Onion lore

      Orion, a scarred and tired man grips a large grey staff with a faintly glowing purple gem at the head of it. Clad in matte white knight armor with grey hair and a torn and ruined cape, he stands wistfully in the company of six statues; each the likeness of a great hero who'd fallen in battle or succumbed to age.

     "I wish I could go back in time to when you all were still here." He whispered to the statues, walking to the far left statue and stopping to read the inscription.

     "Galagus: The company I keep is odd yes, but I'll gladly lay down my life for anyone of them at a moments notice." Orion silently echoed as he moved his hand over the engraved letters.

     He moves to the next statue and attempts to hold back tears as he reaches the statue.

      "Dolkar: Adversity is completely trivial when surrounded by friends."

     Not wanting to dwell on the statue and its associated memories, Orion continues.

     He reaches the next statue and fails in his attempts.

      "Oh...."

      "Lytė: Thank you all so much for keeping your eyes open to the light." Orion retrieves two halves of a broken jousting lance from his knapsack, and places them at the foot of Lytė's statue.

      "Thanks."

     Orion moves on to the next hero.

     Bishop: "in order to atone for my crimes, I chose to live as a monster rather than die for some militia, and I've never regretted that choice."

      "If only you knew..."

  He comes to a stop at the concurrent statue.

     Webber: "Even though I no longer feel human, thanks to this assortment of oddballs, I still feel something."

   Orion tiredly shuffles towards the next.

     Crypt: “ ਮੈਨੂੰ ਅਨਾਦਿ ਦਾ ਆਰਾਧਨਾ ਮੇਰੀ ਕੋਡ ਨੂੰ ਬੰਨ੍ਹ ਰਿਹਾ ਹੈ, ਪਰ ਮੈਨੂੰ ਇਸ ਦੀ ਰੱਖਿਆ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ ਟੀ, ਕਾਮਰੇਡ ਦੇ ਮੇਰੇ ਵੱਖ ਗਰੁੱਪ ਨੂੰ ਦੇ ਵਿਰੁੱਧ ਲੜਨ ਜਾਵੇਗਾ.”

"Rest easy old metal, You are finally free."

      "Tora: tell Orion That I'm no longer dying, but rather, I'm living again in the souls of those who remember my name. Tell him I love him."

     "Tora.......I didn't.......I could've......"

    His eyes narrow and his teeth clench as he returns to the middle of the circle.

"DAMMIT" booms in a magic-fueled rage, his staff firmly planted into the polished stone in front of him, crystal glowing brighter than ever before.

    "AWAKEN!"

  Orion becomes engulfed in orange and turquoise flame as he pours his very being into the staff, causing magic to flow in lines to each of the statues.

   "I DOTH COMMAND THEE TO CAST OFF THINE INFERNAL CONSTRAINTS  AND RETURN TO THINE RIGHTFUL MORTAL STATES!!"

   The staff explodes with brilliant display of arcane potency, waves of emerald green and shining silver expand outward and wash over the statues as Orion pours his very soul into his most powerful spell.

     Then at once, the chamber is silent again, and Orion falls to his knees.

"Funny. I guess the Phoenix has broken his immortal cycle for a chance to reforge the lives of others from his own ash. How poetic and fitting an end for a man such as I."

   "O....Orion?" The gravelly metallic voice of a blurred figure calls out to him, as he begins to crumble into ashen dust, the particles once belonging to his body drifting away behind his tired form and leaving nothing but a warped metal staff and a minute layer of lifeless soot.