Eternal

Year 101

“How come I never wanted to live in New Gloom? I didn’t even want to live old Gloom at times! For all its space, they had us all bunking together like we were in a soldiers’ barracks. Never had any real privacy.” You tell Tulla.
“Yes, but old Gloom as you told me, was originally a Derro fort. New Gloom was built by shadows and had a completely different lay out. You certainly would’ve had your own room.” Tulla says.
“Eh, still not private enough. Now this place? Its been my home for over sixty years and its all mine!”
“Its yours alright because nobody else is a crazy old hermit that insists on sleeping in dilapidated ruins like you!” Tulla laughs.
“Hey, these dilapidated ruins kept you safe for years, let’s not forget.”
“Yes, I know. Still I was glad when I could at last head back up to the surface, I really missed the rain.”
“I remember you practically dancing in it when I took you back up and it rained not too long after. Isn’t your own daughter Lilly is the same way?”
“Yes, it would seem inherited that trait from me. Loves the outdoors.”

You nod and smile before a short fit of coughing hits you. Tulla gets you some water, which you drink down, but you’re feeling pretty weak. You close your eyes and try to catch your breath. You soon feel better enough to speak, but it won’t be long and you know it. Tulla tries to make conversation again.

“So…we’ve been making some progress in spreading the word of Dendrin throughout Quala. Letting people know that they don’t have to submit to tyranny, they can fight against oppression.”

You don’t say much to Tulla’s statement and just nod as if you’re still recovering from your coughing fit. You’d rather not get into an argument over religion or philosophy in your final moments with her.

You do find it amusing that the shadow organization has seemingly turned into a religion of “freedom fighters” and Dendrin’s name has become tied to freedom and anarchy. You aren’t exactly sure how they can believe in rejection of governmental authority in any form yet worship a deity as well “conquer” territory in the shape of conversion. Dendrin’s right, it can only be a matter of time before the shadows start fighting each other accusing one another of becoming the “oppressors” they’re attempting to fight.

Still all of it is out of your hands and you wouldn’t want to deal with any of it anyway. You would rather see Tulla not have to deal with the mess of a multiple civil war though, so you give some last moment advice.

“Remember not to expand too much and too fast. I know the shadows are gaining influence in Quala, but always remember that Delerg is top priority. This is home and it should remain that way. Better to remain small and manageable than grow so large that everyone sees you as an inviting target. Quala is also no longer just a group of old eternals desperately trying to cling to power. You’ve got some genuine major super powers in that area now trying to carve it up like the Nalin Empire to the south or that Drog’s horde coming from Rask, and you say the Felkan Kingdom is even starting to expand eastward too?” you remark.
“So the reports say, father.” Tulla remarks.
“Hmm, looks like I’m going to miss some interesting events, but my time is nearly at an end, and I think that’s for the best. My usefulness on this world has been non-existent for a long time now.”
“Don’t say that. Your wisdom has been respected by the shadows and myself for many many years!”
“Maybe, and while I would even stick around just to keep you happy, I fear that is beyond my abilities. I was conditioned to survive much, but I can’t cheat death.” You say to Tulla.

Tulla touches your hand and tears up a bit.

“You know where to bury me.” You say as Tulla nods.
“I love you father.”
“And I love you.”

You feel the squeeze of Tulla’s hand tighten and faint sobbing as you start to get sleepy. In your haze, you remember that Dendrin claimed he was going to speak to you once more. He better hurry up.

You mumble something about Talia as you start to lose consciousness and then nothing.

“There you are, I was wondering if you’d ever die.” Dendrin remarks.
“Am I dead?” You ask.
“Pretty much. Your brain is still semi-active, hence why we can have this conversation.”
“Well I wish my brain would hurry up and follow my body, because I was hoping to avoid this conversation.”
“I think you’ll be glad you didn’t miss it, if nothing else I had to say goodbye to the one who not only relieved me of my boredom, but also provided me with something fresh to spend my time with for many years to come. In the past I had thought about abandoning this world completely after you eventually died. Not now of course as you well know.”
“One world’s near miss, is another worlds continued misfortune I suppose.” You remark.
“Ah yes, there’s that delightful sense of humor you employ. I shall miss that about you. But face it Eternal, your life wasn’t all bad.”
“No, no it wasn’t…and I suppose I can admit you did help me out sometimes.”
“There, now was that really all that difficult to admit?”
“So… my spirit go to the shadow realm or something now that I’m dead?”
“Why would you think that?”
“You did say I was shadow master, unless you’ve changed your mind as usual.”
“No, but I think you’ve got the wrong impression of the afterlife. I’m no deity and I’m not in charge of the dead souls of shadows. I expected you of all people knew that.”
“Well I assumed you still had some sort of power over them or something. So where do the dead shadows go?”
“I haven’t the faintest idea WHERE they go. Maybe they go to whatever plane depending on the type of person they were. Maybe they all go to the realm of the dead. I mean for all I know, they don’t go anywhere and they just rot in the ground.”
“Well if that’s the case, at least I’ll be joining Talia as worm food I guess.”
“Hah. YOU don’t get off quite that easy. I’ve put up with your sass for years; you don’t get to have the last word by dying. Oh no my little Eternal I have some important plans for you. Wonderful plans. We’ve got a whole new generation of shadows to oversee!”

At this point your borrowed time is up, and you are unable to argue with Dendrin anymore. He’s gotten the last word, but perhaps his last word wasn’t an overly malicious one and somehow your mind feels like it’s undergoing a transformation…

The shadow order thrived under Tulla, who did indeed prove to be one of the better Shadow Masters in the long line of them. She would always speak highly of you and teach the other shadows that you were the example that should be followed. To never give in, to always fight injustice and above all survive at all cost, if only so one could continue to fight another day.

She also heeded your advice in keeping the core of shadows more or less confined to the borders of Delerg where no single government ever took influence, keeping the place a disconnected collection of towns that only banded together in times of great danger. It was a system that worked well under shadow guidance.

Still the shadow faith did spread far and in its wake, to those that possessed a much more extremist mindset. The chaos that followed may have been worse than that of the fall of the old Empire.

The Nalin Empire suffered the brunt of it at first. The fighting was so great one could mistake it for the original Shadow-Empire War. Nalin ultimately ended up much in the same way its parent had. Broken into several pieces and never the same again.

Shadow influence also spread to the Felkan Kingdom, which had been more or less a benign government for a majority of its existence. It didn’t matter as it was seen as just another dictatorship that needed to be overthrown. Didn’t take long for the Felkans to outlaw the “religion of anarchy” but by then the seeds of chaos had already taken root.

The orcish hordes of Rask initially fared a little better given that their rabble was barely unified at the best of times. Still, the shadows always made it a point to assassinate potential chieftains that looked like they were on their way to ruling any group bigger than a small tribe. After enough of these “visionary” leaders were killed all that was left were the shortsighted and unintelligent. Eventually Rask ceased being “civilized” in any fashion altogether and the wilderness reclaimed it leaving only small war bands of ogres and the like to fight over simple things like food.

And eventually just as Dendrin predicted, when there were no major systems of authority any more, the shadows began to turn on each other. The organization splintered into several smaller groups each lead by their own “shadow masters” and all accusing the other ones of being tyrants and not living up to the true ideal of Dendrin. Holy Wars plunged the surrounding lands into a dark age for centuries.

Still, despite the chaos, the shadow never wiped themselves out. Even when others finally rose up against them claiming theirs was a religion of was insanity and violence, the shadows were never wiped out. The religion sometimes teetered on the brink of extinction, but all it ever took was a few to keep its spirit alive and eventually gather its strength again.

Sometimes even just one to start the cycle all over again.

And this is due to your influence. No matter how extreme, no matter how open minded, no matter what their interpretation of shadow doctrine. The shadows always remembered the stories about the one shadow that survived long enough to keep the faith alive. Above all else, survive.

Sometimes there are stories of a being of pure shadow that will manifest itself to the faithful in more grim times to give advice on how to best endure their dire situation.

One of the more popular tales now is how at times you’ve managed to manifest yourself on the battlefield in shadow form to distract enemy giving shadows a chance to escape a losing battle. These stories have become so prevalent that even foes of the shadows have been known to believe them.

But of course these are just stories…or are they?

Whether such stories are true, half true, or completely false, what is certain is that you have maintained your influence over the shadows and you remain ETERNAL.