The Jade City was the recent site of many unpleasant conflicts. Demons, goddesses, and dangerous worshipers of Chaos had all made the city their home, at least long enough to cause some destruction. One building took the brunt of the damage, the building known as the Moon's Shadow Inn, and its charred ruins were a bold reminder of Sharay's unpredictability.

Most of those deadly inhabitants of the city had vanished into portals, heading south to Heruin in the pursuit of Gethe. But there were those who lingered behind. In particular, the Aliscowri had remained to spread their fingers throughout Jade. Their numbers were boosted heavily, as they converted more civilians to the chaotic belief of sacrifice through a simple touch.

A rarity among the Aliscowri, there were those rare few who called themselves Dead Seed. These sorcerers carried in their bodies the souls of their forsaken parents, for they had been born through a process of rape and murder. This process gave them incredible power, at the cost of their lifespans - Dead Seed grew rapidly, and were known to age within only months.

Within the Dead Seed, there was an anomaly known as Dela. She was a second generation Dead Seed, a bizarre result of her mother's ambitious plans to obtain more power. Dela had five spirits warring within her - the spirit of her mother, and her mother's mother, and the spirits of the two men who had been raped then killed to carry the process on further down the line. The fifth and final soul was Dela's alone, a spirit that had blinked into existence when she was conceived only to find itself struggling for purchase against the angry goals of the other four.

As a result of her extreme nature, Dela was aging rapidly. Within only weeks, she had grown into a dangerous woman, her yellow eyes framed by the darkest skin this realm had ever seen. There was incredible sorrow within those golden pools, and an ineffable knowledge. Though she was only months old, Dela listened to the wails of the souls that warred within her, and she knew things no mortal should.

Her companion, Kaotis, was a frightening character, though admittedly less so than the ebony-skinned Dela. A 'normal' Aliscowri (if there was such a thing), Kaotis had been the first among the latest converts to fully embrace Chaos in all its potential. Since becomming an Aliscowri, Kaotis had been killed four times. Each time, he rose again, stronger than before. Each time he returned, he was a little more insane.

Every violent death was spreading cracks through the foundations of the slaver's mind, and Kaotis looked around with fatalistic eyes, searching eagerly for an opponent worthy of a fight. The man hunted for death like mortals searched for food and drink, and had grown convinced that each time he died he would only ascend closer to the true potential of Chaos.

It was this dangerous man that sat across the street from the Moon's Shadow Inn, on the steps of a porch. The home's inhabitants had been converted into Aliscowri, and now uneasily hosted Dela and Kaotis in their home. Dela had insisted on the spot, convinced that Sharay would return to the site she'd last seen Dela. If Sharay intended to make an appearance, the time was fast passing. At the rate Dela was aging, there was no guarantee the woman would be around this time next week.

Dela herself walked out onto the porch, gazing wistfully at the ruined Moon's Shadow Inn. She was dressed in a black gown that was nearly indistinguishable from her midnight flesh, while a necklace of quartz crystals glistened against her neck.

"Iyn's not coming back," she said towards Kaotis.

"You don't know that," the ex-slaver hissed, his tattooed face scrunching into one of bold defiance as he gazed towards Dela. "She's just stuck in Heruin."

Dela shook her head, her eyes eerily empty as she examined the rubble across the street. "No." She took her eyes away from the building and lifted her palm, where she had been holding a small glass globe. The sphere was the size of an eye, and glowed with a cool amber light. "They gave this to me, when I was sleeping.."

"Who?"

"The three-legged monsters. They clicked and hissed, but I understood what they said." Dela glanced at the sphere. "It had been a gift to Iyn, the monsters told me."

Kaotis shrugged. "What else did they say?"

"They didn't. They just gave me this, and left.. Then I woke up." She shifted her eyes away from Kaotis to stare at a seemingly empty spot. "Now I can see ghosts. They tell me that Iyn--"

Kaotis growled, reaching out and snatching the sphere from Dela's palm. "Let me see that," he grunted, studying the luminescent object.

"Nevermind the Eye. It glows. Look over here," Dela pointed to the spot she had been staring at. "Do you see the spirit?"

Kaotis's eyes widened as he studied the empty space on the porch. "Yes," he hissed. Standing as plain as day beside them was the ghastly apparition of a desert nomad. Wispy hair danced on his balding head, and haunted eyes gazed fearlessly at Kaotis. The apparition spoke through the shadows of an ethereal scarf, its toothless mouth working carefully as it spoke heavily accented words.

"Son of Chaos," the spirit said to Kaotis. "I am Astarl, of the T'ral Ithan."

Kaotis offered the ghost a cruel grin. "Want to fight?"

"I have no will for such trivialities," Astal said, his voice emotionless. "I am here to bring closure for the young Iyn."

"What do you know of Iyn?!"

"Iyn is dead."

Kaotis gawked at the spirit, then his face hardened. "You're lying."

"I am not."

"We cannot die! We are Aliscowri! Tempesturo's chosen!!" Kaotis rose from the porch as if he'd advance on the ghost, though he knew full well that the apparition was completely unconcerned of physical attacks.

"She feared sacrifice. She faltered from the path, and nearly was lost. I saved her."

"That makes no sense," Kaotis huffed. "You saved her? You just said she's dead."

"Exactly."

"So.. What happened?"

The spirit shrugged. "A demonic cat killed her.. Dragged her into the desert. The Gulawrath responsible is dying of thirst, for it has lost its way in the sand. Perhaps it will meet our god as it dies, like my clansman Djarin.."

"Iyn's spirit? Did it.. did she ascend?"

The ghost glanced towards the ruined inn. "Ascension is a lie. There is no forwards or backwards, no rising or falling. There only is." A gust of wind brushed across the porch, and Astarl vanished.

Kaotis studied the glass sphere in his palm, his face contorted by disgust and anger. "Fuck. Here, Dela, you can take this thing back. Some things I'd rather not know."