MAJOR DEEJ UNIVERSE

Cheryl Carpenter, the daughter of parents who were part of a secretive magical society known as the "Conglomerate", foresaw her future as early as age 6, and as such has trained herself to be a mystical knight as well as one of the best divination students in the magical community.

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Both of Cheryl's parents were powerful scryers in the Conglomerate, working directly for a Conglomerate Council elder. At age 6, Cheryl mentioned to her parents about things that would happen the next day, and later, things that would happen in the next week.  Eventually, with a little direction by her parents, Cheryl was able to see decades into the future - all without any divination spells, scrying pools, or scrying methods.  Cheryl's parents informed the council elder of Cheryl's abilities.  The elder sequestered Cheryl for weeks thereafter, obviously gaining knowledge of what Cheryl was seeing.  After that time, the elder and Cheryl exited their sequestered location, with Cheryl wearing a beautiful pendant in the colors of autumn.  The elder explained to Cheryl's parents that her 'visions' were too undefined, and that he recommended her immediate indoctrination into the Divination school of magic in London, England.  He also stated that the necklace should remain with and on her person (no greater than 20 feet away), since the pendant helped quell the massive influx of visions that were 'confusing' her.  As such, Cheryl was admitted to the school a week later, under the council's order for 'special efforts' to be performed by her teachers towards learning Divination.  Cheryl's parents were sad, but their own divinations showed that they would be together for many years to come regardless.

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Over the next decade, Cheryl worked hard and was the #1 student in her class each year.  She was provided after-hours instruction and resources that most students didn't get, but Cheryl usually used her own knowledge and helped other fellow students learn anything and everything she'd already learned.  She shared her knowledge and skills freely. At age 12, Cheryl was visited by the same elder she'd talked to when she was 6.  The elder introduced her to several 'physical training' instructors, as he called them. Cheryl was to undergo 'after hours' physical training in secret with the instructors 4 days a week until she graduated from her school. She agreed, but knew something more was up.  She asked the elder why wasn't she (Cheryl) being told why she was being treated to special; the elder simply smiled and said:

 

"My dear Cheryl...you have a role ....a major role...to perform...in a major play. A play...that will best be understood AFTER you've learned how to be the best actor in the play, know what lines you are to perform in that same play, and most importantly, how to BE the greatest character in that play...a play that, without you performing at your best, may, well, die...on its opening night.  You may not understand what I just said, but these incredible people that have been and shall now begin teaching you, will help you to one day better understand.  Do what they tell you to do.  Do the BEST as you have done thusfar and not only may our 'play' survive, but your performance might inspire others to BE as good as you."

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The elder then smiled, kissed Cheryl atop her head and exited with a tear in his eye.

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Cheryl's 'physical training' instructors were far from simple conditioning trainers; they were warriors and professional fighters, and they put Cheryl through their own school of 'hard knocks' teaching her combat skills, getting her endurance higher, her muscles stronger, and a new skill that no other woman had EVER been taught in recorded Conglomerate history - sword fighting.

 

Over the next 4+ years, Cheryl trained vigorously.  By day, school and studies, by night, combat training and sword-fighting.  Nonetheless by age 16, she was in exceptional shape, catching the eyes of the boys at her school.  In a rare, yet memorable 'field trip' in the Conglomerate on time, she came across an incredibly handsome, fit 18 year old named Samuel Shane.  Deep down, she felt like she already knew him, and felt drawn to him.  She went up and talked to him at one point, nervously rotating the autumn-colored stone on the end of her pendant.  Before their discussion got more engaging, they where both separated...never to see each other again in the Conglomerate.  Over the next few months though, she thought of Samuel constantly.  Each time she thought of him, she always caught herself rolling that same autumn-colored pendant stone between her fingers.

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A couple of months before Cheryl was to graduate from Divination School, she was secretly contacted and escorted to the Conglomerate Council Elder chambers.  There, she once again met the elder she'd met twice before, this time, however, he seemed fraught with purpose and seriousness.  He told Cheryl that the 'opening night' for her play was soon, and that, before she could enter the stage, it was time for her to know the secrets and machinations that aligned her to this 'critically important' play.

 

The elder told her of their first encounter and that, at that time, they spoke for weeks, with Cheryl pouring out thousands of future divinations for the elder to piece together much like that of a puzzle.  The elder stated that when he finally saw the majority of the puzzle put together, he'd learned that a terrible 'storm' was coming; a storm that predominantly would destroy Earth and decimate the Conglomerate completely.  The elder mentioned that, after further discussions with Cheryl about some of her visions, that he realized Cheryl also knew now best to save Earth and, for the most part, a majority of the Conglomerate, from absolute destruction.  The elder, through his deductions, was able to identify several 'key' or 'milestone' events that needed to occur for certain positive, corrective visions to actually occur.  As such, he set in motion, without ANYONE else's knowledge, the machinations needed to save Earth and the Conglomerate from the "Coming Storm". 

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Cheryl was but one chess piece on the Coming Storm's chessboard.

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All her training, all her sacrifices, all her learning, had now led to her new role in the play; a critical chess piece; the intermediary between life and death; the first female Knight Errant of a new Knights Arcanus - an "Autumn Knight".

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With that, the elder pulled out an ancient, highly adorned  wooden case and held it before Cheryl.  He stated:

 

"As with all things, you have a choice.  I have readied you to fulfill a destiny that until today, you were not 100% privy to. Cheryl Carpenter, the choice is now yours. Should you wish to fulfill your destiny, you have but to hand over the pendant around your neck and receive this case in its stead, or you can, without fear of retribution or dishonor, keep your pendant and say nay to a destiny you instead wish not to follow.  The choice is now yours, but, if I may interject...the decision you make will affect not only you and me, but your parents, the Conglomerate, and nearly every living thing on Earth...so...please choose...but choose wisely....".

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Cheryl made her choice.

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Cheryl slowly took off her pendant and exchanged it with the case the council elder had been holding out before her. SHe opened the case to remove the most beautiful weapon she'd ever cast her eyes upon: - the Claíomh Solais, otherwise known as the "Shining Sword". In Cheryl's training, she'd learned about the Claíomh Solais sword, including the unwritten legend that the sword belonged to a woman, not a man, and that it took a lifetime to forge and enchant. It was said to be forged from unearthly metals, folded hundreds of times over onto itself again and again. It had a shiny golden-hue to the blade and one of the sharpest cutting edges ever.  It was also deemed virtually unbreakable. 

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Cheryl picked up the sword and, thanks to her training, was able to hangle the sword as if she'd trained with it her whole life.

 

The elder then stated he had one last training instructor to burden her with - himself.  For the next 2 months, he was to personally train her to  use her 'inner vision' to see a few seconds into the future when fighting in combat with the sword and her fellow combatants.  When Cheryl asked what the elder meant by 'inner vision', he told her that her powers had to be suppressed by the pendant she'd had with her since age 6; the pendant ensured that Cheryl wouldn't go 'mad' at a young age with those powers, and as such had Cheryl's teachers and instructors teach her to focus and channel thoughts into both deduction and action; with the pendant now removed, the elder stated he needed to help Cheryl master that inner vision so that she could become not only one of the greatest female warriors ever, but to also be the intuitive voice for her fellow knights...and eventually, for many others in need of her reasoning and skills.

 

With all that said, Cheryl and the elder trained exhaustively for the next 2 months.  Cheryl quickly learned how to attune her newly discovered powers and use this in strategic, tactical and logical means. She also became aware of the visions of the future more each day; visions that sometimes caused her pause, and even at times, an emotional impact that would drop her to her knees in a massive emotional response to said vision(s).  One such vision that kept coming up again and again was that of Samuel Shane...but with Samuel dressed in armor, leading the Knights Arcanus into battle again and again...as well as visions of intimate times between her and Samuel; images that for the most part, seemed cloudy or misty.  When she asked the elder about her visions of Samuel, he mentioned that emotions cause visions to be cloudy, and that, for the most part, are not the most reliable, since we interject our desires into the visions, thus affecting the truth of the visions. Cheryl understood, but still felt that Samuel was someone that she could easily come to love...but whether that love would be returned in the same intensity...Cheryl was unsure.

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Finally, minutes into New Years Day of 2000, the elder sent Cheryl to the Conglomerate to 'get her things', meet her parents and follow exactly what they said, telling no one else of her training or what was about to transpire.  As a gift, He gave Cheryl a beautiful hand-woven magical cape that the elder said he'd been working on for years.  She thanked him and wished she'd had a present for him as well, to which the elder simply stated, 'YOU are the gift, Cheryl.  No other gift could be as incredible as that which you have become. Go forth and fulfill your destiny'.  He again kissed her atop her head, and once again with a tear in his eye, strode off...never to be seen again.

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Upon arrival in the Conglomerate (deemed as a 'New Years celebraton visit' to her parents), she arrived home to see the house emptied out with the exception of two of Cheryl's bags of clothes and her parents.  They embraced in a long hug, and then without any ado, handed her her bags, turned her around, pointed her to a closet...and pushed her through it.

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Cheryl fell forward onto dusty ground...in a large Spanish-style horse stable.  Her parents appeared directly behind her, pulled her up, brushed her off, and rotated her around, walking her to what seemed like the courtyard of an old Spanish Hacienda. Confused and unsure of what was happening, Cheryl broke from her parents grip, drew her magical sword and asked 'what the HELL is going on here?!?'.  Her parents replied as they always had in the past, "Cheryl, your a Diviner; you should seek the answer to that question, but for now, move your ass!". That said, Cheryl, feeling slightly chastised, did as they said and follow her parents.  They escorted Cheryl to her new room and told her to 'gear up'.  Cheryl then looked down at her bed to see the most beautiful autumn-themed female magical combat armor she'd ever seen. "Mr. Shane, the blacksmith, has been working on that armor for nearly a year for you. It's the best armor probably made in the last 100 years. Make sure you thank him properly for it.  None of us want you dying your first night out now, do we?.  Meet in the stables in 10 minutes".  

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After donning her new perfectly fitted armor, Cheryl went to the stables.  There she was introduced to the blacksmith, where she, once again, was reminded by her parents to thank him for the armor. Instead, Cheryl hugged Mr. Shane and kissed him on the cheek, thanking him with eyes shining her joy and satisfaction with the beautiful armor.  He hugged her back and told her to that no matter how small the repair was to ever be needed for the armor, that she'd bring it to him so that he could make sure it was 100% effective every time she'd ever wear it.

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With that, Cheryl was motioned to a horse stable with a horse that she felt she'd known forever....but was seeing for the first time ever.

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In the stall was a strong, female brown Dales Pony with a placard on its gate signifying its name as "Eternity". Interestingly enough, Eternity seemed to take to Cheryl just as quickly.  

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With only a few minutes of bonding with Eternity, Cheryl was motioned by her parents and a dozen or so other Hacienda staff members to move to an adjacent room. 

 

Cheryl was told that they were all about to meet the new leader of the Knights Arcanus and dozens of his new Knight Errants, Cheryl being amongst said knights, for which the majority of the personnel before Cheryl were about to become the secretive Knights Arcanus' Hacienda staff.  Cheryl was then told that over the last few minutes, an alien warrior race known as the Soltan Star Empire was actively invading Earth and were making attacks on hundreds of major cities, military sites, superhero bases ... and Conglomerate facilities, most notably the Conglomerate's capital, The Citadel.  The Citadel's defenses was now preventing any and all means of getting in or out of the Citadel and that thousands of their fellow magic users, as well as million of innocent non-magic users were now being attacked and slaughtered.  By means of the secret machinations of two Council Elders, the Hacienda was secretly staffed and preparations have been made to potentially counted such an event. To combat the aliens and help save the planet and their people, the Knights Arcanus was about to reformed and operate out of their Hacienda, which was noted to be located along the Atlantic coast of Spain, shielded from detection, visually, magically or technologically.  Their job: do everything the Knights Arcanus demand of them so the knights could do their job.  Cheryl was introduced as 'Autumn Knight' and was said that she and the other knights would only have minutes of introductions before they'd have to race off to engage the aliens.  Each looked sad at hearing all of this, but Mr. Shane came forward and rallied the staff to cheers. 

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Cheryl's parents, thusfar, had been focused and business-like, but now, Cheryl saw a look on their faces she'd seen only once before - back when she had to go away for Divination School and all her intense training since.  Sadness and fear filled her parents eyes; fear not of her or the invasion itself...but like they were saying a long goodbye to Cheryl once again. With a long embrace for each parent, Cheryl took in the moment and locked it in her mind; she felt like this was indeed 'opening night' and she was now about to 'walk on stage'. Cheryl couldn't have been more right, for moments later, her life changed forever.

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The first to port in was Samuel Shane.  He was wearing ornate, arcane armor, carrying dozens of weapons and gear.  Initially, Samuel looked around for a few seconds with a confused expression, but that all changed as Cheryl, the Hacienda staff, and Samuel's parents entered the Stables.  Samuel hugged his parents and shortly thereafter, saw Cheryl.  Once again, Samuel's and Cheryl's eyes locked for what seemed like an eternity. Both smiled for a brief second.  He asked Cheryl if she was trained in the ways of the Knights Arcanus, for which she pulled her sword and spoke the names of her trainers and instructors, thereafter introducing herself as a Council Elder-appointed Knight Errant named "Autumn Knight".  Samuel acknowledged her formal and proper introduction, and stated before all present that she was to be designated the title '1st Knight' should Samuel himself fall.  Minutes later, Samuel, now calling himself "Samhain Knight", gave a rousing speech and ordered his knights, including Autumn Knight, to mount up and follow him unto battle.

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For the next several months, Cheryl, and her fellow Knights Arcanus, fought as legends. Many knights died or were severely maimed, but the fight went on.  Finally, in the end, Cheryl fought beside Samuel, stopping the Soltans from siphoning off Earth's magic and instead re-directing those energies back to Earth, overcharging Earth's magical power by over 400% and causing the Soltans, for the first time in their race's history, to retreat from Earth. With Earth now liberated from the Soltans, the Knights Arcanus, which were operating as illegally as anything governed by the Conglomerate could ever be during the war, had to face the music for their illegal formation...and for Cheryl to dare to fight as a female knight, a rule that had never been broken, according to their centuries-old recorded history.

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Over the next few weeks after Earth's liberation, the Knights Arcanus and anyone who was a Conglomerate citizen who supported or aided the Knights were ordered to turn themselves in for summary execution.  Attempts were made to parlay with the few remaining Council Elders (wherein Cheryl's 'elder' had been reported dead and/or missing), but ended in a dishonorable attempt by the elders to ambush the knights during their negotiations.  As such, the knights stayed in hiding at the Hacienda and instead used their skills to act for all the world, not just the Conglomerate, as heroes when and where needed.

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Today, Cheryl as Autumn Knight continues to fight beside the Knights Arcanus, helping the world however they could, all the while trying not to be caught and executed by her own magical society she'd once admired.  Cheryl and Samuel have had a decades-long intimate affair, but this day, they are still not married...nor does either seek to be married to one another, worried that it would change the nature of their relationship.  Cheryl is considered one of the greatest knights ever in Knights Arcanus history and although her or her fellow knights' exploits are never to be told to the citizens and children of the Conglomerate (for fear of imprisonment), hushed rumors and whispered stories abound of Autumn Knight's exploits, making her as equal a legend as her beloved Samuel, the Samhain Knight.

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