Dragonwilds:Avisk

Template:Infobox NPC Avisk was an Aughra Dragonkin with the elemental power of Dragonwilds:air who lived on Dragonwilds:Ashenfall and was part of a group of Dragonkin who broke away from their main kin in defiance of their traditions. Among this group were Dragonwilds:Lacrussa, Dragonwilds:Rasthin, Dragonwilds:Viika, and Dragonwilds:Brakka, with Avisk serving as a calming presence during their early settlement of Ashenfall.

He was known for his more thoughtful and philosophical nature compared to some of his kin, however, was driven by an obsession with consciousness, and mortal transcendence. He sought to enter the minds of other (lesser) beings, including Dragonwilds:Vault Guardians, Ogres, humans, and Dragonwilds:Dragons and bent his efforts toward understanding and recreating the crystalline structures he found within them. He was known to have broken into Lacrussa's laboratory on multiple occasions in pursuit of knowledge he believed would allow him to surpass his physical limitations.

During the Dragonwilds:Dragon Rebellion, Avisk preserved his soul in a prism, which became known as The Dreaming Stone.

By the time the Adventurer arrives at Dowdun Reach, Avisk's essence has been sealed within the Dreaming Stone for some time, though the stone itself has been shattered by Lord Rasmodel, who grew desperate as the affliction spread through his keep. Its thirteen shards are scattered throughout the keep.

Once the Adventurer reassembles the stone, Avisk's consciousness is restored. He warns that Rasmodel has become something dangerous, a fusion of Avisk's essence, a cthonian demon, and considerable rage, and advises the Adventurer to give him a swift death. With the Gatekeeper defeated, Avisk lowers the barrier to the Dragonwilds:Umbral Sands.

History

Avisk raised the question of whether the vault guardians possessed souls, pointing to what he saw as a creative quality in them that suggested something beyond simple animation.

His most dangerous experiment was performed on Viika. He subjected them to an apparatus involving rune essence that resulted in an explosion, leaving Viika with burns and severe wing damage. Lacrussa nearly killed Avisk in retaliation, only sparing him at Viika's request.

Avisk received an elemental gift from Rasthin: a device known as "Jas Moksha," which granted him the elemental power of air. Avisk, knowing that Rasthin could easily destroy him, feigned subjugation and accepted it, fearing that it might be a trap. However, the elemental gift proved useful and opened new possibilities for experimentation; it unlocked minds that he previously couldn't enter.

Avisk first turned his abilities toward ogres, then when he was satisfied moved onto humans He found them easy to dominate, as their narcissistic nature mirrored his. He was able to reshape their thoughts to center entirely around himself. During this period, he had little interest in Lacrussa's blue dragons and kept them penned to prevent them from interfering with his work and killing his subjects.

Avisk conducted further experiments on Lacrussa's dragon brood, attempting to use rune essence to link multiple dragon minds into a shared consciousness. Nearly all the subjects perished. One survived: a dragon with multiple heads that functioned under a single unified mind, displaying unexpected traits such as curiosity and reasoning. (Kuldra)

When Avisk eventually explored the minds of the blue dragons, he discovered a crystalline structure—a prism—that was suppressing their thoughts and potential. He aimed to make them sapient, surpassing Lacrussa's work. Their feral behavior was caused by the prism, which would redirect their thoughts in random directions. His attempts to realign the crystal from the outside failed entirely, and breaking pieces of it only weakened its properties.

It was only when he entered the prism, as if it were a living mind, that everything changed. Once inside, he discovered a second layer of the dragons' consciousness that he couldn't fully comprehend. This experience transformed him; he no longer desired to grant the dragons sapience. Instead, he yearned to create a prism for himself.

The Dreaming Stone

Avisk managed to recreate the prism he found within the Dragons' minds. This prism became known as the Dreaming Stone. During the Dragon Rebellion, Avisk preserved his soul within this stone.

Avisk, now sealed away within the prism, came into the possession of the Shadow Knights (Black Knights) at Dragonwilds:Dowdun Reach, where it became a source of both power and corruption. Archmage Dragonwilds:Alric and his Zamorakian magi redistributed the stone's energy throughout the keep. Prolonged exposure to this energy network caused widespread affliction throughout the keep. dreams were rare, and nightmares became common, people began to hear whispers.

They went mad and became almost catatonic; however, whenever Lord Rasmodel would walk by, they would become lucid once again, begging him to surrender to the stone. He refused and destroyed the Dreaming Stone, but this only worsened conditions within the keep.

See also

• Dragonkin
• Dragonwilds:Lacrussa
• Dragonwilds:Viika
• Dragonwilds:Rasthin
• Dragonwilds:Brakka