Races

Kal`aire - by T.A. Saunders ©1997 v3.5

Racial Articles Where One Shadow Falls, Another Rises

It was on this day as well that Ma'hayre discovered a Shar'Vaire mage-scion of incredible power. Alone this man stood against his own spell-weaving kin and demonic fiend alike, moving through them with almost machine-like purpose. At first she had thought this one to be one of the Guilty that had brought this fate to D'Mir, but looking upon his soul she saw that while dark with furious intent, the mage-scion did not suffer the taint of the wicked.

Ma'hayre, a Shar'Vaire once herself before being given the Choice of the Kal'aire, moved to assist this individual. Shadows rose to her command and brought death and terror to those who fought the mage-scion whilst his sorcery dispatched fiend and wicked kin with little sign of tiring or slowing.

Mourn'elaian was his name as she come to find as the two introduced themselves to one another between fights. It was Ma'hayre that had shortened the Shar'Vaire magus' name to simply Mourne…finding it appropriate somehow for the righteous carnage this one had set upon their enemies.

She also discovered that Mourne had been one of The Five, the name given to the descendants of Hazaad's captains that founded the Shar'Vaire Empire. Perhaps without even knowing it, Mourne was doing Vengeance's work as he brought his corrupt kin to their ends; without knowing it, Mourne was being sized up to be the Kal'aire that would replace mighty Hazaad.

Events came to pass in the following days of fighting that would indeed see Mourn'elaian fall in combat. He and Ma'hayre had assaulted, with the help of Voraath the D'Mir Tyridanium where the last remnants of Shar'Vaire sorcery were kept. In an effort to preserve this vast collection of knowledge, the Voraath (with a great deal of convincing) helped empty the main library onto an airship Ma'hayre and Mourne had commandeered.

The task was quite close to completion when Mourne's own brother, Surik who orchestrated the overthrowing of the mageocracy and crowned himself Emperor of D'Mir and all Shar'Vaire came upon them with a host of infernal creatures at his beckoning. While Surik himself was no mage, having preferred the visceral feel of a sword cutting through mortal flesh, he did have those under his sway that did. Enough so, that these demons rallied around the questionably sane Surik and his bid for power.

In a conflict that was hauntingly like the battle Ma'hayre witnessed Hazaad wage with the Underlord of Hell, Surik and Mourne exchanged spell with angry steel, while the Voraath and the demons fought viciously all around the brothers. In the chaos of the close-in fighting, an explosion occurred that gave out the floor from all standing upon it. Surik, the faster of the two brothers jumped to the safety of an undamaged area and took the purchased time to escape, knowing if this fight went on long enough, Mourne would indeed get the better of him.

Mourne however was not so fortunate. His body broken under marble and wood, the last defiant breaths of his mortal life hissed through clenched teeth. Ma'hayre had seen him from afar and possibly could have saved him from the fall but it was a choice she made to allow Fate to take its course. She dispatched the demon she was fighting then moved through the shadows to the fallen mage-scion's side.

She knew, looking into those angry eyes of hateful red that this would be not be the final death of Mourn'elaian Dur'lane, but rather the beginning of his true calling. Before his life past into the hands of the Old Gods, Ma'hayre sought the will of the Spirit of Vengeance and The Choice was given. With only the hesitation his struggling consciousness grappled him with, Mourne chose a life of serving the Spirit of Vengeance.

It was on that last day D'Mir finally fell, did something most terrifying come upon the World of Imarel. When Mourne's broken body rose with the renewed strength of Kal'aire power, the rampant tide of evil would know its most bitter adversary. A foe that did not have the reluctance mercy granted or the temperance stoic justice had. Mourne had none of these things; his virtues were his relentlessness and his furious intent. Mourne fought the darkness with its own weapons and shielded the weak and innocent under his wrathful wing of protection.

It was on this day that Imarel's most prominent of the Kal'aire was unleashed. Mourne Dur'lane shaped and defined what people of Imarel today understand about the Kal'aire and fear about them. To this day, to whisper his name is to draw unwise attention to one's self for the legacy of Vengeance he brought.