Taking a Hiatus from L2

She awoke with a scream that could not escape her throat, such was her way... an odd noiseless scream that could barely be impelled through her lungs with so much as a troubled gasping noise. At times it would cause her to feel as if she was almost asphyxiated by fear. The nightmares continued. Several days ago they had gotten worse, and in an attempt to seek solace from the pain she began the pilgrimage home, back to Shilen's Garden and her village.

The nightmares began about two fortnight ago, at her new home, so far away from the Dark Elven lands. Her primary residence of late has been in the pastoral border town of Rune, where she was privileged to live in the luxury of the Mont Chamber under the guidance of master Duff of the Elven order of Moonlight Sentinels, an elite branch of Elven Archers. Recent events had reminded her of her induction to this guild, originally under Darktoy, one of the revered elders of her society. She had originally been drawn to this guild to study under him and to further her craft. In doing so, she had learned to be more worldly and not stay so sheltered within the dark elven school of thought and to know of all the races of the Aden and Elmore. She learned archery from humans and thus in addition to being aligned with Narsilia in her guild also owed fealty to Anak Bhaal, the guild's leader of the order of human archers know as the Sagittarius. Most of her career has so far been very rewarding without being plagued by such ambiguous conditions but something drew her home.

She allowed her eyes to slowly linger upon the sites of a town she had not seen in too long a time, there was normally a calming reassurance that she reserved for the Dark Elven village. A reassurance that she did not feel this night as she awoke shivering and trying to claw at some unknown demon, here at her childhood home. The pale light and random arcing of light from the monument of Shilen's hand cast its unusual illumination about the room, causing shadows to dance randomly here and there hinting at shapes flitting about. Dark elves reveled in the twilight and dusk since becoming accustomed to this luminosity, or lack thereof...having become nocturnal and partially subterranean as well since their departure from the wood elves they preferred and were more efficient hunting in partial light. She slid out from under the sheets and sat up on her cot, her hand absent mindedly passing over her bare midriff, and behind. Through the prayers of Einhasad and Shilen no visible scars remained, however some scars cannot be erased through prayer..she was oft reminded of that wound...

Parry, parry, parry/riposte, lunge. The dark assassin's attacks raged in a flurry as fast as they eye and mind could barely comprehend. She stayed mostly on the defensive, even through all the training with dualswords they were not quite as graceful or wieldly as a single dagger. A blinding blaze of steel shot past her throat missing by inches as she stumbled a clumsy slash in his general direction. She swung around to recompose her stance and prepare for the next attack and found him outside the range of her vision. A split second of fear gripped her before she felt the stream of tears from her eyes as the pain exploded throughout her body and knew that mistake would cost her dearly. Kianatre's dagger pierced her back, shattering her spine with a sound not unlike breaking a pile of dry branches, and impaled her on the field of battle. She crumbled to the floor in an expanding pool of her own blood, paralyzed and awaiting death with only the occasional involuntary spasm to even hint at any remaining life.

...Shilen surely must have a greater purpose in mind for her to allow the death of her children at the hands of their own kinsmen and sibilings, even those within the same guild fought with the same ferocity such as Sandas and Sheni who had engaged Kianatre on more than one occasion...such was not for her to question.

Her vision began to waver, and she allowed herself to lay back down, her hand falling across the ashen blue-grey skin of her chest. Her breath quickened for some unknown reason and she continued to dream.

She flailed in her cot, her body undulating in some strange and foreign dance, small beads of sweat began to form on her forehead, down the nape of her neck, on her abdomen. Laying down did not seem to ease this malady, she moaned and convulsed violently, forcing her to her feet, and then back down to her knees as her legs buckled under the sudden and unexpected weight. Her vision began to alter, everything began to become blindingly bright, she was losing her sight. A noise louder than she could comprehend pervaded her hearing to the point where she could no longer hear, she began hearing colors and seeing sounds, her mind exploding and imploding to the magnitude of sensory overload on all levels overwhelming her. She screamed, or at least she thought she did, and lost consciousness.

When she awoke, there were no longer any symptoms of the previous condition. She felt calm, her skin was cool and dry to the touch. She felt almost elated, even as she lie on the floor naked from the ordeal. She slowly stood, she looked around the room and everything seemed in order, her vision had returned and the deafening ringing in her ears gone. Everything was in order, the hand of Shilen outside her window sparking its eternal light, shopkeepers and patrons assuming their daily rituals...

She shook her head and recalled having the oddest dream. A dream where everyday did not involve swords and fighting for her life, instead she recalled sitting with a small luminescent rectangular tablet emanating its own light, hands that were not her own pressing on a number of small buttons in a predictable regulated manner. She was not wearing any armor, nor did she see anyone else wearing any. She was no longer a dark elf, nor was she even a woman anymore and she could recall responding to the name "Mike".

...I've detagged from TD, and I'm going to be taking a short break from L2 as I try to get my real life back (I think my wife misses me!)...So, no need to further check the blog for updates for a bit, this random non-factor is signing out for now! Have fun all, and I will be back soon (no, I'm not going to post one of those "OMFG I'M QUITTING L2 IT SUCKS" posts, I'm not kidding myself, we all know I won't stay away kekeke).