It was hard to shave this down to 5,000 characters. I had to remove apostrophes, spaces after periods, and the spaces between paragraphs. I built on the lore of the quest entry I made previously. Here's my entry in an easier to read format:
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Blooded
The original opening of the Gates were performed prior to the entrapment of magic within the Elemental Shards,and without a way to focus their energies required a great deal of power.To crack the viel between worlds,the gate had to be stained with blood in dark rituals.Luckily,there was never any shortage in prisoners.What were the lives of mortal beings if not resources to be used by their masters?So the Great Gate was built,and blood flowed across the runes carved into its surface.
But not all the prisoners sat idle in their chains,waiting to be expunged from the world to contribute to the darkness encroaching upon it.
Kelytia,warrior priestess of the once great eastern kingdom of Malaya,bided her time in captivity.Rumors passed down from prisoner to prisoner of what awaited them at the end of the line.Thousands of lives had been given to the cracking of the viel,and thousands more would be needed.The blood flowed thicker than that of any battlefield for the Dread Lords purpose.
Kelytia had been a leader of her people,carrying them through battle after battle until her forces,whittled to the point of almost nothing,were finally captured by the beasts loyal to the Titans.
So she planned for one last battle.One last push for the glory of her kingdom,and to push darkness from the world one last time.
Prisoners were processed in the order they were taken,and thus the Malayan warriors were bound together and brought as one amongst the other prisoners for their day at the alter.
The sacrificial priests at the alters surrounding the Gate wore robes so black and stained with blood that light seemed to shy away from them.Their purpose so dark,the energies of Death itself flowed through them,their eyes glowing crimson under their hoods as groups of soldiers escorted prisoner after prisoner to the alters to be gutted with wicked runed hooks.
Then came Kelytias turn,and those of her warriors.Experts of hand to hand,the moment the shackles fell from the last one the set upon their foes like whirlwinds,taking the spears from the first soldiers they took down,and wielding these spears took down even more.The priests at the alter began chanting and casting dark magics,sucking the life force from any prisoners still in line not strong willed enough to resist,and blasting these forces at Kelytia and the other Malayans,but to no avail.They took each blow,each mark against their life forces,as if they were nothing.They had accepted the certainty of their deaths and made peace with their gods,and nothing would stop them in their purpose.As each Malayan fell,the remainder seemed to grow more focused,knowing their instant of finalization grew closer.
One by one,soldier and priest and Malayan warrior were cut down,their blood flowing around the alter and mixing with that of the prisoners.Then something unexpected happened.
The prisoners blood,so wrought with a sense of fear and resignation and hopelessness,was now mixed with the blood of those that ended them.Their final resting place,as dark as it seemed,was made darker.The Gate activated,the veil cracked,but it wasnt the viel between the demonic plains and the world of Elemental that broke open and spilled forth - It was the land of the dead,the land of those whose blood had been desecrated.
A host of the slaughtered prisoners stepped forth,glowing violet in the darkness of the citadel containing the Great Gate.As Kelytia,last of the Malayan warriors lay dying,she saw this forth flow into the room,swirling amongst priest,soldier,and prisoner alike.
Shackles burst into ash amonst the prisoners;they were freed,and quickly moved to take weapons from the dead soldiers.Priests,whos powers in Death had no effect on those who had already crossed the viel,were defenseless under the assault.The entire massive citadel was wiped clean of the Dread Lords stain on the world,and as suddenly as it began,the gate deactivated.The spirits of the dead vanished,dispersed into the world,and the prisoners,along with the mortally wounded Kelytia,escaped.
Kelytia was able to survive until they made it back to the Malayan capital,still untouched by the war,and though infection and fever took their toll,it seemed she could not die.She had been bathed in the light of the Dead,and given their blessing.Until it was her time,she would not be taken.The trait came to be known as being "Blooded",blessed by the Dead,and each of the escaped prisoners retained it.Wounds that would normally kill even the strongest seemed to glance off them like they were nothing,and they became a curse to the Dread Lords work.Even now it is said that there are Blooded among the survivors of the Cataclysm,great men and women who cannot be taken by even the strongest blow,until their strength has been whittled away entirely.
- Blooded:No single blow can kill the Blooded.Blows that take more than the remaining HP drop them to 1 HP,allowing for healing.Trait only activates once per battle.Cannot survive a second blow beyond their HP reserves.
