Icarus Complex

In the ages long past the fear and chaos of Terra Solis became much greater than the gods had ever thought possible. Many of the inhabitance even began blaming the gods for the evils within the world and demanded they set things right. To settle the mess only created further problems in the lands of the gods that was commonly referred to as Terra Caelestis. It was agreed that something needed to be done if nothing else to just get the squabbling in the world below to come to an end. They commissioned the god of air to make a new race that could become the guardians Terra Solis.

The god of air, Aeol, began to craft a new race of avians that was hoped could withstand the time and was by far the greatest the land of Terra Solis had ever seen. He called them the Amicus Ventus or friends of the wind in high tongue. However, over time they adopted their own distinct name of Asdril within their own language which meant nothing more than one that flies. Other races had other names for them that meant the same and still others had names for them that weren’t so nice. The evil races often referred to the Asdril as the Noctis Vereor which means night fearer due to the fact of their poor night sight. They had begun to utilize this weakness to their advantage during the last set of wars as an advantage to invade the homeland, Aeros, of the Asdril in the forests of the Banok region. The tall trees made it easy to spot enemy camps from high up in the trees where they tended to live giving a grand view of the plains that surrounded part of it and the Angorn River that marked their border. What they termed the second age was one of relative peace from a general stand point in that the evil races had been beaten back, but didn’t mean that there was nothing going on within. Politics began to play a larger role in the day to day life now that the original war with the goblin factions was considered over. The Asdril had formed their own political factions that to a certain point helped sort things out in the general matters. However, some were more extreme than others out of the three main factions that had attained power. The primary faction that a majority conformed to was the Children of Light headed by their current leader Bach who also was the chief magistrate of the law. His faction members were very traditionalist and believed that only the full devotion to Aeol and light magics were the means to attain favor with the gods. The second was called Atra Fabrica that believed in Aeol, but also thought that perhaps there was greater magics that could cure them from the obvious flaw of poor night sight. The third being the few that were willing to acknowledge the problem but had no prescribed loyalty in how to deal with it or even a desire to. They were called the Obscurum. Each faction had its own version of how serious the problem was yet only one had a true desire to explore a means to perfecting the race.

Bach considered the Atra Fabrica to be deviant and unwilling to be bound by the laws that had long defined their race. They were a threat in his mind, particularly a certain avian, Caliga, that seemed to stir up trouble wherever he went. Standing up from his large seat behind a large podium shaped like a tree in the main meeting hall of the largest tree within the center of the capital city of Urbis Ventus. Though by the standards of cities within Terra Solis its was considered to be a rather small city by comparison to many of the humans. As the chief Magistrate Bach pounded the gabbled on the podium and called it to order. “Ladies, gentlemen may the Light bring us justice today. Guards bring out out the members of Atra Fabrica.”

A small team of guards in light blue uniforms with white sashes showing their rank left the circular room with stone floors and rare woods lining the walls to bring in the offending faction for the trial all to willing to see them hang for defying the Light. Returning with Caliga and his few loyal members of the faction with their swords drawn as if that would protect them. The lead guard roughly pushed Caliga in front of Bach whom was wearing his white wig of office and a deep purple robe partially hidden by the large podium and over sized chair. Caliga was forced to the center of the circular room as if all the problems of society were caused by him along with this. His followers got similar treatment from their guards.

“Caliga how do you plead to the charges of defying the Light?” Stated Bach in an official tone.

Looking at Bach he just began to laugh, “Defying the Light, that’s a good one Bach. I might as well just go outside at night and be nearly blind and see if the goblins are as nice as you. I’m sure they would like it.” he mocked.

“Silence!” boomed Bach.

The meeting hall became completely silent, but the members of Atra Fabricas just looked at each other and smirked as if a rotund and pompous man like Bach could make them do it. They thought he was weak and a fanatic of the Children of  Light. It was a position of social status he had inherited, to them that was nothing. They knew for a fact he was too lazy to get his own hands dirty by touching the like of them; that too might be against the Light. Caliga who was tall for an avian stood up in front of the crowd and simply looked at them for a long moment with a piercing gaze that scared more than a few of them. “If wanting to see at night is defying the Light then what will be next? Wishing you could look at the sun without going blind? Or maybe Bach and his fellow faction member just want to remain impaired with full knowledge that the goblin know they can’t see well at night. Poor Bach, you must have stared at the sun too long and can’t see the light of the situation he means to let you stay in. Fine with me, he can stay that way and remain goblin food if he wants.”

Bach’s face flushed red out of anger for the out right attack by Caliga. They had never seen eye to eye on anything so that wasn’t new, but the first time the defiance was in public. Pointing the gabble at Caliga, “I said be silent!” in a shrill enraged scream.

It didn’t quite have the effect he wanted as Caliga and the members of Atra Fabrica just laughed at him and several making facial impressions along with him. There were even a few slight snickers of laughter sprinkled around among the crowd watching the conviction.

“Caliga what would you have us do? You can’t perfect a creation of a god. Its just not possible without defying the Light in the process.”

“Poor Bach, stop staring at the sun it’s bad for your health. Maybe the Aduro will make you blind trying to get that one last glimpse at his lovely daughter Coma. One doesn’t defy the Light simply by enhancing their ability to see at night. It could only help what would otherwise be an unfortunate situation. One given to us no less by one of the gods themselves. Ironic isn’t Bach. We all know that the goblins will eventually increase in numbers again and when their factions do they’ll attack just like before. Maybe you all like to run and hide because you can’t see at night. Run and hide if you want, I highly doubt Aerol will help you then just like he hasn’t in the past two ages since the creation of the Asdril. Run Bach, run with the rest of your precious Children of Light, but we of Atra Fabrica will do no such thing!”

“That doesn’t answer the question Caliga.” Bach stated.

“In a manner of speaking it does, you take it how you want and we all know what you will think. The Children of Light are too fixated on the old ways that you have become blind to the possibilities of what our arcane arts can do. Why not use them, after all didn’t Aeol give us the ability to use them along with a mind to think with? Or did he forget to give you that too Bach.” Caliga replied.

Things were not going well for Bach; not well at all. He had forgotten how charismatic Caliga was. It was uncommon among the Asdril to rise from a commoner to lead an entire faction such as Caliga with no true social status. It was simply not right in Bach’s point of view and became more and more of a reason to get rid of him. This wasn’t the first time he had tried to do so, the prior attempts held no weight before the Council since he couldn’t actually prove they were using black arts. Now as the judge he thought he finally could strike him down.

“What you suggest is the use of black arts. That is strictly forbidden by Asdril law which I am sure that you well know Caliga. Care to demonstrate?” Bach pressed hoping to get the guilty conviction.

The members of Atra Fabrica all stood up in their places near the front of the meeting chamber facing Bach as he and the rest of the faction began to channel the darkness around themselves. The room started to darken under the shadow as it continued to increase in both size and power. As the darkness gathered around them Caliga raising his arms above his head it began to swirl in a circular motion and pulsated around their bodies. The others fallowed suit and within a mere few minutes the entire room was pitch black leaving everyone aghast when they realized that the men of Atra Fabrica could not be seen nor anything else in the room. The entire room became uncomfortably silent and even Bach began to fidget with the gabble moving it from one hand to the next was also the first to break the silence as he dropped it. With a loud clack of the hardened wood shattering near his feet in the darkened room. Bach’s face went from ashen from shock of the public display of dark magic to utter rage of once again being mocked by Caliga. If it was the last thing he would do it would become his life mission to make him pay for the public ridicule of the Children of Light. The Light was always right and had no room for rule breakers like Caliga. Just as their disappearance they abruptly came into sight where they had been seated on the front row as the room once again became normal.

“C-C-Caliga what did you do? One can’t just be gone for one moment and then suddenly be back.” Bach stuttered.

“I told you that the Asdril are blind, that is how you all see at night no? That was merely a simulation of what your vision is like during the darkest night. No one here was harmed by it, though I thought you almost had a heart attack there Bach. A pity that it wasn’t a real one.” Caliga retorted in a scoffing manner.

Bach shuddered knowing that Caliga wouldn’t have given in that easy it just wasn’t in his nature to let things be that simple. Nothing he did was simple nor was it overtly complex trying to confuse people. To Bach these type of people were exactly the most dangerous type to be leading others with his influence people could change their minds. That would ruin all the work of the gods let alone break every law they had managed to conform to for two ages.

“Caliga you know full well that the use of black magic is strictly for bidden by our laws passed down by our fathers. I hereby charge you and your faction with the pursuit and use of black magics. I have thus assembled the Council of Aeros to preside over the sentencing that you are hereby charged and convicted of.” With a loud clack of a new gabble Bach made it final.

Just as before Caliga stood before the people with a commanding tone, “Keep staring at the Light, keep looking at the sun and go blind with Bach I’m sure he would enjoy some company. Friends, at the end of the day you would turn down a gift that would let you see the stars. Yet you would let the rhetoric of the Children of Light blind you to the truth. Are you willing only to hold on to what you only know when something new and wonderful could be attained? I leave you with that question.”, he stated with a nod to his fellow faction members.

With that Arax began to channel darkness and spirit around himself combining the two elements in a complex weave that only a fully trained mage was capable of. Weaving in a thread of wind towards the end a rift of light pulsated and gleamed out in the middle of the round chamber creating a rift. The ten members of the Atra Fabrica faction walked through the rift in a single file line before a stunned crowd than had never seen the like before. In all the past two ages only a handful of full mages had ever attempted to do such. One had burnt out all the arcane ability from himself and several others had died as their gate exploded. As the last member walked through the rift it rotated and then vanished in a thin line leaving the chamber as it was before with not a mark on the stone nor a hole in the roof.

Again Bach was enraged at their defiance of the Light. Only the Light was the true way of existence. Slumping back in the over sized chair of the Chief Magistrate he thought of the one thing that brought some joy to his heart; Caligas’s brother Arran was of the Light. If nothing else he could use Arran to bring down Caligas somehow, it was just a matter of engineering a way to do it that would removed from any suspicion of his direct involvement. The Council of Aeros filed into the Magistrate chamber all dressed up in their finest robes of pure white trimmed with gold that marked their position in society. The eldest of the Council addressed Bach in a rather displeased manner.

“Why is Caliga not here Bach? I thought you had everything under control around here.” the Elder questioned.

“Well sir you wouldn’t believe it if I told you that Caliga and his entire faction disappeared from this very room not more than bells past the hour without ever passing though the door at any point.” Bach replied in a disgusted tone.

The Council all seemed to look at each other and everything else at once as it was in their nature. The Elder of the Council was also a full mage and a Magistrate of the school of arcane arts. For him it was simple science to figure out that they had made use of the arcane arts to exit the room after all it was common knowledge that Caliga and several of the others were the top of their class and would have become full mages in the near future if it weren’t for their defiance of the Light. Turning his focus back to Bach the Elder again nodded to him as if he was supposed to have continued on with his story of what happened with Caliga’s disappearance. However, before Bach could continue on with what had happened a young avian dressed in red of a student came running into the chamber rather frantic holding an expensive parchment with a golden wax seal on it to hold it closed. Breathless from running and likely added to it by fear of some kind, “Sirs I have rather bad news and a letter address to Bach.”, handing it to one of the guards present.

“Young avian do tell us what has happened, there are many grave issues that are yet to be resolved from events already passed today.” Ordered the Elder before Bach could get a word in edgewise.

Bowing to the the Elder the young avian took a deep breath, “Sir, Arran has been murdered. Myself and several other play mates heard a short scream and then as a sharp flash a dark red light fill the home. We went to see what had happened and only found this parchment addressed to Magistrate Bach and Arran’s mangled body upon the floor drenched in blood. Sir I’m scared.”

The Council and Bach were both angered by the despicable act. As usual Bach’s face turned red with rage, but his heart was filled with a hatred for Caliga that had grown to the point he would not rest until the offenders of Light were all banished or dead. He preferred dead at this point after being mocked more than once by the Atra Fabrica and made out to be a fool in front of the Council of Aeros today. Breaking the seal of the parchment in a jerky motion that spoke of his great frustration revealed a well penned note. With a loud exclamation Bach broke the awkward silence, “May Noctis have his soul! Caliga murdered his own brother with bale fire. By the Light I will see him die for this!”, he shouted holding up a memento Caliga added to the note; his own sister Grace’s brooch.