Island of the Rose

In the great mysterious sea, something massive was coming. Being created through the forces of the abyss itself. A destroyer by nature, it also had the talent for creation, and things could be created on an epic scale. Nothing Bob ever did was small or unimportant and this would be no different for this part of his grand design.

Thunder and lightning filled the endless skies above and the waters churned madly in a chaotic dance of madness, tortured by unnatural powers of an clearly obvious source. The blackness had screams of unseen winds beating their rage against the trace of chaos that had invaded and disrupted the natural order. Things were going to be changing on this planet from now on, anybody who had a sense of connection to the elements would easily feel their objection to the point of pain and discomfort. Children would wake up around the world and cry from some nightmarish vision of the process of creation they only glimpsed, and rationality gave into fear, and horror as the understanding failed them.

The ocean crashed, screamed, and ultimately gave into the monster's will. The first parts of the epic island came above the waves. The center came first, not a mountain top as would be expected, no. It was the spires of a massive golden temple. The waters retracted their icy death grip upon the land and slowly revealed more of the glorious golden castle that actually stood upon and blended into the mountain as it descended into the murky, yet steadily retreating depths of the violent sea. Thunder crashed louder as the storm grew with intensity and destructive intentions, this did not stop the creation, or the creator by any means.

This Island was unnatural by all of the laws of the immortal and mortal alike. It was a place fit for a Goddess, no several of them. Other mountains began to show themselves in various places. Some of them sported odd temples of unknown purpose, all remained dark for the moment, mysterious and filled with wonder. Only one knew what everything was, and what it would be. The earth stood at attention slowly, the island emerged from the ocean and the waves no longer crashed into each other, now they crashed against sandy beaches and treacherous rocks that were unforgiving as they were powerful.

The interior of the island spread for miles in every direction, a grassy flat land mostly but some places were darker, more sinister in appearances from this vantage point. Only the mistress of the island could enter here without the danger of being lost in its terrain forever. Buildings of forgotten pasts and powers lay here, most in pristine condition kept up by the powers of the abyss itself. All of them lay guarded and protected by unknown servants of destruction that lay hidden in the island, waiting for some unwary adventure seeker to fall into their traps and hungry mouths.

The shadows and the light existed here, but not in balance by any means, there was far more mystery than known fact here, some of them beautiful, some hidden for reasons best left undiscovered but always sought after by the seekers of power and glory.

This island is massive and beautiful in its darkness, it has sandy beaches of a paradise, and the temper of an angry and vindictive dragon always seeking somebody to vent its rage on at any given moment. Only one is safe here, protected here. Any soul may venture on to this island and explore its wonders, but the trace of chaos here will destroy the dependable powers of the mighty at random, magic forces avoid this place and are not invited. The skies are defended by the souls of the damned always seeking to devour the souls of the uninvited. Terror waits, and it waits for you.

The Island of the Rose had risen to its full power and majestic stature in the ocean now. The creator gazed upon the creation and smiled in a job well done to him, but the rest of the planet may not share the same view point he did. But Bob was a villain and caring about what the rest of the planet thought was not his top priority.

Welcome to the Island.

Center of the Island.

This massive island is immense and impressive by it's very nature. But its splendor can not be totally taken in with out seeing some of the wonders that exist here, this is the one that is most easily seen, but hardest if not impossible to approach. This is the castle, although castle is too weak of a word to use for a structure as grand as this when you first see it from the distant rim of the Valley of the Mist. This is a colossal sight that demands to be an illusion.

The sun high in the sky illuminates the tops of the many spires, the golden light gleams off the polished surface and deflects the sunlight in every direction. The entire structure looks as if it is made of pure gold from top to bottom, from here it is impossible to tell if this is the truth or only a simple illusion, your imagination of unlimited treasures runs wild as you gaze upon this place.

You notice that it seems to have a pyramid shape too it, this is accurate enough to be true, however from a distance all things retain a shape. If you were ever lucky enough to venture onto this hallowed ground you would quickly lose all sense of scale and forget that this is what the building ever was in the first place.

From where you stand you notice that waterfalls come from this place and fall into the mists below and vanish with no noise what so ever. Also as you follow them down you notice smaller, yet equally challenging obstacles in your path in the form of jagged rocks of an almost unnatural design to them. They are as large as mountains, but pale in comparison to the one they protect.

You notice something dark flying around the massive structure. They look like they are birds in the distance. You would make that mistake only once as when they scream their fury at the presence of the uninvited and they attack with unrelenting speed and power. These are Wyverns. Pets to the mistress, fierce defenders of the island. They fly around the twisting clouds and through the rays of the sunlight constantly searching for those who approach. Each one of them is capable of breathing a deadly burst of hellfire, and their claws are poisonous and razor sharp.

This is a beautiful yet dangerous place few ever get the chance to see. In this structure, there is many wonders to behold, many mysteries to explore and very likely, come here uninvited and you could just find the end to your life. This place is filled with traps and guardians not seen for many centuries, powers here are at the mercy of the mistress and should she decide not to favor you. The only things you have are what ever you brought with you.

This is the beginning of the end of your journey. If you made it this far, congratulations, but you have a long way to go.

Setesuyara's Tomb.

Venturing into the depths of the island you must have taken a wrong turn somewhere. You come over a slight ridge, or a hill call it what ever you would like, but the point is somehow you have come directly into the line of sight of a massive temple, or it looks like one anyway. It is apparent that nothing has lived here that was meant to live here. Anything that is here now apparently only has one thing on it's mind, killing you. The building is a pale white with highlights of green from the plants that are seemingly attempting to cover the place. So you decide to investigate further and you try to move closer to what looks like the main, and massively over sized doorway. Little details come out as you move closer. You can see what looks like windows and living quarters. As you scan for signs of life you can easily see nobody is there but the silence and the darkness that beckons you.

Also as you approach this massive structure you feel the creeping sadness and depression that threatens to invade your very mind. This place feels like where the dead belong. And they do belong here. You can hear restless spirits breathing, and it is getting closer to you as you move closer. The rays of the sun do nothing to warm the flesh here, no, it has nothing to do with the temperature of the air that chills you. The shiver running down your spine has more to do with what is inside of this structure.

You walk up to the building and you are in its shadow now. There is no noise. Even your heartbeat seems silenced now. The natural world has seemed to stop making noise. This is not an illusion. This temple is beyond the ravages of time and, indeed time here has stopped now and forever it will remain this way. There is a book, it looks like a book in front of the main door way, it is made out of pure gold. "This is the Tomb of Setesuyara the Devourer, she is not to be disturbed." This is more like a common courtesy than anything, not even a warning of any kind to you. You can handle this, besides tombs always contain treasure, don't they?

If you venture inside this building you will be greeted with that foreboding feeling that you should not be here, and this is wrong on more level than just the simple reason of being wrong. It is how it seems to be. Staircases dust covered statues of grotesque idols from the ancient past from other worlds. They look like they could come to life at any moment and knowing this place, some of them might actually do it.

You take three steps inside of this building and you step on something and the door will lock behind you, now you have no choice to discover, endure live through the maze of death that this building really is. Monsters and traps to challenge the body, mind, and soul exist here. And you could discover the true nature of this building. It is simply the entry way to another universe, the one true tomb of the devourer. There is no escape from this place. You will gaze upon her beautiful corpse until you die.

Or you could simply cross over the ridge, see this massive temple of pale color, approach it and read the golden book. Show proper respect to the dead wife of the abyss and perhaps move on to better things. The choice is yours.

The Garden.

So you are still alive. Imagine that impressive feat of accomplishment on this place you should pat yourself on the back because you made it here. Where is here you ask. All you see right away is nothing but grass and a river cutting through the ground lazily flowing away from you. This river has no obvious starting point and it just flows off into the distant overgrown forest. The wind whistles through the trees here and the branches sway back and forth in their hypnotic fashion. You could stare at them for hours if there was not that annoying voice in your head telling you to pay attention.

This place is beautiful, and by far it is the best place you have seen so far besides the beaches when you first came here. This place is serene and almost too good to be true. You walk closer to the river to refill the water holding device, what ever it may be. The water here is crystal clear and cold. It was expecting you almost. It will not hurt you. This is an oasis of the island and you are safe here for the time being. You can feel it in your soul that you are safe but your mind tells you the quiet is the strike just before the storm comes. If you are lucky you may even catch a glimpse of the angelic mistress of the island here playing with the lost souls of children who call this place home, or perhaps a pet wyvern or two.

Today though you are alone here and at peace for as long as you wish to stay here. As wild as the garden is and seems to be, it is as if there is a keeper to the place that stays silent in the shadows, keeping the oasis in check with some gentle persuasions of an unknown nature. Despite your willingness to go check it out further you decide that maybe that would be an unwise choice.

The air is clean here and it smells good. You decide to follow the river out of the oasis and into the unknown once more.

Destiny Towers and the Bridge of Light.

Out from the garden you go, following the river through the thinning forest. The air once again becomes thicker with a sense of something watching you constantly. You hear something moving away from you from the trees, something big and it does not seem to notice you at all. The river moves and you are focused on it more than anything else at the moment, this is a mistake as anything could attack you here at anytime, you get lucky this time.

You look up and then you see where the river leads to. There is a bridge that connects both sides of this river. This is odd because this structure is not needed due to the shallow water. It really makes no sense to you, odder still is the two towers that are on either end. The one closest to you is tinted with the color blue; the other one on the opposite side is red. As you take in this odd sight you have learned well that nothing on this island is what it seems to be. And as you come closer you are once again proven correctly. Crossing the bridge you see ghosts, one male the other female, it is quite obvious. You see them walking across the bridge then as soon as they get to the center of the span, the male vanishes. The woman drops to her knees and is screaming in pain, there is no sound throughout this whole ordeal. It becomes painfully clear what the function of this bridge is as the woman vanishes slowly from sight.

You come closer to the blue tower and you can see a skeleton rested against the base of the center support beam of the bridge, this is the woman who had committed suicide after whatever cosmic force had decided they were not meant to be together and would never see each other again. It seemed to be the ultimate test of love and devotion that nobody could ever pass through. Or that’s what it seemed like to you anyways. The towers seemed to have a different function.

Before the blue one is a tablet of stone, it reads this: "Within the center of the blue, the past comes to life once more." The words are cryptic and powerful, if not a tiny bit scary. However, you are here and you came seeking adventure, you have no choice as you slowly step into the structure. Almost instantly you can see every important event in your life. It is like watching a home movie that only you can see in perfect detail. Also the spirits of the dead relatives can come to you here and you can talk to them if you wish too. Yours appear to you and they have a sullen look on their face. It bothers you and drives you to a point of sadness more than enough prompting to step out on to the bridge and away from all of this post haste. Not willing to incur the wrath of any spirit at this point in the journey, you quickly step out onto the bridge and the tower is as it was before you stepped into it.

The Bridge is narrow, just wide enough for two people to move across. In the center you can see a faint beam of sunlight coming down to the middle. You are alone so this will have no effect on you, at least you hope. It is in no time at all you quickly pass over the bridge and before you lies another stone tablet, it reads: "Here the future comes to life, see nothing, do nothing forever more." And so you enter the crimson tower. This tower seems to have only one purpose. This tower shows you the potential you have inside of you. It shows you not as you are, but what you could be if you worked at it. It makes you believe it as it turns you into this future person while you stand here in the tower. If it shows you nothing, you will not make it off the island alive, you wait for something to happen.

after a few minutes of silence, you walk out of the tower with a feeling of dread because you did not see anything at all. This is a feeling that will stick with you in the back of your mind. You continue on your way, away from the towers and the bridge, maybe it will be the last time you ever see them.

Out of place

So you kept moving down the river, great. Did you notice how soft the ground has become lately, or how wild the grass has become here? Yep, you followed the river and you have followed it to the end, and it ends in a swampy marsh. The bugs here swarm around the grass but oddly have not seemed to notice you yet. You do not ask why.

In front of you the sight here makes you stop in your tracks. What you see here is a degraded building, maybe there are more there but you can not tell from this point of view. The trees and everything else here seems to be dead. This place is confusing as you notice a sign there with a symbol on it. You can only see it half way because the other half of the sign is covered in something red, and dripping. There is not much doubt of what it is anymore as the smell of blood is detected.

This place does not belong here, you tell yourself. All you have seen so far is grand designs of something on that order, this is silent, save for the buzzing of the bugs. You wonder if there is something important here, some purpose or plan for this. Then you see it when the cloud moves, something glints in the distance. It is the only polished and shiny thing there in the area. That has to be it, something important. So you walk forward and you cross the threshold.

Something lurches from the shadows of the trees. No, not something. Many things. Undead, over fifty of them rise from the swamps. Humanoid creatures armed with nothing but what undeath gave them. One of them accidentally bumps into a tree and the plant snaps.

Pull your sword out, adventure seeker. Here there is no angelic light, no holy chorus to aid you in this battle. There is only undead flesh against your cold, hard steel. You know they must be there for a reason, your prize awaits you. Are you alive enough to take it from the jaws of undeath, or will you join their ranks?

Well, look at you. You managed to get through the horde of zombies using your strength and weapons alone. Very impressive! So after you finished re-killing some undead guardians of the inner swamplands I imagine you obtained your prize too. What you took from the decayed building is nothing more than an average key, it attracted your attention so it must have had some importance. You take off in the direction that seems to be the most travelled and looks like the beginning of a trail of some kind.

You follow the trail and it twists, and moves mostly uphill. After the battle you just had, this journey is exhausting. It is time to give up and become lunch to the island food chain. You collapse onto the ground, ready to give into sleep, and perhaps death will follow it.

No, not today buddy. You look up and you see something that you have never seen anywhere else in your life. Once again the island impresses you like nothing else could. You see one end of what looks to be a massive bridge! Yes, you can see it here, one end of it anyway. It looks old and almost identical to the tribute to some unknown god of the ancient times. How you know it could be identical is beyond me but something just tells you that some kind of cosmic power beyond imagination is behind this.

Infront of you there is a path leading to the bridge, on both sides there is a reflective surface of some kind that is without motion. It looks like water or something, as you approach the surface a pebble falls into this stuff and it is dissolved instantly. This is something not advised for you to touch under any conditions. The bridge seems to go on forever almost. Near the vanishing point the light seems to be tinted red. You cross the line and you are now on the bridge, you look through one of the portholes to see what it is you are crossing.

It is a vast river of darkness. This is the closest words can come to describing it. You can see a flow of dark material or energy silently flowing by underneath of you. It gives you a horrible feeling of dread and you avert your eyes at once thankful this is as close as you have to get to it. Your exhaustion is forgotten and you seek to cross the bridge as fast as you can at this point. There are symbols on the wall and statues along the sides of the walls, all watching you, the ones that have eyes anyway. Every once and awhile you feel as if something is going to grab you from behind and end the journey right now, parts of you wish it would happen too.