Epitaph of War: Dead Desert, Dying Sun
Calm after the Storm
Prometheus brought down fire to men,
This brought up water.
The Gods are jealous—now, as then,
Giving no quarter.
Following Mira's instruction, Jacqualine was able to focus and anchor to one of the visions, which she could lucidly engage with. She found herself in a great desert littered with ancient, decrepit ruins, overlooked by a massive dark-red sun. She was also standing at the focal point at the site of a great battle; on the high dune, a line of reptilian-dragon-like creatures, clad in chitin armour and once wielding carapace weapons, were lying in long piles about 400 feet from their enemies. Unable to identify what exactly caused their deaths, she continued towards the fallen enemies. Now completely disintegrated, with merely charred bones and molten metal remaining, they were lying in defensive positions that had been cratered by supremely powerful evocation magic. Jacqualine could estimate that around 100 of these craters had impacted the battlefield, across many miles of desert. Standing near the closest crater was a rotting, foul draconic creature. Its eyes glowed bright green, and its mere presence radiated pure psionic power, which Jacqualine could feel (and identify as such). She went closer to inspect the opponents in the craters. Most were clearly humanoid, with little variation in height, but a small number deviated significantly, possessing an alien facial structure. These 'others' also seemed to once have been wearing some form of plate armour, indicated by higher amounts of molten metal on their now-charred bodies. She had also noted a massive obelisk in the far distance, and began a journey towards it.
However, before setting off, shouts could be heard coming from beyond one of the dunes, and soon a small number of surviving reptilian-draconic creatures approached the draconic abomination, who had transformed itself into a regal-looking version of them upon hearing the voices. The survivors paid homage to him, and after a brief exchange, presented their leader with some loot that they had managed to recover. Jacqualine took note that it was all metal objects, mostly cylindrical containers and helmets; all heavily damaged, some partly melted; and she could make out the number "55" etched in white on the helmets' left side. The creatures then began to wander the battlefield, collecting undamaged weapons and searching for other survivors.
Jacqualine tried to reach the white obelisk, but woke long before reaching it. And now, the Abyss beckons...
