A CULTIST-INFESTED TOWN IN THE FORLORN MOUNTAINS
A bubbling pit of inky slime lay before the treacherous Cult of D'khar. The well near the village had been dug out. The cultists no longer cared to keep the nature of their village hid. They had found what they were seeking.
The leader of the cult stepped forward. He barely looked human anymore. Phage spoke, his voice oddly comforting and quiet.
"My faithful followers. Those that serve Shivakas and those that have rightfully turned on their Guildhall Oaths, we have finally found a dormant Spawn of Shivakas. Most importantly, it is the spawn that blessed me with arcane powers in my adolescent years. D'khar, spawn of Treachery, Secrets, and Deceit!"
The cultists murmured, clearly uncomfortable in the presence of a fragment of Shivakas. The bubbling pit did not respond to the introduction.
A guildsmen that turned on their oath stepped forward, "Master Phage? It just looks like oil."
Phage chuckled at the remark. "Well of course. D'khar is dormant. Follower, do you know what a God needs to gain power? Sacrifice. A great and powerful magical sacrifice to awaken it from it's slumber. Bring me the heart of Atos."
Two purple hooded cultists scurried off into one of the village houses. Moments later they carried a large glass container with a still-beating heart inside. Phage lifted the heart out of the container and held it over the inky pit.
"D'khar, I give to you the fruits of a great treachery. I deceived Guildhall. I deceived one of your antediluvians, Atos. I betrayed those who sought to protect the realm from you to gain their power."
Phage drew a fist-full of different colored powders, each powder swirling with great magical power. "They have willingly given my followers this ritual powder, materials, catalysts, and rune ink. They knew not that it would be used to awaken you." Phage tossed the heart and powder into the black inky mass. "I awaken thee, D'khar!"
Thousands of teeth rose out of the ooze to form many different mouths. The mouths tore apart the heart and devoured the powder.
The voice of D'Khar was deafening. Thousands of whispers formed to create words, "My Herald. You've awoken us so quickly. We have chosen well. We thirst for sacrifices of Guildsmen. Their hearts give us strength. It is so tiring to stay awake. We require a vessel to be able to move. To hunt. To eat."
The cultists dropped to their knees and began praying loudly. Phage motioned for quiet as the prayer quieted to a whisper. "My Fragment, my Spawn, I have a vessel for you." A massive snake, easily a hundred feet long slithered out of the woods near the village and coiled at the pool.
"Will this suffice, Lord D'Khar? I present to you the mother to all of the giant snakes you've blessed with your power."
Thousands of teeth rose out of the ooze to form many different smiles. Thousands of whispers uttered the statement, "We are elated, herald. Bring me mana so we may writhe across the land again."
CROSS TOWER KEEP, HOLT EMBASSY IN EVERMOORE (part 2 of 2 Asgarn-Dale Plot)
SUMMARY: Miles Strand, leader of Cross Tower Keep in Evermoore, reveals how King Justin will ensure Mathias and Arianna do not survive to reach the coast with the Aiden and the Asgarns. Sergeant Milton Krape, ranger of Guildhall, is sent to Evermoore as the instrument of King Justin, intending to undo the peace the Guildmasters tried to create in October.
DRAMATIZATION: Milton Krape, Ranger of Guildhall and Sheriff appointed to the Court of Swords in Holt, stood in the pigsty knee deep in the reeking mud. His thighs were splatted with excrement and rotting food. Around him the pigs protested his presence with short squalls and threatening snorts. He ignored them, raking the larger pieces of refuse into piles and shoveling them into buckets that he would later carry into the fields to be used as fertilizer.
This had been his life, all through the summer, slopping the pigsties as punishment for siding with the Guildsmen of Evermoore and for embarrassing the great nation of Holt. Of course, Krape did not agree with his superior Miles Strand. In fact, he disagreed with Miles over the punishment and almost everything the evil man had done since King Justin appointed Strand leader of Cross Tower Keep last winter.
Krape had come to Evermoore with Strand hoping to do the work of Eldin in this great and historical place, but instead of righteousness and justice, Krape found disgrace and deceit that had called into question his faith in Eldin and in Holt. If not for the words of Mriyeh Clawbright, a guildsman of Evermoore, Krape knew that he would have surely have been lost. He would have forsaken it all, perhaps even tossing away his guildhall oath, but Mriyeh helped him to see that the problems in faith were not in the teachings of his noble god, but in the teachings of the modern Church of Eldin. Their modern interpretations of the sacred Word of Eldin had become flawed. The Church was in fundamental error.
Eldin was pure and good, full of light and right, but it was the elder priests who had corrupted the Church into a thing that was not Eldin. Krape was sure Eldin wished to save the whole world and that was why Eldin fought against Grotar. Eldin wanted a world of Order and Unity, not a world of stagnation and discrimination. Eldin led humanity in cooperation with all the peoples of the world, and in cooperation with Guildhall. Mriyeh Clawbright had helped him to realize the Church of Eldin and King Justin were the antithesis of the teachings of Eldin. Of course, all that realization got him was assigned to cleaning the pigsty.
Krape raked the stinking slop into another pile. The pigs squealed. One pressed up against him, rubbing more filth onto his pants. He pushed the beast away and his hand came away dripping. He had no choice but to wipe it on his chest, and ruin the only patch of cloth on his body that was not yet defiled.
“You having fun today, hero-Ranger?” That was Dickel, reeking and toothless, the man had once cared for the pigs, but Strand had placed Dickel in charge and now he was forced by his sense of duty to follow the filthy man’s every instruction. Dickel was a bully and braggart, and rotten to the core. The foul man thoroughly enjoyed having him to abuse.
“I am well,” replied Krape.
“You must go and see Marshall Strand,” said Dickel moving close and whispering in his ear. “I heard they are going to execute you. The poor pigs will be so sad to lose you as their friend, but at least your corpse will provide them a good meal.” The foul man laughed his breath smelling worse then the pigsty.
Krape stepped over the low wooden fence surrounding the pen and walked toward the keep. People gagged at his stink and moved away. A few cursed him, one threw an apple core at him, but a few cast him looks of sympathy. He was well-known to everyone in the tower complex. The Ranger of Guildhall cleaning out the pigsties, lugging manure into the field.
Krape went straight to Marshall Strand’s office making no attempt to clean himself up. The guards at the entrance chuckled as he past them. Krape was actually popular with the common solders. Perhaps, they sympathized with his plight, having so often suffered the unfair abuses of their own officers.
He left stinking footprints down the polished wood corridors and the horrified commoner caretakers rushed forward with their rags to clean the mess. A heavy set woman screamed, “You can’t go and see the Marshall looking like that!” He passed her by she trailed in his wake, gagging so much she could no longer protect.
“What is that stink?” shouted Strand’s as Krape barged into his his office.
“Good evening, Sir,” spoke Krape. “You summoned me.”
“I summoned you! I did not summon the pigsty. You filthy slob, you sorry excuse for a soldier. Why didn’t you clean up before coming?”
“I apologize, Sir,” Krape said. “I rushed right here to you summons as any soldier would do.”
“I tried to stop him,” cried the heavyset woman. Strand waved her away and she retreated to fresher air without another word.
Strand eyed him, suspiciously. Looking him up and down. Strands eyes stopped on his feet. Filthy water was seeping out of his boots into his floor. Strand’s mouth tightened in furious anger. Krape wondered briefly if he’d pushed Strand too far, but then realized he didn’t care. What could the Marshal do to him that was worse than cleaning the pigsties? You could not execute a man for messing your floor.
Stand seemed to master himself, apparently decided to just get things over with. “Did you make friends with some Guildsmen last spring.”
“I made the acquaintances of some,” Krape replied.
That was apparently good enough and Strand continued, “I want you to use those contacts in the pursuit of Justice. Last month, the Guildsmaster of Evermoore voted to convince the leaders of the Five Kingdoms to allow the murderous Asgarn horde that plundered the Dale to escape without facing justice.”
“Our King, wise and fair Justin, is appalled by the criminal conspiracy underfoot. The Guildsmen of Evermoore are treacherous and may be able sway the leaders of the Five Kingdom to this unjust path. As a man of Law yourself, as a sheriff of the Guildhall Courts of the Sword, I am sure this rankles your sense of righteousness. Does it not?”
“I do not let criminals go free.” Krape said, honesty. “I believe the guilty should be punished.”
“Good,” purred Strand, “So it’s seems destiny is on our side. November is when the Guildsmasters are elected. You will go to Evermoore and use your contacts to find Guildsmen willing to overturn last month’s the decision and finance their campaigns to become Guildmaster.”
“Finance their campains?” Krape asked.
“Give them money! They can make posters, hire dancing girls, whatever it takes to get them elected,” Strand said, magnanimously. “King Justin wants the newly elect Guildmaster to re-vote on the issue and draft new letters advising against any peace. Justin wants Justice for the Dale. He wants the Asgarns to answer for their crimes, trials for each and punishments fitting their crimes. Can you do this?”
Krape nodded. “I can do this. It is right to set the Asgarns free, to let them leave with all their stolen loot. They will only go home and tell tales of their butchery and death without repercussions. That will encourage more raiding.”
Krape felt legitimately perplexed. He did not understand why the Guildmasters of Evermoore would make such a unfair decision. He would go to Evermoore and investigate. The law requires retribution and restitution.
Two Holt soldiers entered the room and placed a large chest on the desk. The soldier withdrew quickly, smirking at the scene of stinking Krape standing in their commander’s officer. The pool of filth leaking from his boots was spreading under the desk.
“King Justin sent this chest of coins.” Strand opened the lid and Krape gasped. It was more money than he had ever seen in his life. A fortune in gold and silver.
“You will use this money to finance the campaigns of Guildsmen willing to bring justice to the world.” continued Strand. “You will sign a contract between yourself and the individual Guildsmen where you will agree to make monthly contributions to their campaign funds. Any Guildsman who helps Holt to see the Asgarns punished will become wealthy and powerful.”
Strand reached down and ran his fingers through the coins. They jingled and glittered. “The Asgarns must not reach the sea. If these invading army, escapes unpunished the Guildsmen of Evermoore will set a terrible precedent. Nations could begin to think that they can act with impunity against each other without repercussion. Such a statement undermines everything Guildhall stands for.
Don’t you agree?”
For once in his life Krape agreed with the toady who ruled Cross Tower Keep. “The guilty must have retribution. The victims must have restitution. That is the purpose of the Law. I will finance the campaigns of new Guildmasters in Evermoore who will hopefully value justice enough to see the murdering and pillaging Asgarns punished for their evil acts.”
WORLD PLOT SOUTHERN RANGED OF THE FORLORNE MOUNTAINS WEST OF FIVE KINGDOMS (Part 1 of 2- Asgarn-Dale Plot)
SUMMARY: Aiden Skalgi tells Arianna and Mathias that the Guildsmen of Evermoore are going to negotiate a peace that allows the surviving Asgarns safe passage home through the Five Kingdom.
DRAMATIZATION: High on the mountaintop, Arianna the Princess of the Dale sat with Mathias of the Iron Keep on a large granite rock outcropping that seemed to overlook the entire world. They were so high that small puffy clouds rolled lazily below them, pushed by the crisp, mountain wind.
Aiden Skaligi, leader of the Asgarn army remaining on the continent, walked slowly up behind the couple we did not know he was there. Aiden was not intentionally moving quietly. He always seemed to sneak through the woods. He’d grown up a simple farmer and hunting was a skill every Asgarn farmer developed as the poor soil could not support a family. He’d spent years moving quietly looking for game and would not break the habit now, besides he had been hunting for these two.
Arianna was wearing a simple dress of Asgarn cut and looked angelic in the afternoon sun, with her auburn hair lifted by the mountain breeze and flowing like a halo around her head. The Princess reminded him of his own daughter, both headstrong and courageous. Thoughts of his child, made him long for home.
Mathias was still wearing his tattered surcoat over his quilted gambeson. The embroidered Iron Cross barely stood out from the dirty white cloth that had been stained dark from a summer of surviving in the mountains. He’s seen Mathias many times, struggling to clean the garment in the icy mountain streams. The boy had determination, but he needed to select causes he could win. If he did, he’d make a good leader some day.
Arianna was resting her head on Mathias’s shoulder and he had his arm draped over her back. Aiden had watched their relationship develop from stolen glances to quite conversations, to holding hands in when they thought no one was looking. It was no business of his how the Five Kingdoms muddled their lines of succession, or was it?
A year ago Aiden was just a farmer leading a remote village, but that was not the case anymore. Aiden had power now, real power, the kind of power to shape the world. The Asgarns who joined him in the harrowing defection from Gunther’s doomed war had sworn him their loyalty. He wasn’t that farmer anymore and when he returned to the Island of Asgarn he would move his family to the High Throne and he would claim the crown.
So Aiden knew he had to think politically. He had to embrace the larger picture. He was sure that any link between the Iron Cross and the Dale would anger King Justin of Holt. The Iron Cross was the main political enemy of the Blood Cross, a division that threatened to rip Holt apart in civil war. A marriage between Arianna and Mathias, the son of Lord Garth, the main Iron Cross leader, could possibly drive a wedge between Holt and the Dale or possibly unify the two nations.
As much as he had grown to like Arianna and Mathias he knew they were also pieces on the game board of politics, which was why he had sent the letters to the Guildsmen of Evermoore. He had visited their Evermoore last year. He had walked among the Guildsmen for a time and gotten to know their measure.
Aiden approached and stepped on a large stick so that it snapped underfoot, purposely causing both Arianna and Mathias to jump to their feet in surprise. Mathias reached for his sword and half-pulled the blade from its sheath before he recognized Aiden.
“What’s going on here?” asked Aiden, offered them his lopsided grin.
For a moment they both looked embarrassed. The Princess relaxed. Mathias let his half-drawn sword drop back into its sheath.
“Good morning, King Aiden,” Arianna said pleasantly. “And to answer your question. We were enjoying the view.”
Aiden chuckled. They thought they were being discrete, but their love shown in their faces and in their every motion. The whole Asgarn encampment was betting if the princess was going to give up her innocence before the end of fall. The book keepers were laying two to one odds, but Aiden knew it was a fool’s bet at any payout, even if Arianna wasn’t the woman she was, Mathias was too honorable. Those kids represented the best of chivalry, honor, and courtly grace, all silly notions in Aiden’s opinion.
“Have you heard from Evermoore?” asked Mathias.
Aiden had not excluded either of them from his plans. In fact, he had read them the letter he sent to Evermoore asking the Guildmasters to intercede. He’d even changed a few lines based on Arianna’s suggestions. “You might want to reword that sentence to not sound so hostile,” she had said multiple times throughout their review. At one point, he had shouted, “Do you want me to send them flowers!” and they all had laughed to relieve the building tension. Of course, they had haggled for another hour over the wording and she was still unsatisfied with the letter’s final form.
“The Guildsmen of Evermoore,” Aiden paused to leave Mathias hanging on his words. The boy was so young and eager. Arianna not so much, she waited for him to get to the point with arms folded over her chest. “Have accepted our proposal and have sent the letters asking the leaders of the Five Kingdoms to let us pass to the sea. With a little luck, we can all be home by the mid-winter holidays.”
Mathias gave a loud cheer and hugged Arianna. For a moment they both forgot Aiden was standing there and kissed, but then quickly pulled apart. Embarrassed again, “Thank you for bringing the news,” Arianna curtsied. “You have been a fine host and we will certainly be sad to leave you.”
Her eyes tinkled with wry amusement. She was not above teasing him. It was a joke between them. She always pretended to be his guest, telling him, “It is my fondest hope that one day you’ll be a guest in my castle and I can repay your kindness.”
Aiden had tried to treat them well, food was scarce and lodgings makeshift. The summer had not been comfortable, but they had all braved the hardships together. He had been fair and open with Arianna and Mathias. They knew he would kill them if he had too, but that he would much rather see them go free. In many ways they had become friends, and he wondered if he would actually kill the pair if his hand was forced by treachery. The Guildsmen of Evermoore did have that reputation and Aiden hoped he would not be forced to make that decision.
“Enjoy your morning,” he told them. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” He chuckled the whole way back to camp, remembering how it was with his wife when they were courting all those many years ago. Mathias and Arianna were both too honorable to enjoy life as he always did, mores the pity for them.
BEHIND THE INN AT EVERMOORE
SUMMARY: Philosopher Po’s continues his research, confirms his belief that the Age of Order continues, and proves player gain +1 body as discovered last month on Adventures.
DRAMATIZATION: Philosopher Po held the lens up to his eye and gazed through the glass, noting the hash marks etched into form both a vertical and horizontal axis. He placed the flow of vitalic energy in the center of the lens and used the hash marks to make accurate measurements. He wrote the result down in his notebook, his fingers moving with eager excitement.
The results could not be disputed. Vitalic energy was flourishing. The world was healing. The free flow of order and chaos energy moving in balance together has the potential to make everything better. With chaos ending the stagnation and order ensuring change was not catastrophic, the possibilities were endless.
Po reached out and touched the flow. He could feel the vitalic energy washing over his hand. It was a magical tingling of health and vigor. He looked down at his notes and knew that the world was improving. Life was going to be better.
He was breathless, overcome by a powerful feeling excitement. There was clearly only one conclusion to be made . . . he was seeing confirmation that the Age of Order was still going strong. The Age of Chaos had not come, would not come.
Po believed, in that moment, the upcoming thousand years could rival the glory of the Age of Life. The Shining Star of Guildhall could illuminate the way to rebuilding all that was lost during the Age of Death. The Crystal City rebuilt with all the people united again! Conflicts ended. World Peace attained.
A few days later . . . All greater beings gained the potential to have nine (9) body.
The new maximum body for all races will be nine (9). As soon as the DataBase is updated, Players may log into the database and spend available status to make the increase for their characters.
Sheriff Milton Krape says, "We have laws to punish those who murder and plunder. Last month your Guildmaster's ignored those laws. Do not let the Asgarn raiders who hurt so many escape punishment. We need Justice for the victims.
Evermoore needs leadership without a hidden agenda. Political campaigns are expensive, but if you want to make a stand for Justice Holt will help you become Guildmaster during the Elections this month. Sign across the face of this document and meet me in Evermoore to discuss how much you need to support what is Right.
I know that many of you do not like King Justin and you object to the aggressive manner in which the nation of Holt deals with their enemies, but I ask you to put those feelings aside and look at this situation without your prejudices."
COURT OF GUILDHALL, VALLEY OF RAINBOWS
SUMMARY: Damn’s obliteration is confirmed and set for Friday night of the November Market at 1:00 in the morning.
DRAMATIZATION: Mordred, Appeals Judge of the Valley of Rainbows, is an old man, wizened and wrinkled, with grey wispy hair, a hawk-like nose, and the eyes of a hunting raptor. He is small of stature, but all who know him speak of him as giant. He is merciless to criminals, but compassionate to victims. He is a believer in retribution and a devotee to deterrence. His judgment in the case of Damn the Comedian is as follows . . .
“Comedians are devoted to destroying Guildhall. If they succeed there will be no more Inn, no more monthly gatherings of friends, no more laughter ringing and challenges met. There will only be a baleful wind blowing a world of ash.
We only need to review our history to understand our future. When Guildsmen turn on Guildsmen all we have goes away. This is the immutable fact of our world. One day Karthis, who was made into the God of Vengeance by mortals, will decide the world is broken beyond repair and he will end the story of Guildhall, rather than watch people suffer.
A Comedian has devoted their existence to fragmenting the unity of Guildsmen. They only earn their names after causing years of pain and suffering. They have become experts in manipulation, subversion, and ruin. The very act of taking a name means that a Comedian has become so twisted as to be unredeemable in any world that values justice.
For more than a decade, the Comedian who named herself Damn has killed, murdered, mislead, and tortured the Commoners of Evermoore in her duplicitous efforts to undermine the Guildsmen of Evermoore. Hundreds of Commoner families have buried loved ones because of her actions. Countless Guildsmen have died in attempting to thwart her many malicious plans.
Obliteration sends a person to the Void. It is not the murder of the Spirit, just temporary banishment because that person has committed to many criminal acts to live in a world that values law.
The Court always retains hope that in the Void criminals will have an opportunity to review their evils so when they are reborn into the world they will grow into a person that brings love and happiness, instead of hate and sorrow. If not, the Justice of Guildhall will be waiting, again.
This Court believes that the Magistrate Of Evermoore understood all this and fully intended the Obliteration to be carried out until completion. This Court therefore Orders the successful Obliteration of Damn to be held at the November Market Day at 1:00 am on Friday night.”