Kheycear Apsussen's page

Kheycear stands humbled before the dozens of acolytes before him.

"Thank you, all of you, for your willingness to bear me to battle. You honor me."

I only hope I live up to and deserve such an honor...

His eyes wander across the kaleidoscope of dragonkin and look for a spark. A regal white Dragonkin takes the initiative, steps forward and addresses Kheycear.

"I am Ghalmud, Promised One. I have lived my whole life knowing this moment would come. I pledge my service to you. May we find glory and prestige while we fulfill your destiny!"

Kheycear regards Ghalmud for a moment, and with a moment of study into the eyes of the determined Dragonkin, he nods his head and speaks.

"Your tenacity is respected, Ghalmud. However, it is not for my glory or presige I would face this battle. It is for the knowledge that when the air clears both the Dragon Legion and Drakelanders alike might know peace, might know security. Your place in this battle is unquestioned. You will be needed before the end, of that I am certain. But not at my side, I fear."

A clever red Dragonkin, majestic and sultry, smirks at Ghalmud's disappointment. "Always too eager, eh Ghalmud?" she states before moving her gaze towards the Promised One. "Clearly, you need someone who can complement your strength and cunning with that of her own. Kheycear, Son of Apsu, Red Rider of Baba Yaga, what better companion could you choose than I, Rytallia, Acolyte of Apsu? I am swift, smart, and tenacious. Together we could be unstoppable! And," she adds with a wink and a flourishing gesture across her scaly flesh, "your red cloak is colored to match!"

Kheycear nods again as the red Dragonkin speaks, but is drawn to a blue Dragonkin, more quiet and reserved than the others. She seems a bit ill at ease and perhaps even overwhelmed by the display for the "Promised One" that she stands as part of.

"You look troubled; are you well?" Kheycear asks.

"Oh, no sir, do not worry for me, I am fine, it's just..."

"Just what?"

"It's just, this is all a bit much for me."

Kheycear regards this statement with careful inquisition. "You do not wish to go to battle?"

Her gaze falls a bit as she thinks, then meets Kheycear's eyes again.

"Absolutely not. Although I wish for the end of this war, and I know that battle is necessary where diplomacy has failed, I do not wish war upon my kinsman or my enemies. It is too great a cost. Apsu would not want it so, His children fighting amongst themselves as hundreds, maybe thousands die in His name."

"Then...I'm sorry I have not yet gotten your name."

"Baenlynn; Faithful of Apsu, Promised One" The blue Dragonkin answers.

"Then, Baenlynn, why do you stand amongst those who volunteer to ride with me to battle?"

Her faith and strength find her as Kheycear poses this question.

"Because...because my Apsu's Promised One would be benevolent and would not fight for thrill or glory, but would instead fight to bring an end to this conflict and usher in a new era of peace between the Dragon Legion and the Drakelanders and I...well, I came to see if you might be that individual."

Kheycear nods a third time. the color of this kin's body reminded him of Verilstraangiliix, the Blue Dragon that hewn apart his allies. But the soul of her reminded him of Angreston and Ziona, reminded him of how they died needlessly not at the maw of the Great Blue Dragon. He was but the weapon. The twisted human view of the church of Apsu, that was the wielder. He felt then like Baenlynn felt now about her war.

"Marlen, I have decided. Cunning and might will be aplenty on this field of battle, but the Promised One, the weapon of Apsu himself, must be one of compassion and humility. Baenlynn, I know not whether I am your Promised One, but would you honor me by helping me to be that which you expect Apsu to send?"

After a moment of contemplation, Kheycear clears his throat slightly and, realizing his meandering thoughts of prophecy and his place in it have caused him to slouch, straightens up to his full height before addressing the High Priest.

"Certainly, I must believe I am this Promised One of which you speak. The circumstances are too specific for it to be merely chance. However..." His voice trails off as he is taken back to the moment before his old world was shattered between the charged and crackling maw of the Blue Dragon who killed his companions and left him alone. I would have put a fancy blue link on that last phrase posting back to the battle that defined that transition for Kheycear; alas it does not exist. 8-( "... that means everything that has happened since the moment of my birth and throughout all the narrow escapes and companions lost was all part of this larger plan."

After a silent prayer to Apsu and a quick rememberance of Ziona, the Elven Sorceror and Angreston, the Human Dragonslayer who once accompanied him, now ashes at the base of a burned pyre near the site of their deaths, More lost potential for little blue links Kheycear meets the gaze of the High Priest and nods.

"This war of yours is now a war of mine. Our fates are intertwined, and the deaths of my friends will not have been in vain. I shall need a way to reach this battle though, as I have no means of flight. Will one of your number bear me to battle?"

The revelation that he is some kind of "Chosen One" spins in the mind of the silver dragonborn as he faintly hears a question from the High Priest. An awkward silence causes Kheycear to pull himself back to reality and replay the question in his mind that he just ignored.

"Chosen One? People of my village have thought that about me and those few who have come before since it's founding, but I have always thought of myself as more of a symbol of Apsu, not "chosen" for anything."

Kheycear considers his statement for a moment, then quickly adds a follow-up.

"But I have found myself here amongst these other travelers, and I must say it seems more fate than simple chance. I am pledged to help in what fashion I can."

Kheycear does his best to sound confident, but notices himself fidgeting with the bolt of his rifle.