Those Who Walk the Planes

[Moonlit Blade]

Wind was blowing across a dark landscape, a landscape darker than the heart of men. The wind, were it conscious, would have noticed the many dark, twisted trees, devoid of leaves. The brown, grass, dead or dying. Across many hills and mountains, the wind would have noticed something. Something frightening. Mankind was eternally at war, in this world. Not with each other, but with creatures of the night. This world, called Innistrad by those that lived here, was home to vampires and spirits. Werewolves and zombies. These creatures of evil sought to end the human race, yet the humans, though fewer in number, held their own, and have done so for many years. It was in a small, humble village, where the story began, and Innistrad came to encounter something it hadn't seen in many years. A Planeswalker.

Regeil appeared a few miles outside of town, where he had been instructed to do so. Specifically, he was in the woods outside the town, though these woods appeared dead by any means. He had been told by a mysterious force to come here, to find others who would aid him in accomplishing his goal. And so, he decided, he would arrive. Of course, the moment he did so, he summoned two Dragon whelps at his side, should he stumble into a trap. He seemed alone, however. For the time being. He grimaced at the smell in the air, the smell of decay. He noticed many of the trees were almost rotting, and that what few plants that poked out of the ground were riddled with obvious signs of disease. What was this place? All Regeil knew was that this place was named Innistrad. He knew nothing else of it.

He made his way around the immediate area in a circle, looking for any signs of life aside from himself and his two Dragons. He always felt the pull of the summon, as the Dragons fought against his magical hold on them. But they were too weak to break free, and so remained under his control. Their bodies, filled with Red Mana, emitted a light that was as effective as a torch. Each flew at one of his sides, the only sound from them being the flapping of their wings or the occasional burst of smoke from their nostrils. But aside from them, nothing living seemed to stir.

And so Regeil waited for the ones he was told to meet. He assumed they would be Planeswalkers, at the very least, and ones against the Guild. Otherwise, they were of no use to him. Only a Planeswalker could truly fight another Planeswalker. Regular mortals were simply too weak. Although there were exceptions, of course. But those were few and far between.

 

[DoomOtter]

A light shone through the twisted dead trees of the forest. Not a pale yellow light of humanity, but a pure white glow. Taka made his way through the forest. Behind him the odd form of an Eternal dragon followed, it's shining light chasing away any of the horrors of this realm. Taka had been to innistrad once before, and he was not going to take any chances. Taka rested his hand on the sword tucked into his sash. He almost thought it stirred at his touch. Tatsumasa tried to speak to the young Planeswalker, but Taka just pushed the voice out of his mind. Taka didn't have time for what the dead dragon wanted right now.

Taka suddenly became aware of a faint red ligh in the distance. That must be where taka had been told to go. Taka gathered more mana and prepared several spells he would be able to cast. He slowly walked towards the source of the red light. he had no illusions that he would be able to sneak up on th source. The Eternal dragon was the sun to a fire compared to the red light ahead. Taka was not willing to release the dragon though. He continued throught the trees until he saw the lights source. A young man, about his same age, with two small dragons. taka recognized summoned creatures, this had to be a planeswalker, but still he had to be cautious. He walked out into view of the other man.

 

[Hartke]

Dhalenka entered the plane with a simic basilisk at her side. The deadly reptile had its belly low to the ground, swishing its tail to-and-fro, tasting the air with its tongue. It had been summoned previously as a safety-measure. The situation was dubious. An unfamiliar voice had contacted Dhalenka telepathically with a vague message asking her to meet others in Innistrad. She had tried to ignore the call, but grew weary when it persisted. Now knowing what Innistrad looked like, Dhalenka felt like her concerns were justified.

Innistrad, the world was a biomancer's nightmare. A biomancer was an artist, beguiled by the possibilities of growth and guided by balance. Life was the medium, magic the brush used to make the passionate strokes. With those tools in hand a biomancer could push the boundaries of evolution. But Innistrad was a world lacking in life. The plane was wrought with decay; it was bland as well as withered. It was a place marred by parasitic ambition and amoral action. It was a world of black magic.

She didn't like it. Biomancy required life. Innistrad was dead. Whoever invited her to the plane had to have known her weaknesses. In the withering woods she met only creatures whose lives had been extinguished: a vampire bat here, an animate fox there. Mauled corpses of rodents scurried everywhere, nesting in the hulls of hollowed trees. Dhalenka grimaced upon hearing a loud crunch from beneath her feet. The tiny elf woman almost vomited. She watched as a plague rat popped out from beneath her boot, reassembling itself before it scampered away. "That's disgusting."

As her eyes followed the creature off into the distance Dhalenka noticed a bright white glow. She could have sworn it wasn't there before. But there it was filling the void of darkness with light. Her own turquoise bio-luminescence provided some illumination, but it couldn't compare to the bright glow in the distance. Moving from the light was a dark mass. It wriggled and wreathed, as if the mass was afraid. . It pushed forward, like a wave, as it was warded from the light and toward Dhalenka. With a horrified expression she realized what was rushing towards her. "R-rats!"

There was little time. She moved quickly and to higher ground. Although not having climbed a tree for years, Dhalenka demonstrated that she still remembered. Her heart was racing. The cytoplasm in her blood began radiating, brightly illuminating her skin and veins. Below, her basilisk companion was fighting a losing battle against the rodent horde. He killed many with his lethal stare and massive jaws but their numbers were too great. Dhalenka watched in horror as the flesh was stripped from the basilisk. The ravenous rats zigzagged in and out of his rib cadge as they clamoured away from the light. Yet, they left the glowing cytoplast along his back and neck alone. Dhalenka pondered why, but was interrupted by the sound of the branch beneath cracking.

As she fell, Dhalenka screamed. She continued screaming for thirty seconds before she realized that the rats weren't touching her. Dhalenka's little heart was beating fast, fast enough for her skin to glow as brightly as the light she had seen before. It seemed to be keeping the rats away, but for how long? How long could she keep her heart beating that fast? She had to run, run to the light in the distance. It was her only chance.

"Just a little bit longer! I will not become a meal for these puny creatures." The light was close, and soon Dhalenka would be safe. She hoped that there she would find the other planewalkers as the voice had promised. If it were a trap, she would already be dead.

 

[Kitti]

Peering from beneath the veil of silvery hair, Tensai could view the scenary around her. The gloom of Innistrad had never appealed to her and her time here had been short, for the place was not one of peace. There was always an air of dark magic to Innistrad that repulsed her and it did not seem to welcome her, either. She stood before a temple, if it could be called that, her fingers twined around the bars of a broken-down fence whose figure was, nonetheless, imposing. From the earth, sickly gray trees sprouted forth yet they seemed no more alive than the yellowed stone of the temple.

The air seemed musty and caught in this windless area by force, each breath in Tensai's lungs felt stale and she regretted bitterly her decision to answer the call that had brought her here. Though to the naked eye, her home might be more treacherous a place than this one, an ever present danger seemed to loom just out of sight. Tensai shivered though the air was not cold and turned her gaze skyward briefly, though it was no more comforting than the land.

Picking her way across the ground, Tensai came finally to open land. The dirt seemed to have given up on life, crumbling beneath her light steps. Seeing no others, she sighed and resigned herself to traversing the plane. To her side, Tensai summed Ursine Fylgja, a willing companion in her quests. The bond of the summon rustled at the edges of her mind, linking her presence to that of the bear's. Kneeling helpfully, Tensai was permitted to sit astride the bear's back, twining her fingers in the thick white fur.

Riding the bear was a treat of sorts for Tensai, since the majestic bear was not frequently so generous as to allow her to ride it as soon as he was summoned. Like her, the gravity of the situation must have been sensed by the bear. The pace was quickened considerably now that it was not Tensai moving across the dirt but instead the long strides of the beast.

Slowing after a great distance had been covered, the bear lifted its head and Tensai glanced around also to look for the cause of this shift in his behavior. It was immediately obvious - there seemed to be a gathering of dragons ahead. Proceeding more cautiously, the bear brought Tensai close enough to see two men standing far apart. Was it a duel, then, or something else? The did not seem to be fighting and the dragons, while looking reluctant, were calm.
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