lava and magma cornering the rooms and halls, with walls lined with paintings and Teraidran depictions. It chronicles the events of the Second Grand Demon War and Wulcani’s life 3,000 years ago. The first room has a painting sprawling over the walls: a Teraidran being gifted a grand Lyre from a God, the same hero Toraleth called his patron saint, Wulcanikoysa of the Teraidra. Another wall shows Wulcani with some other heroes, some familiar and some unknown: a man possibly being Wood’s ancestor, Taijinn, a Cavanid resembling a Pitbull like Baird, a winged angel hero, and another Cavanid recognized as Jupiter Polaris, Callisto and Ganymede’s ancestor. Baird is shocked by this, thinking that his ancestor Luxx lived much longer ago than 3,000 years. Perhaps Baird has another ancestor he didn’t know about, possibly a friend to Taijinn, even. The party continues on, hoping to see if their questions are answered by other paintings. In another room, more history is told. A mural depicts Haalmun, the religious holiday celebrated in Eván. The battle between the heroes Algrim, Thessala, Polizan and Nokdar against the demons Zenipole and Saoirse Rex. A great beast is also seen, whose skeleton now resides over the city. Thessala, the Etheral hero shown, wields Faelthorn, Rasmesus’s Divine Weapon. The angel with wings, Algrim, wields a small sickle as well. The other wall depicts Nokdar, the God that created the Teraidrans, in the Teraidran art style, along with a familiar looking Kronon with a green mask. It shows the Kronon tearing Nokdar in half, killing him. Baird and Rasmesus recognize this Kronon as the Godslayer they had seen back on Rowindan. The only difference between the painting and the Godslayer they saw is that the Godslayer in the painting does not have horns on their mask like they did when they were seen in real time. Bringing up the Godslayer again gives the party an uneasy sort of feeling, fearing that they may be coming after them as well. They shakily make their way ahead into another room with paintings. In the final room, a mural shows a large Tauren man, wielding a great axe of flames, cutting through a giant octopus (amended from a mistake in the VOD where Jer called this creature a crab by accident). Another wall shows the same Tauren and the Godslayer, the Kronon leaving a large gash in the Tauren’s stomach. The last wall shows the rest of Wulcani’s life: retiring home after the war, establishing the leadership in the Mount Marack coterie, and the Teraidrans entering a golden era of their history. No one seems to recognize who this Tauren is, or what creature he seemed to have killed.

With this, the room is at a dead end, with no weapon in sight. Cici brings up the idea of Toraleth playing a song for Wulcani, possibly opening up a passageway from there. The Mountain’s Melody, this time louder and closer, rings throughout the tomb, and Toraleth decides to play along with that. Assisted by his friends, Toraleth plays the Mountain’s Melody on his own lyre. The wall depicting the Tauren on it crumbles, and reveals another passageway, dark and narrow. Toraleth leads everyone through slowly, coming to another large chamber. Inside, stranded in a pit of purple colored lava, is a Tauren man, chained and bound by chains. A wounded man with blind eyes, hulking and tall. He speaks to them,

“Does my mind speak falsities to me, or do my eyes show me the truth? Wulcani returns, not alone, no….But with companions, dear Taijinn and Cataegis. Yet you bring with you others, unfamiliar to my reach. Tell me, Wulcani, is it time for my undoing? Is the cavity to be filled? How long have I resided beneath your monument of divinity? No….no, you are not Wulcani, nor are you of the Divinities. Then speak, do you come as my crucifiers, to beseech the spark from within? You surely cannot be, for if you tried it would be your cremation. You must be here for that which Wulcani left within, you are here for the weapon. The lyre holds back that which will release the purge of the mountain. I was once known as Raktor, though now, I am the Demonfell. Closer youth, approach and trust faith, lay claim to the lyre left for you.” (The Demonfell, Episode 38: The Ballad of the Demonfell)

Raktor’s abdomen is completely covered over with volcanic rock, the tip of a lyre seemingly sticking out of it. Toraleth slowly tips his toes into the lava, small obsidian rocks appearing under his feet as he steps. He is carried over to Raktor, the heat of his breath getting more intense. Toraleth, shaking, approaches the lyre. The cavity opens and the rock melts away, allowing Vulcan’s Lyre to fall into Toraleth’s hands. Toraleth hurries away, shaken and frightened. Raktor asks one last question: “One last request for an aged soul, tell me…. Do they chant my ballad, or am I a discordant melody left to fade from history?” Toraleth, through tears, tells him he’s never heard of him before, and many people probably haven’t. Raktor falls to a praying position, the gold of his crown washing of color. The color drains from him as he is turned to ashened greys and blacks, but claims it is for the best. Toraleth, almost panicking, pushes past everyone and runs out of the room with the lyre. Cici, Wood and Baird are left with Raktor for another, final moment, emotional and shaken. They try to tell him that they will tell his story, but it’s too late. Raktor, while still alive, is overtaken by flames, an axe on the wall behind him igniting in a fury. The room falls into inferno, following the heroes as they run. The fire overtakes the lava throughout the tomb and turns it from the vibrant oranges and reds to a deep purple as they make their way out. They meet back with Toraleth outside of the tomb, shaken and traumatized.

Toraleth breaks down, screaming, enraged at what he’s had to go through. Through tears and rage, everyone tries to make sense of what they saw. Toraleth knows that his mother knew about this, and sent him to do this knowing this. They look above them, on a pillar near the volcano, and see the Godslayer for a brief moment. They look, point at them, and turn and disappear without saying a word. Toraleth doubts that what they are doing is right, causing an argument among everyone. Baird and Cici promise that they are not merciless god killers like the Godslayer is, and what they are doing is heroic and just. Toraleth ignores their pleas that this is their destiny, walking ahead in shambles. The white smoke and ash of Mount Marack turns a deep black, purple lava flowing out of its peak. Everyone tries to claim everything is fine, Toraleth even blaming himself for this. Cici tries to claim Methandi wouldn’t send them into danger like this, but Toraleth refuses to believe this. Toraleth questions if the others will have to do something like this, or even worse, to get their weapons. Cici says they have to do anything they can to be heroes and make the world right again by becoming Gods. Wood, locked up, tries to calm everyone by saying that Toraleth has proved himself, and that maybe some sacrifices have to be made. Maybe there was a reason Raktor was forgotten, but no one is really sure. Wood says that maybe they can forget everything that just happened, but Baird doesn’t seem to agree. Cici tells everyone to prepare for this to happen again, and not give up on everything they’ve worked for. Toraleth snaps back, saying it’ll come to her when it's her time and wonders how she’ll act then. Baird mentions that things have to get worse before they get better, and that they will make sure they come out of this as heroes, even if they see the Godslayer again. In a fit, Toraleth tells everyone to drop the conversation and never come back, going back to the coterie distraught and lost.