[WP] The Astral Ocean Islands were once a floating oasis of commerce and invention, now they slowly crumble and collapse, and nobody knows why.

...

The Dark Lord Gillian stared at the waves, rolling beneath his feet.

Out in all directions, there was nothing but water. deep, shadowed, depths beyond most mind's comprehension. So far down that the pressure could take a mortal's frame and pressing them so tightly, they would burst.

He knew, because he'd tested the concept.

Still, it was memories like those, which drew him back to places such as this. Endless expanse of ocean: featureless terrain where not even land waited for all his worldly powers of sight.

It was almost enough to humble him.

Almost.

To believe, the Astral Islands had once stood, where now there was nothing.

Still, stood, perhaps. Beneath the waves, with a wave of his hand, he could part this ocean. Split the sea into a cyclone of frozen glass, descend to the depths unhindered... but for what?

The ruins?

They waited there, surely. What was once mankind's hope, lost forever to all but him. Those who thought they could escape his sight, to plot and plan...

The irony.

Gillian couldn't help but laugh, as it came to him.

He let the thunder roll, let the lighting ripple as reality bent, and he threw his head back and howled. Oh, how it would sicken them! To see him now, to know the true extend of their folly! They were nothing! Nothing!

The laughter faded, as the waves settled, and the swell returned to the dark of shadowed depths below.

Gillian knew why he'd come here. It was recognized, now in thought, as it was once only in subconscious yearning. No longer a hidden puzzle of inspiration, to travel on a whim.

Here lay the grave of a foe long fallen.

The ultimate, of all defeats. Crushed, ruined, descended to the bowls of the cold waves. Forgotten by all, erased as if it had never been... and yet, he remembered.

Gillian alone, remembered.

The joy.

The pleasure that came from taking down a true foe. To do battle with an enemy that was more than simply a toy to be played with and discarded.

How long had it been since he'd faced a true challenge?

How long?

No, perhaps that was the wrong question to ask. In its stead, Gillian knew he should be asking something else.

How much longer?

He knew the answer.

Soon...

In the sky, far to the East, he could see it.

The tear.

The fray.

Not yet formed, no- not yet visible, but he could find it there.

He could wait, for as long as it took.

The chance.

Far below his feet, the Astral Islands were no more, but above?

Oh, there was a new foe to vanquish.