Nyx

Nyx was a half-elven Level 30 Thief who was also an Ordained of the Chosen of Fate.

Nicknames & Titles:

• The Shadow
  
• The Weaver's Shadow
  
• The Ebon Messenger
  
• Faileas Dhan
  

Over the years, Cordir had fun playing with his class title:
Hel [ SneekyDudeSupreme ]Nyx: Ebon Messenger of Fate.
Hel [ Goth Superhero ] Nyx: Ebon Messenger of Fate.
Hel [...Ebon Duck...] Nyx: Ebon Messenger of Fate. Triat Master.

Mud Contributions:

Nyx wrote the revised The Ruins of Ofcol and The Living Lands (which replaced the old Elemental Canyon) and co-authored two zones with Jahiliya of Veladorn: the Temple of Isiira and The Cymraeg River.

Current Description:

The shadows twist and shift before your sight, like a midnight fog touched by a light breeze. There is something out there, a deep purple glow, that seems to float about. Ah, yes... you can make it out now. Its a sprite, but how can she be moving and sitting at the same ti- She is sitting upon a shoulder... a very darkly clad shoulder. Your gaze slides up to where you know the face must be, and is met by piercing grey eyes. Ebon strands dance within them, forming and reforming - a web, a sigil, a name forever lost...
There is only one person this can be...

During his Trial of Triat Mastery, Nyx was forbidden to be sneaky. It was the only time he changed his personal description:
You notice a half-elf standing off to one side. He returns your gaze unflinchingly, but you can see sadness in those piercing grey eyes, mixed between the midnight strands that shift within them. He nods slightly in your direction.
There is only one person this could be...

Character History:

The air is chilly against your skin as you run lightly across the rooftops. You stop briefly to survey the area. Harper's Landing is laid out before you, lit by the slivered moon and darkened by the thickening cloud cover. It will rain soon; you can smell the tang in the air. You need to complete your night's work quickly. You beginning running again, your feet landing surely with every step. Your pace matches the tempo within your body as you cross wood, rope, and empty air, driving you on, faster and faster.

Soon you near your destination and you allow yourself to slow. The building before looks the same as all the others, but it isn't what interests you. Not this time. You move quietly to the edge and peer down in the gloom of the alley. There are two humans below you, hunched over a fresh corpse. You recognize the face on the body and pain fills your heart. You knew it would be her, for her death is the reason you are here, but that knowledge doesn't stop the pain. For someone innocent to die so young- Enough. You have a job to do.

The men do not notice you. They are too interested in what new baubles they can pry off their kill. You feel a twitch of anger deep within you as they paw the corpse. They call themselves warriors and clerics, and yet they are no better than the thugs and murderers of Midgaard. No, these men are worse, for at least the thugs and murderers admit what they are. With a deep breath you push your feelings aside. Now is not the time.

Quickly you assess the men. They are dirty, oblivious, and cowardly hidden within layers of metal. It is clear that they are not the sharpest arrows in the quiver, as they only carried the body this far before deciding to divvy up the loot. Speaking of which, they are getting rather excited about who gets what. You smile coldly. Soon they will have other things to get excited about.

You stand up smoothly and step over to the length of rope that runs over the alley. You are pleased to see that it is still in fine condition. The thieves in this area are quite good about keeping their runways maintained. You walk out onto it, your balance perfect. You stop directly above the men. They have begun to bicker about who gets her ring. As you look down upon them, memories surface...

The tree branch you are perched upon sways slightly. Even an eight-year-old half-elf weighs something, and it's about all this branch can take. You hope that the gaggle of children below you don't look up.

They are all older and would probably make fun of you. Again. But they aren't going to look up. They are to busy with the carving. One of them stole it from Magda. Everyone says it has magic powers, and that it grants wishes. You don't believe it. Not really. Even if Jacek did carve it, and even if Magda is a witch, she wouldn't have left it someplace where it could get stolen. Probably.

"I get to use it first!" someone shouts. "I took it, so it's mine!" The children grow quiet. The air seems too still, and too hot.

"I wish... I had... a whole bunch of candy!" The silence below is amazing. You've never heard them be that quiet before. You wait. No candy appears. "You did it wrong!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"My turn!"

"Give it to me!"

The screaming match turns into a wrestling match as all the children fight for the little piece of wood. You watch, nervous. Your pulse is racing. Your throat feels thick. Yet you wait. You will not turn back. Not now. You will wait until-There! The carving has fallen to the ground, momentarily forgotten by the combatants. You half-jump, half-fall from the tree, almost landing on the very thing you've come to rescue.

You snatch it in your sweaty hands and tear off into the underbrush. You don't hear any sounds of pursuit, but it is only a matter of time. One of them must have seen you, and they will try to make you pay for it later.

If they catch you. If.

Suddenly, you find yourself before Magda's tent. Worry plays in your mind. What if she thinks I stole it from her? What if I get in trouble? What if-

"Come in." The voice soothes some of your fear, and you walk, trembling only slightly, into the tent.

Magda looks at you, a quizzical smile on her face.

You gulp. "I... Some of the guys... They... " You take a deep breath and try to steady yourself. "Here," you say, holding the carving upward in your cupped hands. "I... I think this is yours."

She takes the carving from you and brushes it off with her fingertips. "Where did you find it?" she asks.

"One of the guys had it. He said it granted wishes, so he stole it. That's what he said."

Magda laughs. It's a sweet sound that rids you of what fear was left in your body. "Oh my, no. If this small thing could grant wishes, I would be a much happier woman, that's for sure. I'm afraid it's merely a keepsake of mine, and its true value is only in what it means to me... "

She places the carving up on a shelf, chuckling lightly. "Wishes," she says, though mostly to herself, and shakes her head. "But I must thank you for returning it to me. I had just now noticed it missing and couldn't think for the life of me where it might have gotten to. Might I give you something as a reward?"

You feel a loathsome blush wash across your cheeks and up onto your ears.

"No, ma'am," you say quickly. "I just wanted you to have it back." You realize that you need to leave soon. The other children will probably come here first when they start looking for you. In fact, you think you hear them now, coming closer, bellowing your name. As if that would make you come out of hiding.

I have to go now, you say, and dash from the tent.

You hear Magda's voice behind you as you leave: "Thank you, Night."

The memory passes in an instant and leaves your mind. It has been long since anyone has called you that. And now you are He Who is Thrice Named.

And you have a duty to perform. It is time. With one last glance downward you take in the scene. You see where the men are standing, where they are looking, where they will not be, and where they will not see.

Your arms stretch out, and for a split-second you hang there, almost floating. And then you let yourself fall backwards. As your feet leave the thin rope instinct honed from years of practice and use takes over. Your body flips of its own accord and you land, silent, directly behind the larger of the two men. You cannot help but to notice that he reeks of sour wine and onions. Wasting no time, your gloved hands dart out, alighting here and there like two black butterflies testing a curious flowerbed. Your numerous pouches and hidden pockets fill quickly with the ill-gotten gains of the would-be plunderer that stands there, ignorant of your very existence. He shifts himself over, but you are ready and shift with him.

With a second fluid movement you place yourself behind the second killer. Soon he too is lightened of a great deal of his inventory. Finally, satisfied that you have done what was necessary, you slip up against the wall of the alley. You feel a pang of regret that you cannot take all that is here, but you refuse to leave it. Your hands move in a complicated gesture and the body lying upon the cluttered ground bursts into flames. The two men cry out and scramble backwards, reaching for weapons and shields that are no longer there. They look around fervently, but do not see you. Few do.

As you effortlessly glide from the alley you allow yourself a tiny humorless smile. You do not kill. It is not your way. But the world is a harsh place, and those who you have just left behind will find it to be much harsher, unprepared for it as they now are. You leave the alley just as the first raindrops begin to fall. You look up and feel the moisture against your face.

Yes, now you may mourn.

Personal Timeline:

08/95: The character known as Night returns to TFC after an absence and finds that a mob has taken his name. He gives up the name Night, and becomes known as Nyx. Soon thereafter, he joins Thaygar, Master of The Ebon Hand.

6/96: Nyx disappears into the shadows and is unseen for a time.

8/96: Nyx returns to the Realm, and discovers that Thaygar has been promoted to God, and the Ebon Hand disbanded. He is reformed for the second time. Shortly thereafter, he follows Pyros.

11/30/96: Nyx reaches 30th level Thief, the fourth ever to do so. (The others being Darkmoon, Caradoc, and Pixel.)

Late 1997: Nyx disappears once more from TFC, his third departure. His whereabouts are unknown.

11/17/98: Nyx returns, a 1st level thief

5/17/99: Nyx, Shadow of Balance, gathers 123 randoms to win a quest run by Tokugawa.

6/9/99: Nyx, Shadow of Balance, reaches 28th level.

6/20/99: Nyx reaches 29th level.

6/21/99: Nyx is the first to worship Cordir upon her elevation to DemiGoddess - though he is momentarily tempted otherwise by the reinstatement of Thaygar as a Lesser God. <LOG>

6/28/99: Nyx, Shadow of Fate, reaches 30th level for the second time.

7/9/99: Nyx, the Ebon Shadow, is Ordained by Cordir. <LOG>

7/21/99: Nyx reaches 3rd level Ordained.

7/23/99: Nyx, Ordained of the Chosen of Fate, accepts a Trial of Mastery from the hands of Cordir. <LOG>

7/28/99: Nyx slain by a member of the Conclave while the Chosen's Ordained is blinded and cursed in the Vortex. His Mastery Trial continues unabated.

8/11/99: Nyx completes his Triat Mastery Quest. <LOG>

8/21/99: Nyx participates in Lorna's Trivia Quest and along with his Team Weasel members, make it to the 'Sudden Death' Round versus Team Chipmunk. After three rounds, the score is still tied and Lorna declares them co-winners. Team Weasel consisted of: Jahiliya of Veladorn as Team Captain, Kennet D'Augustine, Nyx, and Gernoul. Team Chipmunk consisted of Berrin, Abender, Jahar, and Pan. During this quest, an unprecedented event occured... The Death of the Tempest. Team Weasel wishes to specifically thank Dinin, the Ebon Lorebringer of Death, for his aid on the Quest - without whom, they could not have done nearly so well.

8/25/99: Nyx, the Ordained of the Chosen, bad recalls to the Demon Realm, where he is promptly slain. A number of noble heros attempt a rescue of his corpse, some for more noble purpose than others. In the process, Flutter dies twice (losing a level and falling to 29th) and Blystur dies twice as well. Abender successfully recovers the corpse of Blystur only minutes after his death in Demon Realm. This second death of Blystur was apparently a planned event… the corpse containing his equipment was recovered by Abender intact and returned unscathed. Flutter declined a second corpse retrieval attempt, as she felt it didn't really contain anything significant. Five hours after the death of Nyx, Vecna, the Arch-Mage of the Grey Vortex and Destined, undertakes the task. After slaying well over 40 demons over a three hour period, Vecna is able to recover a few of Nyx's artifacts, earning the personal gratitude of the Lady of Fate and Her Ordained.

9/3/99: Nyx attends the GT at Grandma Tony's in Tucson, Arizona. In attendance are: (Mortals) Kamil, Elistan, Majere, Rubicant, Nydus, Gaul, Rocky, Marisa, Trap, Kennet, Jahiliya, and (Immortals) Cordir, Syla, and Thaygar, with Asia arriving just as the GT was ending.

10/23/01: Nyx is affected when Cordir is forcibly retired for rules violations. He leaves the mud until she is restored.

12/3/01: Nyx finds that he is still Ordained when Cordir regains Demi-Goddess rank.

3/19/02: Nyx requests that Cordir release him as Her Ordained out of fairness to the other Ordaineds who lost their status upon her retirement. This is done as part of a special "Fateful Night." <LOG>

07/17/05: Look Nyx - The shadows twist and shift before your sight, like a midnight fog touched by a light breeze. There is something out there, a deep purple glow, that seems to float about. Ah, yes... you can make it out now. Its a sprite, but how can she be moving and sitting at the same ti- She is sitting upon a shoulder... a very darkly clad shoulder. Your gaze slides up to where you know the face must be, and is met by piercing grey eyes. Ebon strands dance within them, forming and reforming - a web, a sigil, a name foreverlost... There is only one person this can be...Nyx is in perfect health.

2009: At some point, Nyx's player file purges. He comes back for a visit on 01/24/09 as a 1st level thief, to be present for Corri's Trial of Triat Mastery.