Truth of Life and Anti-Life

He would remain calm he must. Darkness's threat on Lana would not deter him. He would take not action or inaction out of fear, even the fear of hurting those he loved. The confessor touched Soskai and Nathan started with the questions.

"How can we stop the Anti-Life equation and save our friends?"

Soskai spoke fluidly as if he was in no way concerned about the answers he was sharing. "The Anti-Life equation requires the subject to have no faith. It is faith that causes all intelligent beings to act. Faith that taking an action will produce a result, the desired results. Faith when viewed in that light is almost interchangeable with hope. When one has no hope they have no will. In the absence of their will, I place my own. Your friends are no longer."

"Its not true, others have been saved from the antilife before."

"It was because they had hope. It was an imperfection in the formula."

"And why do they not have hope?"

"I removed it. You see I first began to develop this formula when I realized that I could literally control and puppet the fledglings I created. They, if I chose, became nothing more than puppets. I had that power over mortals that I could charm but it was amplified in someway with my creations. It was more pure. Studying the connection the purity of it I have eventually found a way to replace my will for theirs. But hope, faith, was always the problem. Faith drove will and action. The solution came when a seeress had a vision of ravenloft and I working together. You see fear and faith can not exist in the same being at the same time. Will drives action forces us to move forward, fear causes hesitation it stops action throws us back. Ravenloft is fear it creates fear like no other can. In its realm unspeakable fear helped to negate their hope then they committed to and solved the equation proving that Hope is folly and Self = Darkness. They have no hope left."

"But if they had hope?"

"Then the equation would not balance and I would lose control. But that can not be done."

"What is your plan your end goal?"

"I will expose the world to the equation convince them all of what their lives are -- meaningless. In the void only the darkness will remain. All is Darkness."

Jillian offered her own question now, "How are you connected to Margaret?"

Soskai responded, "She was a Darkfriend. They offered assistance in my research.?"

"Where did she come from what did she want?"

"The Raven sent her. They are working some agreement with the Forsaken and the Forsaken Persphonee sent her to assist."

"What is her connection with the golems?"

"I do not know nor do I care."

"IS she dead?"

"Yes she has expired, not to rise again. The chaos corrupted her soul too fully."

"Where are you?"

"I am in too many places to list, my will is manifest throughout the world."

"Where is the prime where is the original Darkness?"

"I..." Soskai appeared to fall asleep and stop answering.

Nathan failed all attempts to revive him.

He then said, "Well we know what we need to now anyway. At least enough to free our team. Perhaps once they are freed the connection they had will lead us to him so we can finish it."

Jillian spoke up, "My Lord excuse me I don't mean to be disrespectful, but we know nothing. He destroyed all their hope. There is none left he said that under the influence of the confessor we can't save them."

With patience he responded, "As I have been telling you, always consider the source of the information when looking for truth. He says there is no hope because he believe there is none left. But I KNOW no hear walks so far in the shadow it can not find the light. We must also not give up hope." Standing and looking for something in his saddlebag he continued, "Aspen gave us a old collection of spells that looked like a complicated charm spell. It has the omega symbols all over it. The same symbols that are in the eyes of our companions. It must have the clues to the mechanics of the anti-life. Lana I'll want you to work on that. The rest of us need to get to a safe location, and we need to get our friends there as well. Darkness would have killed them if he could have so they can't give us more information. The fact that he hasn't only means he'll send more of his minions to do it. We need to get them somewhere protected and quick."

"The Isle" Jillian offered.

"No they are evil they can not enter it. And Atlanta is not strong enough to defend they are being attacked right now by forces from Cyrodil."

Lana spoke in barely a whisper, "The Greyfoot palace. They say they sent many troops to the crusade but we were just their and those walls are well defended. And Dante is an alley we can trust. Their libraries there will be a good resource for me."

"Agreed. We go to the Greyfoot palace. Let us make haste."