The Brotherhood & The Oathsworn

You will start to see these two factions play major parts in the upcoming stories.
I will try to fill in as much information about the factions...
the old scripts are delicate and must be handled with care to not crumble into dust....

The Brotherhood

Notorious assassins and thugs, formerly known as the Nightwatch and the Crimson Order.
Currently being Lead by the MAzarath Bhane.

They are not often seen in public and most countries deny ever working with them.
Known to manipulate things from the shadows to see to their own goal and are known for using lethal poison against an entire castle to take down one man...

The Swordsman and the Butterfly

I was sitting in the shadow of a great oak tree, facing the river when upon my knee a purple butterfly with red spots landed waving its little wings slowly...

"Hello little butterfly" I said knowing I would get no response from it, afterall it was merely an Insect....

The little butterfly merely flutterd its wings as if it was replying in its own way, this made me raise an eyebrow... what Insect could understand human words...

"You are probably tierd little one, if you want to rest better please do so upon my hat" I said softly to the butterfly...

Again it flutterd a bit with the wings but slowly flew up on my hat where it put itself down to rest... fluttering its wings now and then as if it was asking something...

I looked around to see that nobody else was around, I had allready been caught once talking to animals and they allmoust sent after the Monks...

"Little Butterfly" I softly said...took a little breath then continued "Your life seem so simple, and my day has been so complicated..." I paused and looked around again, then satisfied with seeing no other living person around I continued..."I have done so many things for them, yet they fear me for being a Dream Chaser.." The little butterfly flutterd its wings and then flew off north towards another field of flowers... happily living its own life...

I stood up, picked up the sword I had put against the tree and readjusted my hat ..silently thanking the little butterfly and its easy life for showing me the way to move on and not dwell in my past and spoke a little prayer to the butterfly "May your path never become like mine little butterfly, may the field always bring you the best of flowers..." then I walked towards to the sun in order to leave the village alone..

The Peacefull village would never be botherd by this swordsman again... nor would he be able to come to their aid when they needed him....yet that he did never spend a thought anymore as he walked away into the outlands..

Journeys of Uthen'Jhai : The New Dawn

The Journey's of Uthen'Jhai : The New Dawn

During the peace after the ancient race wars there was strict borders that each race had to stay away from..
The elf did not want Humans in their Kingdome and eventual Half Breed's where treated like scum by both parts…

I do not exactly know why the great war started or why the kings of the human lands felt that the Elven Kingdome was a much better place then their own, but I do Know that only a few of us survived the great war..

I know of this since I am of the few who survived the great wars…
There are not many of us that survived but we can still tell the tale of what happened back then..
Unfortunately some has chosen to remain silent about their old sins, sworn to never speak about that day..
I am a Half-Elf and thus I was an outcast by both races, my mission upon this world has never easy…
According to old tomes of knowledge a single man was the cause of the great peace after the world was so brutally ripped into pieces by the Great War, and with its death came the new war… far worse then ever seen before.

One that was lead by a man called Lord Simon the Mad
He was the one who started the whole mess with the Kin slayer wars over again, Race against Race…


The Past
February 23'rd in the Year of our Lord 241 BC

I do not know why the High Council has summoned me of all the people in this town, they say it's a mission that only I can complete and thus they need me to enter the Sacred Hall, ever since I was born I have been a renegade, a freak and an outcast from normal society, I was made by the combined love between Human and Elf…
The Sacred Hall was more like a local monastery but the powers that flowed within the walls of this ancient chapel was far from the usual monk powers...

Often some Dark mage sought refugee or shelter here, since this hall was for all the paths of the ancients even Evil came here… but once inside there was no good nor evil, everyone who entered had to promise never to harm something with a life inside the halls…

I walked around in the audience chamber of the Great Hall and wondered why they allowed me an Half-Elf to even enter the great hall of the Ancients, normally even being near these sacred halls would mean death to my kind..
We where forbidden to get close to the halls unless we could hide ourselves well from the chapel guardians…
The Tome of Ancient times says that there was once a great battle between good and evil, light and darkness.
However mankind took sides in this Great War and thus both sides begun to loose power…

And then with the dark ages, the great catastrophe that almost ruined the world started.
Records state that over five hundred billion innocent souls died.

Those who survived to talk about the great battle or catastrophe claims that both darkness and light where united into one great ball with then struck down upon the poor praying followers of both light and darkness..
Only a few survived..

When I looked outside I could not Imagine that such an event ever happened upon this world but mayhap it is so that the world has healed after all those years, some claim the event never happened and others claim that its so old that even our oldest books are young compared to the great rift..
After walking around in the Great Hall for a few moments a group of monks entered the chamber and all carried the usual walking staff that where given to the new brothers…the staff always started as true wood color and then after a few years the staff changed color to match your alignment, Fire was evil and Ice was good…
The leader of the Monks was however much more interesting, a noble Paladin with a black Cross on the cloak, a sight one never would forget that was for certain..

He who spoke in a low yet calm voice….. "Greetings Half-Elf, the Master has been informed that you where waiting..." he paused and looked me over, since I did not know what he was waiting for so I asked him why I had been summoned... "Pardon me oh noble one, May I know thy name and who it was that summoned me?" he looked at me with confusion in his eyes, apparently he thought that I had been told everything.. but when this was not the matter he slowly Inhaled and begun to speak ."They have not told you? oh well no matter.. my name is Azamoth.." He stopped and exhaled a little as if trying to find the right words for what we was about to say, and the right way to place them… "You where summoned by the great master of the Temple, Elder Mazir Thuzah." I got more confused by the second... why would the master Templar summon me a mere Half Elf.. "Why am I here Azamoth? what Quest can be so demanding that I am to be Used?" he smiled a little and put his hand inside the tunic as if he was going to show something .. “I know that you wish to know allot Half-Elf but for now you are silent…” I was given a scroll with a standard Seal upon it, I knew about those seals too well.. “here read this..” if there was no Imperial Seal the couriers would not deliver them for free, there was a law about that.. when I broke the seal and unfolded the scroll I saw that the Monks placed down a staff and a backpack next to dried food and fruit, after that they and the Paladin called Azamoth left the chamber leaving me alone with the letter and the goods… when I looked upon the now Unfolded scroll I saw that it was written in an old elven Language, this was not a request by the great Council but by some powerful Dark Elf.


Greetings Brother Uthen'Jhai

My name is Ghur'Jau, my greetings and best wishes to you...
I have arranged for a meeting in Bah'Shagtoth, the last of the free town's...
Beware of Traitors who hate our Blood Bond, Guh'Izan will show you why.
There are matters that we must talk about that can not be trusted to mere paper..
Be there.... before the next full moon turns red...
- Ghur'Jau



I did not know how to take this letter, a drow that called me Blood Brother.. mayhap I would get some answers if I left for the City Ba'Shagtoth as described…


The Mission was from a man who called me his Blood Brother, a ritual hated by most Elven kinds since those who undertook it was always better at certain things that normal man could not do..
The Staff was an normal walking stick and the food was meant for travel.. this meant that I was no longer welcome in this sacred hall since they hated Half-Elf's specially those who had friends amongst the Drow.. the Dark Elf’s..
As I packed down everything I thought about whom this Izan ty Gar was.. his name was not so known and I knew most of the High Dark Elf’s so that meant that he had come from one of the "Lesser" civilized areas of the world where chaos still was amongst the best parts… those who worshiped order and the light had no more to gain here..
Even though I was surprised to be on a mission for the High Council I thought that this Drow was Powerful enough to DEMAND that I was to be sent… the first step on my Journey was to reach the Elf City in one piece, This would prove to be more problematic then I first thought…. My first path would lead me trough Imperial Lands… the lands of the Pure Humans in other words…. And as of what I know nobody that is anything else then Human has been allowed to pass Unharmed trough the Imperial lands….

The Human Empire has never been kind upon my breed, we are outcasts and freaks compared to them, Thus they hunt us like prey merely because they can..

There are a few Humans that has been kind to me but the empire has swiftly removed those humans from their powerful positions in the High Council…

Since I had no other choice I had to start my journey.. when I came outside the great Monastery I was greeted by an armed escort that guarded a wagon, the Captain of the group Sir Reeve Ironclad was first to greet me with respect in his voice… “Well, I presume that you are Uthen'Jhai our so called escort… It is an honor to work for you, and I shall protect you with my life…” His words where confusing, he said it was an honor to work for me.. but they where only to escort me to the border.. so I had to ask what he meant.. “What do you mean with work for me? You are merely supposed to escort me to the border and then ditch me there….” One of the soldiers suddenly drew his sword and rushed forward, I thought that I was dead this time for nobody could ever outrun a Knight in the Crimson Guard, but to my big surprise he was not after me but a person that was trying to rush up behind me.. the poor lad had no chance against the mighty sword of the Crimson Knight… I could hear the captain swearing a long row of foul words… he knew something… as upon a given command the rest of the Knights drew their swords and attacked cloaked figures that came running out of the alleys…the captain’s voice could be heard for a long way since he shouted rather loudly…”These are Imperial Assassins, do not let any of them escape or our heads will roll earlier then we thought…” The Knights of the Crimson Guard where swift and effective, they cut down the Imperial Assassins without any mercy or even give it a second thought… after clearing the place up they all started to ride southwards to scout ahead but the captain and three Knights of the Crimson guard remained to wait for me, it seemed like they where doing something with the wagon.. to my surprise the captain called for me.. ”Uthen'Jhai! I do hope for your sake that you know how to ride a horse for we have no time to bring along this old and rusty wagon on the path we are to ride today…” I merely smiled at him and mounted the horse without any problems, the look on his face was a sight indeed I wish that I knew what he was thinking… I was given a bow by one of the Crimson Knights and a Quiver of Arrows… then we started to ride hard to the south following the other knights..

Later the same day, near the river Zegwraith’s Bane..

We had reached the river of Zegwraith’s Bane located far south-east of the Capitol city, we where getting closer to the Imperial lands for every minute that passed, I knew the old tale about the river far to well…but just to pass time I thought id ask the captain about it… “Captain Reeve, I would be deeply honored if you told me the tale about this river and why it got its name…” The captain smiled and leaned back against a tree, we had made camp for the day since night usually came early near the border…The Captains voice was still strange and filled with too much respect then he should have… “Ah, so you wish to hear the tale of the Zegwraith’s Bane…
it's a long story about a band of Wraiths that plagued the land several thousand years ago, just before the cataclysm they grew too large for the local king to handle… “Since it was going to take a while I sat down too, he took a deep breath and then started to speak….The Tale of the Zegwraith’s Bane
As told by Sir Reeve Ironclad, Captain of the Crimson Guard

The Local king had been told about a young King that would be able to handle these fiends easily but he was far away from then in a country surround by mountains… the king found out that the river Nag had become a breeding place for many strange fiends and the wraiths that followed them always killed the humans that got too close… they became Zegwraith’s.. unfortunately the King never got time to send for help from the other country before the Zegwraith’s started to haunt the town at night, the poor merchants went insane and in a massive riot caused by the Zegwraith’s they killed the king… only the price of the country could now send the letter to the one who would save them… since the fiends that lived with the Zegwraith’s always hunted down their couriers he took it himself to the far away land… he came back with the lord of the realm and with him a magical blade came along… nobody knows what he did for no one was allowed to watch, they where all ordered to stay in the castle until it was over, they could hear fierce war cry’s from the fiends just outside the castle doors, they had entered the village!! Then suddenly everything went silent but the prince was not yet allowed to leave the castle… not until three days later the prince was allowed to leave the castle since the man he had brought from the Mountain Country was finally back, outside the castle doors they could see that it had been a fierce battle but there where no corpses, the Prince thanked the man that nobody knew the name of and watched as he used his magic to teleport back to his country, that was how they had gotten here so fast… after a few more days the Prince managed to scourge forth an army to see if the Zegwraith’s had left the riverside… to their surprise they found massive hoards of dead fiends and even more traces of Zegwraith’s… everything was normal… the only thing that was new in the river was a cave near the mountain and in the cave was a blade glowing deep red… it seemed like the killer of the fiends had left it there incase someone should ever need it… the Inscription said that the one whom the blade would choose could easily find both the cave and the power to lift the sword out of the stone.. the Prince called both the blade and the river The Zegwraith’s Bane, since the Zegwraith’s had met their doom on this river and by the blade that glowed with such a terrible power that nobody wished to draw it…” after taking a break and looking around he continued the tale … “The Prince finally became the new king of the land and his first command was to seal the ancient cave holding the dark blade with elders magic.. during the years the monsters started to return and every once in a while the sword called out a Champion to wield it against the Zegwraith’s and their beast men allies, thus repeating history over again… after the rift opened about four thousand years ago there was a Dark Champion wielding the Zegwraith’s bane against humans, somehow the sword accepted him as its champion and was corrupted by his dark will, his name was Lord Armageddon….” it seemed like there was time for yet another tale, one of the Knights brought out an old book and gave it to the captain…



Harmonians, Part One
As told by Lord Angelus Dragonstar, Lord of Harmonia

“The Harmonians, what kind of beast men are they anyhow? According to my study of the settlers of the Harmonian lands follow an Ancient god of death Nerathim Nurimal, not many know why they first ever came to this land but before them there was a tribe of beast men here, they where strong and wise but no match for the Harmonians, according to old legends I am heritage to the throne of Harmonia and also great grand child of the greatest Lord in all times… Lord Adrian Dragonstar… they act like normal humans with merchants and such but as soon as something threats the new Harmonia the citizens turn from peaceful traders into fierce Warlords… I may be from Harmonia myself but I am not PURE Breed as they say, I am a mix of Harmonian and Elf… according to my information I am supposed to be the son of Lord Simon the Mad and an Elven lady…”

The Aerith Chronicles - Book 1 : The Dark Servant

Deep inside the mountains between the swamps and the great plains of the ancient country called UmbleMyre, there is a lone mansion known that only Adventurers knows about from old legends and tales from mad men who have lost their mind by being alone in the deep mountains for way too long time.

The forces of evil that usualy raid or occupy any standing structure does not go near it and traveling monks has declared it to be holy ground for there is a strong force in that area, but nobody has ever been allowed inside the great mansion… that is until now...

This night was a no different then any other night in this cursed country the eternal storm and darkness still covered the land as it had for hundreds of years, the only change this night had that parted it from the others where a group made of a young mage mage and a fighter escort had the quest to find the old artifacts rumored to be lost in the mountains alongside the old ruler of the country… Lord Aerith Mahza.

Nobody knows where he went after breaking free of the curse that he had been given by the symbol of evil, the deity known as Zarâg-Thuk or Darkforce, by destroying this concentrated evil he caused an unbalance in the flow of good and evil and the world was to pay dearly for his mistake…

Something more horrible then Zarâg-Thuk was released upon the world covering it in an eternal shroud of darkness and a horrible storm filled with evil creatures more vile then the worst nightmare a demon ever could dream…

Once the group got close to the valley where the great mansion was said to be located they where ambushed by band of thugs... the fight was fierce but short, thugs will always be thugs no matter how hard they try and knights will always beat them....shocked by the ambush and the loss of a few good soldiers they managed to walk deeper into the Storm and the deeper into the dark valley below them, they knew that they were doomed for sure if they where discovered by the evil ones this deep in the storm….

The captain wanted to know how the bandits could know they where out there so he called the party to a halt and turned to the mage in order to ask some questions...” How did the bandits know we where to pass upon that road tonight? This place is haunted and bandits usualy awoid it, I need answers and I need them now before I change my mind and order everyone back to town” the mage sighed and took a deep breath before answering....”the Bandits were probably mercenarys payed by some corupted noble, or a member of the council...”she look around as if worried that someone was sneaking in the shadows but shook his head and continued to speak ”Remember that the council knows why we are out here and I doubt they want to loose all that power with they have amassed during these years... they have been manipulating things for decades ....”again she took a break from talking and explaning as if he had heard something.... slowly drawing her blade while keeping his eyes on some shadow that only he could see he walked forward loooking around, however as he found nothing and apperiantly lost sight of the shadow she was seeking she returned and resumed speaking “The Artifacts we seek belonged to the old lord of this country, he who damned it into this darkness by slaying the shadow keeper... Darkforce... I do not blame him, it could be done in no other way...” all of the sudden she stopped and looked around... the wind had died out and the mist was gettin thicker.... after looking around with magesight she finaly spoke again this time voice dropped to more of a whisper then a normal conversation... she was afraid to be overheard by something.... or someone..”The Artifacts could be used to summon in our old lord and master again, hopefully he can set things right and bring balance back into the world, mayhap he can understand what he must do this time in order to maintain balance in this world but the council is not specialy happy about... no... never mind that... we must continue, I can feel there is more bandits and mercenarys on the way here....” Deeper down in the valley they could see that a still living forest stood tall this was a rare sight indeed in these cursed lands since most forests had died without the sun as if their life was drained from them…

Somewhere in that forest down in the Valley… deep in the mists of the storm and deep in the lands of evil was the great mansion, the only safe place to rest in these parts... It was an amazing sight to see, especially for weary adventurers that needed a rest but nobody was ever allowed to enter the main house…

Slowly but safely the drew themselves closer to the great mansion and when looking around for a way inside they noticed that somehow they had been followed by Undead… those whom hungered for the eternal rest but never received it, they had no other choice now for in the storm these Undead minions where too powerful to handle even for this group….
It was not until they where just outside the mansion that they saw the doors slowly open with a horrible creak, these doors had not opened for hundreds of years since the Dark Elders return
Since they was both weary from the storm and the battle with the bandit group they had no other choice but to enter the mansion…

They expected to be ambushed by Undead, bandits or even shades as soon as they walked trough the door but to their surprise they only to find a large chamber with five chairs near a fireplace, and a throne carefully placed a bit more towards the back wall…half hidden in the shadows, upon the throne near the fireplace sat an old but still powerful man, the party’s female mage, Arrena could feel the magical power flowing in the air around him... this was not a man you attacked by your own free will... Their leader Malagor, a Knight Captain of the Dulakhian "Stareye" Brigade could see the old mans strength even though he was trying to hide it beneath thick clothing’s… he was in overall reeking with more power then anything they had yet encounterd or seen....

When they came into the main hall of the mansion the doors slammed shut behind them and vanished without a trace, as if it had never been there in the first place…They where trapped with this man….now deep inside his mansion...as they approached the chairs they could see a painting on the wall of a handsome young lad wearing a golden crown and wielding a Golden blade, he had fiery red hair and green eyes, the picture reminded them of what the old legend’s back home always said, the old tomes always spoke of a man with hair that looked like fire and a golden sword taking a fight with one of the greatest evils of all times… The Zarâg-Thuk.
Thus cursing the land with the eternal storm and darkness…Beneath the painting’s frame was a small golden plate, and upon the plate was a name written in one of the ancient languages that had allmoust been forgotten...

Lord Aerith "The Guardian" Mahza, Emperor of UmbleMyre

But according to the Council this man was branded as an outlaw and exiled into the depths of the abyss so can this really be the same man that sits and watches them upon the throne?

The old man lifted his head and looked at the group as if he was thinking back on the years that had past since his own adventures...then finally he spoke to the group… not with his mouth but with his mind… "Greetings and welcome my friends to my humble domains, my name is Aerith Mahza…" The leader of the group, the man named Malagor did not believe that he truly spoke with the most powerful Knight and Lord in history... his response was fast but still filled with respect towards the old man… "I do not believe what I see... my eyes must be deceiving me, are you truly Lord Aerith?" this was apparently amusing since the old man simply laughed…looked at them and then spoke "The One and only Aerith, has there ever been anyone else with a name like mine?" he looked at the lady mage a little almost as if he remembered something when seeing her… when noticing that he was staring he continued his speech while centering his gaze upon the fire " I know what you think and I can tell you that I am not dead yet, you trust your so called Council too much my young friends... I know more about them then you will ever do..." Aerith laughed and then continued with his speech as if he had all the time in the world to tell what he wanted… "It is a cold and stormy night outside isn’t it?" he sighed deeply and shook his head, apparently the storm made him depressed, after looking at the fire for a while he Finally continued to speak to the travelers… "Please have a seat and Let me tell you about my adventures that I had when I was young like yourself, it’s been a while since I had any visitors up here in the mansion..." He started to think back as the party sat down; they had no other choice then to obey him since he was truly a man of great powers…

After thinking for what seemed like an eternity he finally spoke "I think it was an early spring afternoon year one hundred and fifty before the great cataclysm…the one that shook this world the state it is now..." Aerith started to tell his tale and the team listened closely to his words, they where honored to hear the true adventures of the most powerful man on the planet and trough all the ages that had so far passed…"I think it was an early spring afternoon year one hundred and fifty before the great cataclysm…" after a short stop he finally started to tell his tale..

Part 1: The Awakening Darkness

We lived in constant fear of a war with the race called the Arazon’s, they where creatures of the Night and always had the advantage of the great storm when fighting, Somehow it seemed like they controlled it but yet it was wild...

During the first hundred or so years it was peaceful and calm but then one day came the great war and with the war came a storm that brought darkness upon the land and with the darkness came the Arazon's… Nobody knew where they came from or why they came, all we knew was that they hated us and all that we stood for, they where true Evil…

Why they attacked and who their leader was is yet unknown, rumors say that they are an ancient race that first owned this land before the Humans arrived and caused havoc in their peaceful land, now they are out for revenge and has sworn to take all living beings along with them.. But that is merely a rumor like many others…

((The City of Evengraud was protected by the great castle and fortress Evengraud…))

((Located in at the edge of the country it was home to many merchants and noble escorts since all trade roads passed trough this city, also subject to many raids by not only the usual bandits and thugs but foul creatures and failed creations made by mad warlocks and powerful necromancers, also since it had a location close to the Godless Lake that later stranded out into the ocean it was a nice place for Ships to come and visit…))

During my time as squire I was introduced to the great Paladin Alradun, he became my friend and master at the same time but after a while he was sent out into the caves beneath the Castle on a mission for the High Council…

Many prayed for his safe return and the King told us that no new paladins would be trained until Alradun came back with the "Scepter of Power" for the High Council, I suspected that the King was getting greedy for power and Glory, with my friend Alradun gone the local monsters knew that we where greatly outnumbered for Sir Alradun fought like twenty of our best knights, my father was the only one left in town that could truly defend us against the Unholy creatures that lived in the Dark Caves beneath the Castle…

One day my father was ordered by the King and the council to go down with a dozen or so knights and find where Sir Alradun was and bring him back in one piece, this was no easy task for we knew so little about the caves and the creatures that live in them… my father was also a great Paladin of the Phantom Heart brigade... Part of the First royal army.

((Everyone was sent to a brigade when they joined the army; this way the council had better control over who went where and what brigade they could send to counter certain problems.))

Since this was an important task they sent the entire Phantom Heart Brigade with their Captain, My father… Sir Valero Mahza.
I was too young to join the army at this time but I had to swear an oath that I would do so once I became old enough, if the fact was that he would fall in battle down there or simply never get out again…
Even though I hated to give oaths based upon honor and blood I was forced for he was my father and I respected him above everything else...

Then the day finally came, the monsters lost some ground near the entrance and the King was too Impatient to wait any longer so he ordered my father to take his brigade and enter the dark caves below, but before he left my father gave me his pendant, for with that around my neck I was the head of the Family even though I was merely seventeen years old, with was no age at all to be head of a Family…
Days came and went and there was still no sign of the Phantom Heart Brigade, the caves was unusually quiet and no monsters tried to rush our scouts when we opened the great doors, I watched every scout enter… but I never saw anyone leave…this I always wonderd about... why they never returned with the good news that everyone expected and wished for....

Months came and went and the king did not dare to send down more scouts until the first ones had returned… months came and went with no sign of the scout untill one day they heard a silent knock on the doors and a voice could be heard… I was to far away to hear what the voice said but the doors was ordered to be opened as soon as possible…The Broken Star brigade and their Captain was there and escorted a cloaked person from the chamber with the door to the healers quarters… it was a one the scouts sent down into the caves so many months agao...Finally there would be some good news…

When I came to the healer I noticed that several guards where positioned outside, at my age we where allowed to join the army as Squires and then once we turned eighteen we could if possible become Knights of UmbleMyre...unless we died due to some silly war first...

The Knights that stood outside the door stopped me… seemed like I was not allowed to enter and no matter how hard I tried to convince them they would not let let me pass untill the Captain came out the door and yelled at the guards… "Let him Pass! I have some questions that I need to ask this lad..." to my surprise the guards obeyed their Captain immediately without questions… this was a sign of true respect towards their leader and captain, for they all knew what he could do in times of war…

As I entered the Healer’s hut I noticed that the scout was greatly wounded and that he could not speak… when I turned around the Captain looked me straight into the eyes and then spoke… "Ah Aerith, I do have a little favor to ask of you…" The Captain took a break and looked at the wounded Scout, .then continued to speak "This scout recently returned from the great caves, we do not know what has happened to him but he can not speak…" I was young and did not know what I should do so I simply stood there staring and the captain must have noticed this because he continued to speak even if he had hoped to be able to skip this part… "You must fetch the man called Mizribâr; he is probably down at the docks by now , go there and tell him that I need his help…" Everyone knew of Mizribâr, he was a scary man that could enter other’s dreams and minds…

The docks themselves was a scary thought, even though they where patrolled daily by the Crimson Guard there still was plenty of thugs sneaking in the shadows, even though I saw that the man was unable to speak I slightly hesitated to accept the task of Finding Mizribâr…

I did not need to go all the way out of the castle for I was seemingly lucky since he came walking near the kitchen to find something to eat, I rushed forward and yelled his name to get his attention, and that I got indeed…when I came up to him I felt uneasy and slightly frightened…but I had a mission to do so I took and bowed in front of him and spoke up… "Mizribâr, Captain Tzamir of the Broken Star brigade request that you come to the healer quarters at once... he has need of your special skills…" he looked me over as if thinking what I could be and the simply shrugged and walked towards the healers...

When I returned to the quarters Mizribâr was already there and was ready to enter the dream of the wounded scout, this was just one of many abilities he had, everyone held their breath and some started praying…but after a while Mizribâr simply shook his head and spoke with his low, deep voice… "... I can not enter his dreams, there is something in there that is blocking me, and I need someone to help me do some things... I need someone to be my eyes…and ears…" I did not know what made me step forward to volunteer, or what I was supposed to do but that was just what I did…"I will help you Sir... that is if I am good enough..." I could feel that his eyes burned straight trough my body and stared at my soul…

After staring at me a while he smiled for the first time in ages…"Yes, you will do fine… let me explain what I am going to do here..." he took a slight break to catch his breath and then continued ..."Since I can not enter the dream of this man I will use my power to make you enter it, you will be my eyes and ears…" again he took a slight break to think on how to put the words.. "I do not know what you may encounter in there but I must warn you that it is Evil and powerfull….if you meet something in there do not try to fight it.." I stepped forward to the scout and placed my hands on his head… I did not know what Mizribâr did but I knew one thing… I was expected…

The dream that I entered was a dark and horrible sight, deep down in a cave… I do not know if Mizribâr could hear and see what I did but before my eyes stood a horrible creation... A knight with a blade dark as the night… I could hear its voice even though its lips never moved… "…so…you… have… come…at...last..." it was as if he spoke with his mind and not the mount... if he even had a mouth but only mages where supposed to be able to do that…

It moved its arm and pointed to one of the sides…. as upon a command a piece of the chamber lit up and I could see a man lying on the floor, out of a wound near the waist blood was slowly dripping… after seeing the man I could hear the voice again.. "You are too late to save this brat… He is mine now…" I did not know if I screamed with my mind or my mouth but out it came… "Release him foul one, I Sir Aerith of UmbleMyre shall put an end to your worthless existence…" what exactly happened I do not know, all I know is that he laughed and struck me down with his dark blade, apparently this made me loose connection to the host body that I called it and fell to the ground…and the last thing I could hear from it was a simple message…"You are mine now… Just like your father… I am coming for you, Prepare yourself…" then the voice slowly faded away in a deep evil laughter….

Apparently I had fainted for I woke up in one of the beds, I could hear that the Healers spoke about the strange wound and Pentagram that had appeared on the dead mans chest… it seemed like the patient died….I could feel Mizribâr searching my mind for something but apparently he never found it for his voice was low and muttering foul curses over something or someone thinking that nobody could hear what he said, but I could hear some of the words that he used and those I will not talk about… ever again… "…That damned fool, how dare he…" after looking at me again he walked into the shadows and disappeared, when he did that nobody knew where he would show up again…

The Voice kept haunting me in my dreams, always mocking me because I could not get rid of it… not even the powerful Mizribâr could help me with my nightmares, when I asked him about the Dark Knight he never answered…

Then finally one day the great one came home… The Paladin Alradun had returned to the Kingdome… along with him came a few groups of Knights and the Scepter of Power…. As usual they where summoned to the king…

After five more days we started to hear silent whispers from the shadows near the tunnel... nobody knew what was going on but they all had their fears.. specially the few knights that had survived down in the ancient tunnels… some of them was found screaming in the night and others where just looking around as if they knew something but where forced to remain silent…

One day the enemy burst trough the doorway but where fast beaten back by the ever so cautious guards that was Positioned near it… the royal guard was seemingly there and with the help of both Alradun and Mizribâr they sealed the ancient tunnels that ran beneath the castle and placed heavy rocks upon the newly crafted magical doors…

Everything to keep what ever was down there inside and whom ever is out here out…but would the seal last? What if the Arazon’s came and wished to enter? Would it be strong enough to halt even them?

After six months time since I entered the dream of the wounded scout I could finally speak with Mizribâr about the Knight and his Dark blade... "Master Mizribâr, there is a thing I have not told you about the time when I entered the wounded mans dream…" Mizribâr looked up at me from this book and smiled... this made me worried... and then I could hear his voice in my mind… "Open your mind to me boy... do not resist me..." It felt like someone tore my brain straight trough my head and then threw it back… but seemingly the pain for Mizribâr was ten times as bad… when he finally ended his search he started to talk to me… "The Knight you met in there is a spawnling of the Darkforce, a sibling if you say so… this is not good news…" after reading something in a book he turned it over and allowed me to read it… this was the first book someone ever was allowed to read from his collection, it was Indeed a great Honor for me to be allowed to read it…

The Book contained pictures of a strange being and lots of strange text this was also a Spawnling of Darkforce, but apparently a younger form for it was still pretty much Organic…

After letting me read he closed the book and looked at me, I could feel his voice inside my head again and I could see that he somehow respected me… ”You whom are the chosen one, he one who survive the Spawnling…and destined to untold deeds...” I did not know what I should do so I just sat down where I stood… to my luck Mizribâr summoned up a chair for me to sit on… and I could feel him searching my mind yet again… this time there was no pain… ”You are the first whom I can read without causing pain… the second time….” How I wish he could stop reading my mind…. I simply focused my thoughts on the great fire that we usually focused upon when meditating…. And Mizribâr gave out an abnormally high yell of pain, and then he spoke to me with his mouth… "Who are you? What are you? You are the first whom Focus upon the fire and make ME feel the pain, It felt like the fire was burning in MY mind instead of yours, but you are no Warlock…" He shrugged his head and then I was allowed to leave, but I had done something that nobody ever had done to him..

I had managed to hurt him and gain his respect at the same time…

The Scrolls of Zaath

This here is a small list with descriptions and small notes on diffrent things like races, times and other things that could not been embeded into the Story at start.

Some will be added into the plot but most will remain here, as a small look up incase one forgett what a certain race was or just plain forgett whom a certain person was...

Time Zone & Time Information
BE: before the enslavement of humans by the Moc´Zhians
AE : after the enslavement of humans by the Moc´Zhians

The Emperor
Name: Gastorak Shadow-Taster
Race : Moc´Zhian
The Emperor is the oldest and most powerfull of the Moc'Zhian's, was the first to gather the lost clans and unite them.
Lead the slaughter of the humans that took part of the Liberation Wars.
He still have some respect for those that serve him but those whom betray him are often killed on the spot where they stand, no matter if he is close to them or not....
This is due to the powers of the Nightblade that he brought with him from the ancient ruins where he first lived in fear.

The Council
The council is made out of the former Lords of the world, often sages or wizzards...
They have been tainted for a long time by following orders of the Shadow Fiends.
There are a total of Thirteen members in the council

Pryde, Amadan
Race: Human
Age: 22
Lord of the mist clan, rather unknown swordsman from the mountain village of Tux´harential..
This seductive gentleman has large green eyes that are like two emeralds.
His fine, straight, very long hair is the color of bleached bone, and is worn in a handsome style.
He is very tall with pale skin and a well shaped body...
His wardrobe is weird, and is mostly red and black.

Pryde , Myravon
Race: Human
Age: 27
older brother of Amadan, has retired after the second liberation wars in order to mend his spirutal wounds.
Has now joined the Temple of Andaria to live a simple life as a priest in the mountains he call home.
No longer takes part of any country matters as his spirtual self is more or less shatterd...
Also former master of The Brotherhood of the Shade

Ghrale, Isabell
High Lady of the Ghrale family, she was married into the family shortly after the first liberation war in order to secure her life and status within the council....
Slain by Phantom Raiders shortly before the second liberation wars, her death was the final key to the start of the second and final Liberation war that ended all open resistance against the new rulers.

Ghrale, Ata
Husband of Isabell and former High lord in the Imperial Army and father of the brothers Myravon & Amadan
Slain by a shadow howler during second liberation wars..

Moc´Zhian
This brutal race is usualy made out of a lethal mix, the body of a minotaur with the strong mind of a human...
They are tall, strong and extremly Inteligent.
Nobody realy knows why the race started enslaving Humans or why they appeared in the first place, rumors however state that the first apperance of the Moc´Zhians was in 843 BE
Their major role was the enslavement of Humanity 57 years later causing time to go over to year 0 AE.... 300 years later 90% of the humans had been adapted to the new culture.

Rank : Magistrate
The Rank of Magistrate was always given to the best scryers, mages and profets.
Works close with the new empire to bring peace to the world...
These are also the onlyones that are alowed to touch the relics left behind by most of the old gods and goddesses that ruled before the devine wars...


Rank: Deadeye
Master Archer, able to hit allmoust any target...
Rumor goes around that each army has only one man who is their deadeye.


Rank: Nightblade
Elite Assassins in service of the Legion

Goddess: Andaria
The Lady of Crystals and Light.
Not much is known about her part in the devine wars exept the little lore that is embedded into the crystals that have been found deep in the outlands.

Relic: Shards of Andaria
Small but powerfull shards containing magical spells or pure mana.
These are but small pices of a larger crystal and very hard to use....

Relic: Crystal of Andaria
Large crystals with lore, power and magic.
Those that control these powers control the light magic that the goddess used to use herself, even tho weakened by her demise they are still holding unspeakable ammounts of power and knowledge to those whom can master their use.

Relic: The Crystal of Chaos
The Dark Crystal itself, this is an old forgotten relic that has been tainted by the touch of chaos during the chaos wars, rumors claim that those seeking the crystals power loose a part of their being and soul each time they use it...
Power at the cost of your soul... and rumor also claim it taints the mind of the wielder to keep using the crystal for everything, no matter how big or small the thing they need so it can find a new host soon to feed more...

Zaath - Long forgotten Scryer, some of his tomes and scrolls has been uncoverd in the search of forgotten shrines....

The Shadow Chronicles - Fallen Heroes Book 3 : Amadan the Crystal Keeper

All the lords of Antheria had been gathered to study a new crystal that had been found deep in the forbidden mines, Some did not like working in these mines since they where forbidden since ancient times..

Nobody knew the true reason, why the mines where forbidden and sealed…and to be fully honest, nobody realy cared why....
There was money to be made and that was all that they cared about now.

I am one of these Lords, my name is Amadan;
Lord Amadan Evermist Pryde

This is a little tale about what happened when a certain crystal was found in a hidden chamber deep in the forbidden mines, a large gemstone shaped like an eye.... Burning with magic...
Our sages and mystics told the council that the gem was evil or atleast that it had evil magic sealed deep within it, that something in there was just waiting to be released into this world...

Did the council listen? .... No, they did not care about what the sages nor mystic said or thought...
Some who kept on complaining about the gem suddenly vannished for ever, no trace was ever found on the scene of the crime on what had happened to these persons...if there even was a crime... nobody was sure..

Everyone suspected that the Emperor and his dark council to be behind it, those whom found proof however was soon silenced in one horrible way or another....

Those who followed the Imperial orders began to change as they used the powers of the gemstone, their voices became cold...empty and ... hollow...
It was like talking to the long dead...the Wraiths of the Fallen Plains that lies to the north east in my country... so full of hate, sorrow and lust for power...

Each and every lord was the master of a clan, the name of the clan was depending mostly on the country with they ruled in...Unless they where mountain clans... they had other names..and other rules...

I was the master of the Evermist clan since my country that was often shrouded in deep mists that came flowing down from the surrounding mountains, by my side rules Lady Jezamine "Evermist" Vhe'Jain..
She is astrange person blessed with the body of an angel and the burning red hair of the setting sun

She also has such a wonderfull temperament, she can go from happy to extremely mad in the blink of a second... and then you can probably guess who has to calm her down again once she has gotten upset over something... Yes thats right.. me...

Today is a special day in the Capitol City of Ifrengarde,
it was the day of the pledge...
All the lords from outlying countries come to pledge their loyalty to the High Emperor whom rules the lands with an Iron Fist...

Many wish to see him dead and some try to do more then wish... last year it was over two-hundred assasins that was cought in the Imperial Palace, but like my Father I have chosen to remain neutral and loyal to the Emperor...
Even though he is one of those hated Moc´Zhians...

I was summoned to the Imperial Palace on a normal day, not directly sunny but still warm for being early spring, the messenger was an unusual fellow he was carrying something that reminded me of a monks robe yet it was more like the ones found on Master Wizards..

All you could see was the hands and those horrible cold staring eyes, the mere summoning was an unusual matter since it was yet four days until the lords had to pledge their loyalty....

I turned to face the messenger again asked him a simple question.
“Pardon me Sir, but can you tell me why I am being summoned to the Palace, the day of the Pledge is not yet here...” gazing into the messengers eyes was like staring into a brick of ice, they where completely void of emotions...

Then we had his voice.... a horrible voice that sounded like it came from beyond the grave and I knew that it would give me nightmares for many days to come… “You are not supposed to ask...questions, you are merely supposed to obey the royal commands...” I could not wait to get him out of my mansion so I bowed and thanked him for his time thus showing it was time for him to leave... he just flashed me a wicked smile, took a step back into the shadows and vanished from sight...

I knew one thing for sure now, I never ever want to hear him speak again...and since I had been so nicely invited by the High Emperor I had no other choice then to see what he wanted...

The Great Road
((The Road to the castle is long and dangerus, bandits, raiders and worse things now lurk in the hills and forests near the road...but I do not need to fear them like many of the “normal” travelers do..for I am a warrior in Heart and Soul, and thus by doning dark armor and a common longsword I can ride down the road alone, mostly unchallanged by the foolish bandits and fiends of the roadside))

It was a dull and rainy day; the sky was grey due to the thick clouds and to think I was to ride upon such a day... I sighed and started to speak to my self like I always did ”Well such a Rainy day, I wonder what that old fool can want of me this time, I hope its some raid or to hunt bandits...and not...” more I never got to say before I heard a distant cry for help, I shook my head and swore a silent curse before making the horse run faster towards the direction of the scream...
This did not sound like the average every day cry...but was a bit strange...
It was like they are not used to screaming but get what they want anyways, like a noble… but what noble would ride out here on a day such as this?...

The scream seemed to come from beyond a few hills, hidden in one of the valleys…Now more then even I was curios on who it was that screamed this loud for Nobody that is normal in mind enter these hills on this sort of day, the fiends don’t like humans in their rituals and tend to create nasty traps all over the hills..

When I came close to the origin of the scream I felt a chill down my spine, something was not right here but I could not put my finger upon what it could be…
After a swift glance over what seemed like a minor battlefield from a war it seemed like a young lady and her escort was being attacked by strange knights, upon seeing me some of them started to drop the bows they was carrying and drew their swords….
Seemingly nothing is ever going to be easy for me...

The first knight that attacked moved much slower then I had expected, more like a ghoul then a fiend and that made me curios to what was realy going on here...The Ghouls never came this close to a major city unless they realy wanted to get some new flesh into their pack and even then they never ever used armor like this...

Dodging the few and sluggish blows was easy, seemed powerfull strikes but realy slow and easy to predict.... even a novice fighter would have seen all those openings.

With a few swift slashes on his sword I could easily find the opening I wanted, one he slashed down I swirled to the left and slashed my sword at the medium sized opening between the helmet and the chest plate, cutting its head clean off its shoulders....
This drew the attention of the remaining armored freaks...

They slowly advanced forward, spreading out and moving into diffrent directions... these seemed more trained in warfare then their first companion and the young lady had been completly forgotten in the heat of battle...

I tried to yell out in order to make them stop attacking, wasting life like this was never any fun and also a complete waste... "Lower your weapons and you will not be harmed, this I promise upon my honor as an Knight" the reply was more like a whisper then actualy spoken and the cold voice was so familar yet.... diffrent. "L...Lower weapons? S...Surrender? ....You.... must.... be... Jesting..." then there was to more time for talking as a new fallen knight had come close enough to be beheaded...

After seeing their second comrade fall one of the strange knights took out a crystal, muttered some strange words and they all faded from sight... as I inspected the body of the two knights I had slain I noticed that they had Imperial badges, yet the suit was clearly not Imperial....

Since I was late I had no other choice then to grab the badges, shove them into a bag and mount my steed again... The Emperor did not like to be kept waiting and maybe... Just maybe he could shed some light upon the badges of the Fallen...

<1>

The Lady did not seem all to happy over my apperance and even less about the fact that I was allready leaving, I could hear her scream in some odd language that I could not understand... nor did I have any intention of learning that language at the time either If I am to be fully honest, so I turned my mount around and started traveling back towards the capitol for the Emperor had to be told or there could be most dire fate awating all of us.

The Capitol City - Eastern Gate
The area around the gate was under an unusual heavy guard, the gate itself was even worse.
Local farmers running into the gate and city guard comming out of it was an unusual sight...
Not that there was not usualy guards going out on patrol but this many guards actualy guarding the gate itself and all those archers just waiting to get a sight of something they can shoot was not normal at all, there was signs of battle nearby and a few arrows were hopelessly stuck in the tree´s as if they had been fired in a hurry to guard something or someone from being attacked.

The question is, who would be dumb enough to attack the capitol?

I approached slowly as to not make any sudden moves, for if I did The archers would probably fill me with arrows and the guards would probably try to strike me down with their damn spears and halberds... even if I did survive all that they probably had Shadow Dancers around in the woods guarding the hidden scout paths.

When I finaly came close enough to draw attention from one of the scouts they all turned to face this newcommer that had showed up, armored and mounted I sure looked rather odd...

The first to speak was one of the guards "Hey you, yeah you on the mount...." he took a deep breath and waited as if I was to respond but since I did not and just looked down at him from my horse he continued... "Don´t give me that look damnit, who are you and what are you doing here?" Then it came to my understanding that the guards had not been told of that I was to meet the Emperor today, I did not like that one bit...

When I was about to reply one of the Local captains came walking trough the gate and barked out some orders to the guards and archers, shook his head and signaled me to approach....

"What are you doing here, Lord Evermist? Wait don´t answer that, I got enough trouble as it is... just be quiet and ride on trough..." The Captain did not look to happy so I figured out that there was no use going into an argument over something I did not and cared not to understand...

:: The Captiol City - Outer Parts ::
"The outer parts of the town was usualy the worst looking part, this was where most of the poor merchants, pesants and persons with more shady life lived...far away from the Emperor and his council...."

The town as as usual a complete mess, boxes, crates and large bags stored all over and merchants standing around peddling their goods to anyone who passed by showing the slightest intrest into their goods...

<2>

There was an unusual ammount of pesants were running all over trying to find heads from tails in this messed up town, hardly even those that lived here knew how to find anything else then their own house and new shops was discoverd and forgotten each day.... but I pretty much ignored those as they never spoke to someone of my status, it was against the law....

The paths to the castle was many, if you had the right connections and went down the right streets, for even the strongest castle have fake doors in the walls and sewers had secrets that few dared to challange even today....

Since riding is forbidden in the city I went to the closest stable and tossed a purse with coins in the lap of the stablekeeper awaking him from his sleep..

"Wha... who, Oh hello Sire, I will take good care of yer mount" he said still dizzy from being awoken from his slumber

I just nodded in a reply and tossed the reins of the horse over before dismounting and walking away with just my sword as company... for this was a behavior that was expected of a nobleman of my status in this city and If I did not... eyes would be turned upon me directly since I would be an outsider and stranger... the kind that never been specialy welcome in the capitol, never less on a day like this....my walk was disturbed by a low hissing voice...

"Hey.... Hey you, yeah I am talking to you Lord Evermist...." the voice came from a shaded alley that I passed on the way towards the court "T...This way....m...my.....m..master, wi...wish to meet you...."

The way he spoke, the way he moved in the shadow.... no doubt this was a member of the brotherhood, the true rulers of the captiol.... and his master could only be my older brother who not too long agao had taken over the brotherhood... Myravon "Magistrate" Pryde...

I took a quick glance around and ventured into the alley after brotherhood member to be taken to the Master of the shaded star and everyone knew that going against the will of the brotherhood was a bad idea, no matter what they wanted ... or from who they wanted it... they had just to ask....

::: The Brotherhood of The Twilight Star :::
"The Brotherhood is a band of Thiefs, Assassins and Nightbirds with together formed a secret haven in the old catacombs scatterd across the land... with their main headquarters secretly hidden in the biggest catacombs beneath the Capitol city & Castle....the name of the place was labores solis or eclipse of the sun"

<3>

I knew that the Emperor was waiting for me in the castle, and I knew that the orb would be there... yet I had to go...