The Tale of the Curious and the Undead

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[FONT="Tahoma"][SIZE="5"]The Tale of the Curious and the Undead [/SIZE]
        [SIZE="4"] Edited by Drabo Twigfook[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT="Tahoma"][SIZE="3"][Welcome reader to a fascinating and authentic Stargazer story. Although originally presented without name, the editor has chosen “The Curious and the Undead” as an appropriate title. This book is a transcription of a local flayer tale, told to a collection of Mistlocke citizens, who were lured to the forests by way of talking gifts. Once assembled, the group was incapacitated and witnessed a communal mist vision, seemingly directed by a flayer. This same elderly flayer narrated the vision as it occurred. The editor of this text was one of these tricked by the flayers magic, and has faithfully recorded the narrative as best he is able. The tale was clearly intended as both a history lesson and a warning. The story clarifies some of the perspectives on local history from the Stargazer minority colloquially known as flayers. The truth of the history must be treated with scepticism, as verbal traditions have a way of become distorted in translation, a generational version of the “Shou whispers” effect. For example, one must treat with suspicion the idea that the Stargazers had telescopes before Zephulot Ymph landed on the isle. This would imply that some other civilisation capable of advanced optical engineering coinhabited with the Stargazers prior to the arrival of Empire of Nebedzzos. This seems at best a remote possibility. So the text should not be treated as a literal truth, but rather as study of the flayer’s perspectives on the world. We learn from their own eyes the cause of the split between flayer and non-flayer. We learn of their role in the various entrapments and freedoms of the lich H’bala. We learn of a tragic tale of love and devotion turned to hatred and horror. Oh, and we learn of the flayer intention to attack, sack and burn Mistlocke in the not to distant future. â€" ed.]    

This is story never told before to those not of Stargazer origins, but it is story that must be known even to humans, gnomes, and non-Stargazers.
While you Mistlockers claim to have command of these isles, little do you know it is we the Stargazers who command and see all. You shall see this reality today.
 
Once upon a time...
There was a Curious Stargazer.
He lived during the early days of wild magic, and before the human invaders dared to land on these Stargazer isles.
These were the days soon after life itself. The Mist had just formed from the primordial ether of creation and the jungles of these Stargazer isles were filled with massive creatures of unspeakable terror!

[At this point we saw a mist induced hallucination of a group of local hin fighting a large quadruped. â€" ed]

One day, the Curious Stargazer took out his telescope but instead of looking to the stars, he instead looked to the neighbouring isles.
He saw that elves had established a settlement on a nearby isle, and they brought with them slaves of many other races.
In particular interest to the curious Stargazer, he saw a little human girl shackled in chains.
The Stargazer had never seen another member of a sentient race, and had especially never seen a human girl before.

He decided to go to the island, as he wanted to learn more. The Curious Stargazer snuck onto the island, and found the little human girl shackled in chains.
He decided to learn more, and fought the elves guarding her!

[Here we visualised a somewhat contrived looking fight between primitive hin and a comically oversized elf. â€"ed]

The Curious Stargazer stole the little girl from the mighty elves! The two of them fled the island quickly, as quickly as they could, before the other elves could find out.
The girl was alone in the world, and had nobody else but the Curious Stargazer to look after her. The Curious Stargazer accepted this little human as his own daughter, and taught her many skills.
Hunting, fishing, sneaking... but most importantly he taught her mysticism.
 
[Here we viewed a somewhat stylised impression of the various activities, followed by a light display representing the imparting of mysticism. â€"ed]

She had shown a particular interest in becoming one with the Mists, and she would engage in deep and long meditations within the Mists to become one with the primordial ether.
She would see visions of the past, present, and future, and encounter many unusual creatures in her visions.

One day, the Curious Stargazer took out his telescope, and instead of looking to the stars, he once again looked to the neighbouring isles.
On that day he saw the explorer Zephulot Ymph, who brought his human civilization to the island.
During these times, the Stargazers had successfully converted many humans to leave their civilization of Zephulot Ymph, and instead become one with nature.
They would eventually discover that the human civilization of Zephulot Ymph would become a mighty prison to contain wizards from other human empires.

At this point, the little human girl had grown to become a beautiful young lady. Her mysticism held great command over the Mists, which loved her more than anything.
Nearly all the Stargazers and all creatures of the jungle loved her dearly.

[Here we saw the ‘beautiful lady’ with some hin. Whist certainly attractive for a human, the editor would rate her charitably as a seven from ten. â€"ed]

One day, the beautiful young lady asked the druidic circles for permission to meet the powerful wizards in the human prisons.
She desired to learn the secrets of their magic!
The druids disagreed, fearing for her safety.
 They demanded she stay away from civilization.

Disagreements would not stop the beautiful young lady from achieving her goals.
She decided she would meet with the powerful wizards anyway!
She asked for the help of any Stargazer who would lend it. It was at this time the Stargazers split into two factions: the ones who followed the old, druidic ways, and the others who followed the guidance of the beautiful lady they came to love.
The beautiful young lady promised her followers powers over the Mist, the removal of all civilization from the isles, and her own very personal love.
She was angry at the druids for their disagreement, and her anger was reflected in the island's mists.
The skin of her followers turned dark, to mark them as followers of the beautiful young lady, and they engaged in savage war with the Stargazers of Old.
Her followers would eventually become known as Flayers.

[At this point the hin who had fought in the two previously visualised mock battles turned from ashen white to the darker, flayer style skin colour. â€" ed]

The beautiful young lady and the Flayers successfully destroyed the druidic circles.
Those druids who survived the assault fled into the cavernous depths below, and were not seen again until recent times.
For a time, Flayers ruled all the isles without any opposition whatsoever.
And it was with the help of the Flayers that the beautiful young lady went to the human prison to meet with the mighty wizards.
She fought the prison guards with both Flayers and Mist alongside her, but the Flayers were defeated.
The humans decided to capture the beautiful young lady, and put her in jail!

The Flayers lived for many generations without the beautiful young lady, and her absence tore at their hearts.
Flayers would train and amass in number, waiting for the day they could save the beautiful young lady.
After very many generations, the human prison civilization began to crumble and become weak...

[Pause for dramatic effect. â€"ed]

 ...and that is when the Flayers struck!

[Here we witnessed a protracted vision of jail-breaking hin. The flayer posse navigated an exceedingly unlikely looking room of traps based around numerical sequences and barrels, before engaging in a staggeringly drawn out battle against a giant golem. The battle was punctuated by a series of betrayals and desperately heroic saves. For a time the flayers seemed more interested in tripping each other up or pushing each other into the path of the golem than fighting it. Indeed, were it not for the stomach churning images of partially eviscerated hin crawling around on the floor in puddles of blood, I would have imagined this section was added for some light comic relief, to stimulate the viewer for the more serious components of the story/vision. Nevertheless, the golem was eventually defeated and ‘the beautiful lady’ saved â€"ed]

One day after the escape the beautiful young lady gathered the Flayers. She told her Flayers that while inside of the prison, all the mighty wizards and even some of the prison guards came to love her.
The wizards shared with her the secrets of the arcane.
With these secrets, she had a plan.
The Beautiful Young Lady instructed her Flayers to search all the island for many artefacts of bone.
She was to have one bone from each animal on the island, no matter how common, unusual, or rare they were.

[At this point those assembled saw the same flayers as before attempt to hunt and capture a medusa. Unlikely the previous combat interlude, this one was mercifully short. â€"ed]
 
Once all the bones were assembled for the beautiful young lady, she engaged in a great ritual that would change the island forever.
With the bones and Flayers at her side, she transcended life itself, and became eternal.
It was then the Flayers called her by her new name...

[Another pause for dramatic effect. â€"ed]

H'bala the Maiden.
The Maiden dominated all forces on the island.
Stargazers of Old who remained were slaughtered.
Human civilizations were toppled.
For a time, the Maiden and the Flayers ruled the island uncontested.

[Here we saw the ‘beautiful lady’ as we know her today. Whist certainly attractive for one deceased, the editor would rate her charitably as a two from ten. â€"ed]

Then one day, there came a Stargazer of Old.
The Stargazer of Old stood up against H'bala, and using evil magic he imprisoned the Maiden!  
His wicked magic imprisoned the Maiden for too many generations to count.

With H'bala imprisoned, the Stargazers of Old returned to the isles, and the Flayers were forced to flee underground and into the night to await her return.
The Mists became furious at her imprisonment, and began to haunt all those who were responsible, especially the Stargazers of Old.

While the Stargazers of Old struggled against the Mist Monsters, new humans arrived, many generations after Zephulot Ymph.
This new civilization chose to war with the Stargazers of Old, and this is how humans won the favour of the Mists, but only for a time.
This was the time Mistlocke was established, and this is the reason it is allowed to exist.

Those of the new civilization attracted druids from afar who did not know well the history of the isles.
The Mists became intimate with these druids, claimed friendship with these druids, and eventually fooled these druids into freeing the Maiden from her shackles!
 
H'bala the Maiden had been set free a second time. In her imprisonment she lost many strengths.
However, since then she has been regaining her powers.

She resurrects her Flayers, even from death itself to serve her yet again.

It will not be long before she and her Flayers will once again return to their glorious power...
This is your warning to leave Mistlocke and Ymph forever. The Flayers are coming to destroy all of you.

[As the story wrapped up we saw Inner Mistlocke in ruins, buildings shattered, occupants dead, and fires running rampant. In the vision the flayers had won a decisive victory. At this point it was also evident that the narrator and the Curious Stargazer were one and the same person. The elderly Stargazer did not show any obvious signs of mummification or undead status, suggesting a narrative exaggeration or some other potent application of magic. Sadly we never got to hear the narrator’s name. The villagers, editor included, were then expelled from the mist outside of Mistlocke's gate without further ado â€"ed.][/SIZE][/FONT]