[Excist]

Agartha: The Pact with Harrow-gor

The Agarthan people have for ages lived their lives peacefully underground guarding the Umbral Seal and have been always been known as an honorable people that lived their lives with wisdom and humility. The supreme sacrifice their ancestors made to lead the Agarthans underground and Seal the Umbral Chamber has slowly, but surely been claiming its due. They are now cursed and increasingly tainted as the Seal corrupts the very guardians that stand vigil, causing them to turn on one another in bloodlust and hasten the weakening of the Seal. They are diseased and increasingly infertile as their once great numbers are culled by a foe that the Guardian's of the Seal's Obsidian Glaives are powerless to contain. The extinction of the Pale Ones is now all but inevitible to even the greenest of Earthreaders and the Oracles know that if this should ever come to pass the eventual death of the rest of the world is not long to follow.

But, the Oracles have divined an answer! One Oracle of the Dead, named Laman-Ra has communed with the great Ismodeon that once led the Great Agarthan nation on the First Crusade responsible for the Sealing of the Chamber, and is even now trapped forever as a Risen Oracle in Tartarus after his failed bid for godhood many cycles ago. After this perilous journey to the cusp of Tartarus, Laman-Ra has returned with hope for Agartha and the world.

The answer was a name: Harrow-gor. Harrow-gor, the legendary mage long thought dead. Stories of his conquests from hundreds of years ago are still talked about in every nation in the world. A Sequani by birth, he had left the Sacred Forest to study among the Sages of Ashentower, delve dungeons and contract out his services in battle as a mercenary. A Pale One commander named Mandred had been chosen to travel out and seek Harrow-gor with 12 Ancient Ones, and a representative Oracle from each of the 3 schools. Only four survived the quest including Mandred himself, but that is a tale for another time.

The people of Agartha and Harrow-gor have enterred into what is now known as The Pact. Harrow-gor has evaluated their plight and referenced all that he has learned of the spectral realm, consulting the Pax Arcanum and casting complex divining rituals with the Eye of Balthuzak to foresee, not just the near future the way that the Earth Readers can, but to see the lines of power and the forces of change to predict the resulting changes for projected choices.

The resulting Pact itself, however, turned out to be exceedingly simple:

- Agartha must save themselves by embracing their cursed bloodlust and the very power contained in the Seal to expand their lands on the surface away from the taint of the Seal.

- Agartha must then save the world by raising Harrow-gor to godhood where only he has the understanding necessary to completely seperate the Umbral Chamber from the rest of this dimensional realm and create a clear fissure in the Umbral Bridge and permenantly defend against the Taint.

As the sun sets over the horizon the amazons and lizardmen, the lost jaguar tribes and lion tribes, the barbarians and the independant militiamen turn their head at an unfamiliar sound. Wardrums beating one solitary deliberate tempo echoing from beneath the earth out onto the plains and swamps and forests.

The tide approaches slowly at first and then charges forth with unexpected bursts of speed and in seconds the independant tribes are scattered and splintered; the elders are cut down as they stand, fight or run so that their children have a chance against a fate that none of them were aware of or could comprehend.

Standing above the cowed and impressionable survivors the Pale One clerics read off liturgy in their guttoral monotone.

24:17 Nature is more powerful than Death in that Death fuels Nature's growth as deadwood fuels a fire
35:22 Sometimes one must shed blood to heal the sick.
12:5 Does any one amongst you doubt that the world is sick and the forces of Death threaten to claim the very Blood of the World? Would any one amongst you stand against the Prince of Strength that would shelter you?
12:2 Rejoice! For the Umbral Bridge will be Guarded! The Undeceivable God has arrived to defend the Life of the World!

Slowly, they begin to understand why their parents had had to die so that they may live.