Isolt of the Waters is an ancient water elemental whose betrayal and enchantment has forever changed the Whole. When a young scholar in Idonne discovers her story, along with tales of dwarf magic and the birth of Umbra—a malevolent entity dwelling in the Void—he dreams of a life filled with adventure and heroism.
Dying. Death. Light snuffed out, but not completely. A grey sheen, its source not visible, infiltrates the vast space I float in. My awareness simmers. I wait. Minutes. Hours. Days. Weeks. Months. Eternity? A tunnel of warm sticky heat envelops me. Pulls and sucks me deep into its vortex. The timeless nothingness stretches me; thinner, thinner, thinner. My psyche travels through some cosmic sieve, and I lose … what is it that I have lost? The brighter part of myself—an ember—falls away. It is gone. Images from my life, memories—the ones I buried—jangle through me. I’m reminded in vivid detail of every evil I ever committed—from the smallest lie to the most deplorable betrayal. The excuses I made for myself—every rationalization—consolidates into a single trail of gluey telltale. The sticky thread spins and rolls into a compacted ball of cowardice, envy, self doubt, and self pity. The grey light is extinguished. I have arrived in a void of omnipotent blackness as an impotent, seething blotch. Heat builds around me, my consciousness implodes. Raining down through the ethers, I am mortal ash. — Umbra, Isolt's Enchantment
The darkest part of the shadow. A quantum manifestation of all unresolved human suffering.
OMG!
There couldn't be a better theme song for Umbra than "You Want It Darker" chillingly performed and superbly written by genius songwriter Leonard Cohen.
"You Want It Darker" Lyrics
If you are the dealer, I'm out of the game
If you are the healer, it means I'm broken and lame
If thine is the glory then mine must be the shame
You want it darker
We kill the flame
Magnified, sanctified, be thy holy name
Vilified, crucified, in the human frame
A million candles burning for the help that never came
You want it darker
Hineni, hineni
I'm ready, my lord
There's a lover in the story
But the story's still the same
There's a lullaby for suffering
And a paradox to blame
But it's written in the scriptures
And it's not some idle claim
You want it darker
We kill the flame
They're lining up the prisoners
And the guards are taking aim
I struggled with some demons
They were middle class and tame
I didn't know I had permission to murder and to maim
You want it darker
Hineni, hineni
I'm ready, my lord
Magnified, sanctified, be thy holy name
Vilified, crucified, in the human frame
A million candles burning for the love that never came
You want it darker
We kill the flame
If you are the dealer, let me out of the game
If you are the healer, I'm broken and lame
If thine is the glory, mine must be the shame
You want it darker
Hineni, hineni
Hineni, hineni
I'm ready, my lord
Hineni
Hineni, hineni
Hineni
Isolt of the Waters is an ancient water elemental whose betrayal and enchantment has forever changed the Whole. When a young scholar in Idonne discovers her story, along with tales of dwarf magic and the birth of Umbra—a malevolent entity dwelling in the Void—he dreams of a life filled with adventure and heroism.
“It was a silver saucer with pretty colored stones decorating its rim. But it was the bones that alerted me: The bowl’s value is greater than its beauty.” A sense of doom slithered across the back of Quasimi’s neck. Thinking it might be an insect, he tried to brush it away. “The bones?”
“Bones on the ground, fancy metalwork close by, death in the air.” She widened her hands in a display of wonder. "I said to myself, ‘You’ve stumbled upon some dwarf relic infused with magic’. Do you want to see it?” she asked. Quasimi ran his palm across his damp forehead. He undid the top buttons of his shirt. Used to his free-flowing garments, the fitted clothes stifled him. Flora dragged a bulky item across the floor and settled it in the middle of the cottage. “It’s like an eye.”
A silver basin shined in the cottage’s dim light, beguiling the mage. He rose from the small table to inch toward it. “Flora, it’s magnificent. Someone would pay you a pretty piece for this.” “I don’t want to sell it.” He winced. The desire to possess it consumed him. “When you fill the basin with water from the Great White Sea, you can see things.” “What can you see?” he asked. A troubled expression flitted across Flora’s wrinkled face. She filled the basin. “Look for yourself.” The mage kneeled on the floor. The basin compelled his gaze. Quasimi balanced on his toes before rising to his full height in the center of the room. Once he leveled the water, a cloud-colored mist rose from the water’s placid surface. When Isolt’s face formed in the water, her eyes black as coal, the mage tried to release the bowl.
But it held him. The water in the basin boiled and hissed. — Isolt's Revenge, Isolt's Enchantment
Thus in Daughter of Light cosmology, the consciousness of Elendah, Quasimi, Vulcan, Flora, Isolt of the Waters and—even Haff and Gweff through their created work, the magical basin Ormrun—converge in the Parallel of Shadows to breakthrough to the material plane of the Realm of Faerie in a climatic event.
Delta Rae's song "Fire" exquisitely captures Isolt's anguish:
"Fire" Lyrics:
I, I got my eye on you, I heard what you been saying These rumors you spread ’round, they burn me down like flames and We used to be friends, but that ain’t true now You ain’t got my back, you’ve shown me that so many times When I need help Can’t call for help ’Cause no one comes So I’m calling FIRE It won’t be pretty, I ain’t no girl cried wolf, I’ll bring this whole damn city They’ll come from miles around just to see how you cut me down We used to be friends, but that ain’t true now You poisoned the well, now I can’t tell who’s on my side When I need help Can’t call for help ’Cause no one comes So I’m calling FIRE
Isolt of the Waters is an ancient water elemental whose betrayal and enchantment has forever changed the Whole. When a young scholar in Idonne discovers her story, along with tales of dwarf magic and the birth of Umbra—a malevolent entity dwelling in the Void—he dreams of a life filled with adventure and heroism.
Her daughter waited with crossed arms on the side of the road. “What?” She cared little for her mother’s interests and concerns. Regina’s father was a sorcerer from Kyrakkos. Soon after Josefina had given birth to a son, he’d taken the boy and left Faerie. Regina blamed her mother for her father’s abandonment.
Josefina ran the back of her fingers against her cheek. Her skin felt warm. “That hot gust?” Regina offered pursed lips and an impatient shake of her head. Josefina returned her gaze to the bowl, the air remained still. With reluctance she wrapped the basin with the same thick cloth the dwarf had used to cover it. She re-tied the twine to create a handle. Despite its size, the bowl was light and easy to carry. At night, Josefina slept with her hand resting upon the bulky package. Her dreams became vivid and troublesome. She kicked and moaned, often waking her daughter. Regina said nothing, only moved her pallet farther away.
The pair veered from their original path and found themselves before the roar of the Great White Sea. Josefina quickened her pace. Regina dawdled.
Josefina knelt before the tide. She scooped up sea water with both hands and poured it into the bowl. When it was full, she carried the full basin back toward the beach, away from the waves. An aching melody drifted above the roar of the ocean. Its forlorn sound sliced opened Josefina’s heart. The bitter loss of her son poured out. She bowed her neck and peered more closely into the basin. The song became louder and more anguished. The melody rose higher and higher, fluttering around the muannaye like a wounded bird. A black flame unfurled beneath the water’s surface.
A magnificent illusion? Although it felt like her heart would shatter into infinite pieces, Josefina couldn’t avert her gaze. The bowl grew warm to the touch. Josefina remained mesmerized. A promise rose from its depths, annihilation of both pain and joy. Exquisite emptiness. Josefina gazed into the Void.—Josefina and the Magic Basin, Isolt's Enchantment
Did the gravitational wave of Josefina's grief (black hole) over the loss of her son collide with the grief (black hole) of another mother—"a billion light years away"? Did the force of this "collision" excite quanta and/or ignite mirror neurons to manifest as heat? Did the basin serve as a conductor, the particle accelerator?
Richie Sambora's cool song "Church of Desire" captures Josefina's plight:
"Church Of Desire" of Lyrics:
Woke up in a cold sweat
In the middle of the night
Seems like a lifetime
When you're wondering who's wrong or right
One confession would resurrect the truth
Revenge or forgiveness for sins between me and you
Now we dance with the devil down lonely
Street, lonely street
Looking for a window in the house of tears
Living in hell, I pray the rain disappears
I'm headed for a breakdown
And the fever runs higher
As I kneel at the altar I can feel your fire
In the church of desire
Church of desire
You never find a reason why love falls from grace
Some kind of voodoo, like a spirit you can't embrace
There's a voice in the mirror, and a ghost in my heart
That relives the passion before we were torn apart
Now we dance with the devil down lonely
Street, lonely street
Looking for a window in the house of tears
Living in hell, I pray the rain disappears
I'm headed for a breakdown
And the fever runs higher
As I kneel at the altar I can feel your fire
In the church of desire
Church of desire
Now we dance with the devil down lonely
Street, lonely street
Looking for a window in the house of tears
Living in hell, I pray the rain disappears
I'm headed for a breakdown
And the fever runs higher
As I kneel at the altar I can feel your fire
In the church of desire
Church of desire
Isolt of the Waters is an ancient water elemental whose betrayal and enchantment has forever changed the Whole. When a young scholar in Idonne discovers her story, along with tales of dwarf magic and the birth of Umbra—a malevolent entity dwelling in the Void—he dreams of a life filled with adventure and heroism.
