Brimstone
and the Companions of Althea.
Book 1
ã Copyright 2004, by Ricky Sides
and Kathy Young
Smashwords Edition
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Acknowledgements
I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the company Dialsoft, which owns the rights to t4c (the Fourth coming.) Marc Frega, company President, granted us the non-exclusive rights to write books based on t4c, and the right to seek a publisher. Dialsoft also created the cover for this ebook. We are currently in negotiations with Dialsoft for the license to place the entire series on the market. Meanwhile, Dialsoft has approved the temporary release of this free version of the book.
Kathy and I owe a debt of gratitude to eAcceleration. They have graciously granted their permission for us to include references to their t4c development in our books. These references include eAcceleration t4c server specific spells, items, and an island named Brach Dalar. eAcceleration’s t4c server was our t4c home for many years. Kathy and I have many fond memories of the people we met, and the staff of the server.
eAcceleration actually gave us our first real writing break. I’d been posting the Brimstone stories on the general forum for a while when the t4c director took interest and gave us a Brimstone forum hosted by eAcceleration. Over a period of years, the nine books of the series were posted serial style on that forum.
We would also like to say thank you to all of the player characters who permitted us to use their characters and profiles during the course of the series. All of the human and seraph companions were real players who permitted us to use their characters. They also contributed in other ways. Veksar contributed maps that inspired me to no end. Many posted comments after the segments. Reading those comments was the high point of my writing career. I so cherished the comments of those people that I copied all that I could find and placed them on my website. Those players all trusted us with their good names. It was a humbling experience for me to be trusted by so many good people.
Some people have told me that I should consider renaming several characters, because their names are unusual. They suggested that I change them to something more palatable in order to make the books more marketable. In my view, that would be an act of betrayal. These people trusted me with their good names. I will not alter those names to make a buck. They’ll grow on you. That was most assuredly the case for me. (:>
Dedication
I’d like to dedicate this book to the players of eAcceleration’s t4c servers. Without your participation and encouragement, this book and the series would never have come to be what it is today. If this series turned out to be a good, it’s because so many good people provided a steady stream of comments, feedback, and ideas. In doing so, they nurtured and inspired this author.
I’d especially like to dedicate this book to Pig Killa, an Australian player. He was a young man who was among the first to encourage me to continue with the series of posts. His untimely death in a tragic auto accident devastated many players around the globe. All mourned his passing.
Piggy, this one’s for you.
*Raises a glass of wine in a toast to a friend.*
Synopsis
Born of the union of Artherk, god of good, and a mortal woman named Evelyn, Brimstone was destined for great things. The followers of his father rejoiced on the night that Evelyn gave birth to Artherk’s son. But sinister forces did not share in that joy. Those forces conspired against the newly born Demigod and his mother.
When a professional assassin slays Evelyn, a powerful mage retainer loyal to her opens a portal, casts the child into it, and then does battle with the assassin. On the other side of the portal, followers of Artherk take the child to safety as he emerges into the Stonehenge near the city of Lighthaven on the island of Arakas. Later, Artherk joins his followers and gives them their instructions. An elect group of his followers is charged with the safety of his son. It will be their task to train him in the path of the warrior and safeguard him until he comes of age.
When Brimstone comes of age, he meets Damia. She is the daughter of Ogrimar, god of evil and the lovely goddess of the sea, Shinobi. Working together, Damia and Brimstone work to maintain the balance between good and evil as they fight for the cause of justice. Soon mages, warriors, paladins, and archers join them in their eternal quest to right the wrongs of the world of Althea. This group of companions is a mixture of all alignments. Eventually they become known as, simply, The Companions.
Part 1
The History of Althea
The Gods of Althea.
In the celestial realm dwelled several gods. There was Artherk, the god of light and goodness, Ogrimar, the god of evil and chaos, Gluriurl, the god of corruption and Lothar the Just, who was the god of justice. Other gods reside within the celestial realm, but these four gods are the principal gods that influence the history of the world of Althea to the time of the disappearance of the dwarven race.
***
After the fall of the dwarven race, humanity became the chosen race. In the wake of the fall of the dwarves, the wisest among the humans gathered and they discussed the problem for several weeks. Finally, they reached the conclusion that to fulfill the mandate of the Harbinger, humans needed to try something new. Something that neither the Elves with all their wisdom, nor the Dwarves with all of their strength at arms had thought to try.
The wise men and women of the time realized that both the Elves and the Dwarves had failed to maintain the balance between good and evil because they had tried in vain to work within the alignments of good and evil to maintain that balance. They concluded that this approach wouldn’t work any better for the human race than it had for the other races. They further concluded that if they were to succeed where the other races had failed, they needed to form a third alignment dedicated to the base philosophy of maintaining the balance between good and evil.
For the balance to be maintained, at least some portion of humanity needed to remain neutral. This meant that some should favor neither good nor evil. It also meant that those neutrals would work actively to see to it that the other two alignments remained balanced.
In those days of the first generation of neutrals, they had no deity. The founders of the path struggled daily along the path, always doing what they could to maintain the balance. But their struggles did not go unnoticed.
The celestial realm is the birthplace of all gods. It exists in another dimension. The goddess of the sea and neutrality took notice of the struggle of this first generation of neutrals. That Goddess is named Shinobi. Seeing the plight of these men and women who struggled so valiantly to maintain the balance, she decided to come to Althea and assist them along that path.
Shinobi was the first goddess of neutrality. She was also a goddess of the sea. But now Damia has taken Shinobi’s place as goddess of neutrality and Shinobi is primarily the goddess of the sea.
Damia is the daughter of the goddess Shinobi and Ogrimar the god of evil. Both Shinobi and Ogrimar had visions that warned them that unless they had a daughter, a great calamity would befall Althea. This seemed impossible because Shinobi loathed Ogrimar and would not suffer his touch. Yet the gods found a way to accomplish this seemingly impossible task without ever touching one another.
Shinobi raised Damia until she was six years old, and then she turned her daughter over to Ogrimar as agreed. It broke her heart to do this, but it was the only way that Ogrimar would agree to the plan. Ogrimar yearned in his heart for the daughter of his visions. This might seem a cruel fate for the young goddess, but Ogrimar doted on his daughter and she led a happy life. Later, when Damia came of age, her mother, Shinobi turned over the responsibility for the neutral path to her. Shinobi is now primarily the goddess of the sea, though she is still neutral, and Damia is the official goddess of neutrality.
***
The races of Althea.
by Gunter Quickquill
Chief Librarian of the Great Celestial Library.
In the beginning, the Supreme Being created all worlds. Some few of those worlds were populated with animals, plants, and intelligent species. But the first intelligent race that he created were godlike in their own rights for they had been created with portions of the powers of the supreme being. These godlike beings dwelled in the celestial realm until a world caught their attention and they decided to take an interest in the intelligent beings who inhabited their chosen worlds. In some cases, the gods then dwelled upon those worlds. In other cases, the gods would visit a world, walk among its people, but then return to the celestial realm, and watch their people from their celestial homes.
Zeus was one such being who briefly interacted with one of those worlds, but there were several others. This missive will deal with the gods who chose to live on one world among its people. Though they can depart that world and return to the celestial realm, they more often than not spend most of their time on their chosen planet. The name of that planet is Althea.
Althea formed as a water world interspersed with islands. One of those islands is known throughout the recorded history of Althea. That island is Arakas. Other islands are known as well. The island of Raven’s Dust was discovered after Arakas. In the fullness of time, the island of Raven’s Dust became the seat of power for the human kingdom of Goldmoon. Raven’s Dust was known as greater Goldmoon and Arakas became known as Lesser Goldmoon to the population. Still later, Stoneheim was found and settled. Yet Stoneheim never became an integral part of the Kingdom of Goldmoon. Once there, men learned of the higher calling of the gods Ogrimar and Artherk. They were called into the service of the gods by making the great sacrifice of being reborn as seraphs to help in the eternal battle between good and evil.
Yet on all three isles, the humans found evidence that they were not the first race to walk the land. Indeed, there was substantial evidence that humans were the third race to dominate the isles. The first race to dominate Althea was the elven race, which had a thriving and advanced culture that was old while the other races were still in their infancies. The second race to ascend to cultural domination was the dwarven race and the third was humanity. This missive will chronicle the events as they unfolded during the history of the three races of Althea. It will reflect upon the interaction between the gods of Althea and the races that followed those gods.
The elven city of Anwynn was the peak of elven architectural achievement on the isle of Arakas. The city was located on a small isle on the southeastern side of Arakas and was linked to the mainland by two graceful bridges. Anwynn sat in the same location as the present day human city of Lighthaven.
Anwynn was the center of the Elven Kingdom, which was ruled by a king. There were other lesser elven cities on the three islands of Arakas, Raven’s Dust and Stoneheim, but none rivaled the intrinsic beauty of Anwynn. Elven villages dotted the countryside on the three isles that made up the Elven Kingdom. Originally, travel to these isles had taken place by the conventional means of utilizing ships for exploration.
Later, the Elves had developed the means to use magic to travel between the isles, thus making it possible to safely travel from one isle to another in moments. The magic of gateways and portals, later rediscovered by humankind, was first discovered and utilized by the elves. To this day human scholars still pour over the elven and dwarven books in the Great Library on Raven’s Dust in an effort to rediscover the knowledge that disappeared with those two races.
Evidence found in the Great Library does confirm that the Elves flourished for several millenniums perfecting their arts, literature, architecture, and of course their weapons and warfare. The elves are best noted for their prowess with the bow but they were also adept at many other means of conducting warfare.
The elven race was a long-lived race. Their average lifespan was three times that of the dwarves and six times that of the humans.
When the civilizations of the dwarves and humans were still in their infancies, the elven race had advanced their society to domination by any standard one could reasonably apply.
The dwarven race was a race of short but stout men and women. The males had long beards in which they took great pride. Such was the pride of the dwarves in their beards that it was death to insult the beard of a dwarf. It is believed by many that the dwarven women also possessed the full magnificent beards of the race. The evidence would seem to indicate that this is untrue, as the scholars of the Great Library have known for a many years.
Ancient books exist with the drawings of dwarven families and only the males depicted in those drawings had the long and flowing beards for which their race is most noted. Of course, I should report that several of the books found within the Great Library indicate that the dwarven society was a male dominated society and the females could well have had the same full and flowing beards. It is a matter of some heated contention among the scholars of the library. Some maintain that being female their beards were most likely much more beautiful than those of the males and as such in the male dominated society they were forced to cut them down to the short stubble represented in those drawings. Still others maintain that the dwarven female’s beards were left intact, and that the artist was told to represent the male beards with detail, but to depict the women as near beardless.
My personal opinion on the matter is irrelevant, but since many will no doubt ask me, I will reveal it to you. Since all scholars agree that it was death to insult the beard of a dwarf, I consider it unlikely that the males could have done so by having the female’s beards depicted as insignificant stubble or forced the females to cut them. After all, the males have to sleep sometime, and the females could exact a wicked revenge at that time of vulnerability.
The dwarven race is best noted for their achievements in building cities and in crafting superb weapons with special rare metals that they located during their exploration of the subterranean areas that they had a passion for exploring.
The humans were present through the time of the domination of the elves and later through the time of the dwarves, but having the shortest lifespan of the three races; it took them longer as a race to advance their society. In addition, there was little need for them to advance their own society, because they had the trade with the elves and later the dwarves to sustain their limited needs. It was only after the elven and dwarven races disappeared that our ancestors, the humans, had a genuine need to begin to advance their own societies. Prior to that, it was much easier to simply trade with the other societies who were always generous in their dealings with what they considered a disadvantaged race.
The humans of Althea are telepathic, and can send their thoughts to one another across great distances. These thoughts can be sent to the individual of their choice. They can also be sent to all humans who are receptive to such mental communications from strangers. Many do not enjoy the mental clutter that accompanies such a receptive state of mind. These individuals can and do close their minds to the messages of any save those people they know. But exercising this option does not come without risk for there are times when a general warning is given that can save the lives of the people of Althea. This is just one example of such a warning:
“The goblins are massing for a raid on Lighthaven! They overpowered the guards and are pouring over the bridge! Prepare to defend the city!”
As you can imagine, not knowing that the city is about to be attacked can cost the citizens of Lighthaven their lives. For this reason, most of the people of Althea remain receptive to the general mental messages. They have learned to filter out the trivial, but are instantly alerted to certain keywords used during the mental contact. They can and do become irritated if a person abuses the common mental network. Fights over this are common and at times, they are vicious.
It is known that the elves also possessed this mental skill. References to royal pronouncements being distributed to the Elven Kingdom in a matter of moments abound in the ancient tomes written by elven scribes.
The dwarves also possessed the talent. There are references that allude to the capability in the scant dwarven writings that are available. In the case of the dwarves, they apparently utilized the talent extensively in coordinating their building projects.
Some monster species also seem to have the ability to communicate mentally with members of their own species. It is the consensus of my colleges that the talent in monsters is crude by comparison to the skill level of humanity.
The Monsters of Althea
Althea is populated by many species of monsters that are both prolific and dangerous to humanity. The monsters universally hate mankind, and will attack people on sight with no provocation needed.
There was a time when the monsters were not so prolific. Indeed, there was a time when there weren’t even as many species of monsters as those that exist today. Ancient texts found within the Great Library, indicate that several species of monsters prevalent today, did not even exist during the reign of the elves or the dwarves. Those texts also refer to a time when the lowly goblins of Arakas were both few in number and reclusive. The texts insist that during the time of the elves and dwarves, the goblins would flee from contact with man, even if they outnumbered the man twenty to one. Of course, that is hard for us to believe today. Who among us hasn’t seen the aggressive goblins attempting to raid Lighthaven?
The different species of monsters located on the isles of Althea are numerous. There are several tomes residing in the Great Library that provide detailed information concerning the names, strengths, and weaknesses of the various species. Therefore, it would be redundant to go into detail on those matters here. There are two main divisions between the monsters. There are the living monsters and the undead.
The gods of Althea reward humanity for battling the monster species by making the men and women stronger in their chosen classes. The mage grows stronger in magic by battling monsters, just as the warriors and archers grow stronger in armed combat. Even the priests of Althea must do their part by combating the common foe. The monster species respect no alignment. They would as quickly attack an evil alignment as they would a good or neutral.
Perhaps the most irritating of all the monster species are the skraugs that infest Stoneheim. Their tendency to insult humans as they attack can be most infuriating. These monsters are variants of rats that sprang up overnight, sometime after the third coming of the Harbinger.
The magic of Althea
Magic abounds on Althea. It is known that the elves were great in their magic, and the dwarves had lesser magical abilities. Humanity is also talented when it comes to the use of magic. Humans fall between the elves and the dwarves in their use of magic in most respects. However, when it comes to battle magic, the humans are second to none of the three races that have been dominant on Althea.
Unfortunately, while humans seem to have a great capability at battle magic, many of the other applications of magic died with the elves, whose magic was said to rival that of the gods in some respects. For example, the gods can summon items and food by focusing their thoughts on what they desire and utilizing their magical energy to produce the items. This magical skill was routinely documented in the elven tomes, though to be sure, not all elven magic users possessed the skill level required for that high magic. There is no documentation of any human possessing the skill level necessary to summon items.
Teleportation from one geographical location to another was accomplished with ease by the elves, but such spell casting leaves humans drained of magical energy and thus helpless until they recover. Furthermore, they are physically frozen in place for some few moments. For this reason, human teleportation spells always take the caster to their sanctuary, which is the temple in the cities where they have arranged with the priests to place their safe haven. That teleportation spell is named Word of Recall.
Gateway spells similarly leave the human drained of magical energy and vulnerable to attack. But those spells can take the caster to a variety of locations on the three primary isles of Althea that are utilized by the followers of good and evil. This vulnerability caused the mages to create scrolls to accomplish the same goal. Utilizing a scroll does not cause the negative side affects of vulnerability and the total loss of magical energy. These scrolls can be purchased, but are expensive. Warriors and archers are forced to purchase the scrolls because they lack the magical aptitude to learn the spells.
Some monster species are talented in magic and have potent battle magic.
In the human language, the word for magical energy is mana. The amount of mana available to the spell caster is dependent upon several factors, the main factor being the intelligence level of the spell caster. A higher intelligence level equates to a larger mana pool available for utilization by the mage.
When their mana is depleted, the spell caster cannot utilize magic. They must first replace a portion of their pool of mana sufficient for the spell to work. There are many ways to accomplish this. Potions are sold in the cities, and manastones can be found, though they are rare. The druids teach spell casters to meditate, but to meditate, the spell caster has to remain perfectly still and do nothing. Therefore, to negate that vulnerability, spell casters augment their mana supply with potions and manastones. Mana prisms also greatly aid in replacing lost mana. But such prisms are extremely rare and difficult to locate. Powerful monsters that are attracted to the location by their presence generally abound near them. But if a mage can obtain mana prisms, they are a very good source of mana. These prisms are highly prized by mages who encourage warrior friends to save any they might find for them.
Many items are imbued with magic. Quivers are self replenishing. As long as the archer can retain his or her quiver, they will never run out of arrows. Melee weapons, such as swords, axes, war hammers, and daggers can be imbued with magical properties that permit them to inflict more damage when they are used in battle. Such weapons are sold on Althea, but they are expensive. There are also magical rings, bracelets, and necklaces that are imbued with many magical properties. Even the poorest of souls usually owns a ring of light, which permits them to see in the dark as if the sun is shinning.
Armors and mage robes are often imbued with special magical properties to make them resistant to elements. Some even boost the attributes of the wearer to increase their efficiency in battle.
Magical potions can heal you, replace spent mana, increase various attributes, and even make you stronger. Scrolls, imbued with magic, can teleport people. Others can cast spells that shield the user in battle, make them stronger, resist elements, and a host of other uses.
Magical shield spells can increase your resistance to physical and elemental attacks.
Then there are the magical chests of Althea. The gods admire an adventurous spirit in their followers. In order to encourage that spirit, the gods long ago set magical chests throughout Althea. These chests replenish themselves once they are opened. The time required for replenishment varies from about an hour to several hours. One never knows what these chests might yield. One time a chest might yield an item worthy of a king, and the next that same chest might yield an item that even the poorest of souls would disdain. Many adventurers can and have spent their lives in pursuit of the treasures yielded by these chests.
Every human on Althea is directly touched by magic in one way or another on a daily basis.
Chapter 1
In the elven city of Anwynn, it was a time of great joy and celebration. The harvests were in for another year, and the king had just brought the last independent elven village into the Elven Kingdom through a series of negotiations. Now the elven people had one ruler and that was the king.
The king of the elves had sent out word to the dwarven and human races to send representatives of their villages to speak with the king on issues concerning the relationship between the elven race and the lesser races of Althea. The good Elven King was distressed to see that the lesser races still suffered many afflictions that the elven race had long ago conquered in their ascension to domination on Althea. To celebrate the unification of the elven race under one standard, the king had decided to share some of their knowledge with the other races.
To facilitate this goal of assisting the lesser races, the Elven King adopted a plan to have dwarves and humans apprenticed to some of the elves who would teach them such things as healing skills, farming skills, architectural design, metal working and the use of some magic, though the attack magics of their best mages would not be revealed.
Likewise, the best of their battle techniques and strategies would not be taught to the other races. Such war making skills they reserved for their own race for a time might come when the relations between the races were not as good as they were at that time.
Anwynn was crowded with dwarves and humans who’d been sent to the elven city to represent their various villages. Earlier that morning, the lesser races had met with the king and agreed to his plan to help their races. Now they were seeking out the elves that they had been instructed to contact to set up apprenticeships. The dwarves and humans had been informed that they should send only young adults because some of the apprenticeships would require years of study.
Only one elf in the entire city was unhappy on that momentous day. He was an elf who studied the sky by night. He had noted that the moons and the Centaur constellation were aligned. He had a premonition that this held a dreadful significance, as it was an extremely rare conjunction. All of his studies indicated that this conjunction occurred only once per millennium. Surely, such a rare conjunction must be accompanied by significant occurrences. Yet none of his studies confirmed any recorded significant events during those past conjunctions. Still, a millennium was a long time even by elven standards and he realized that it was quite possible that the knowledge had vanished during the interim.
A stranger arrived on the outskirts of the city as night descended. He walked across one of the bridges and immediately sought out the king. His appearance was nightmarish and foul. A foul odor accompanied him. The guards led him to the central gathering place near a great fountain where the king was still attending a feast. The crowd grew subdued when the guards escorted the newcomer amongst them. The king turned to address the newcomer, but it was the stranger who spoke first. He greeted the elven people and told them that he was the Harbinger and that he was there to warn them that they were now the chosen people. He told them that they now had a responsibility to the gods, and further stated that their duty was to maintain the balance between good and evil.
The king replied that the elven nation had risen to prominence through their hard work and diligence, and that the gods had not made them the great people that they were. He pointed out that the elves preferred to remain detached from the dealings of the gods and not become involved, for the elves didn’t need the gods.
Some few of the older elves blanched at portions of the king’s statement to the Harbinger. The Harbinger simply reiterated his warning and stated that if they failed to heed his words then they would be punished when he returned.
Some few of those wise elves met and conferred that night long after the Harbinger had departed.
Chapter 2
King Oberon studied yet another list in the many that had been presented to him by his aides who were overseeing the planning of the great festival, which would celebrate the one thousand years that the Elven Kingdom had been unified. The human and dwarven lists of people who wanted to attend were both too long. Also, there were several names present of individuals who would be attempting to present requests to reinstate the apprentice program that he had suspended two hundred years before. The lesser races were already losing the knowledge that the elves had given them with the apprenticeships.
Sighing, King Oberon drew lines through the names of several dwarves and humans on their respective lists. He would not have the festival marred by the incessant nagging of the lesser races. He had cancelled the apprentice program because he had felt it not in the best interests of his people. He had no plans to reinstate it despite the pleas of the lesser races.
Then an aide handed him another parchment to review. This time he pondered the parchment very carefully. It was a report that Artherk, the god of good and light, had fallen in love with an elven maiden. He considered that matter gravely and decided that it was not of great importance to the elven nation.
An hour later, he was interrupted when one of his advisors told him that he had a visitor who wished to see him. He claimed that he had a message for the king’s ears only and that it might well mean disaster for the elven race if the king was not made aware of the contents of that message. The king almost dismissed that out of hand, but at the last moment decided to take a break from reading reports and see what this man had to say.
The king ordered the room cleared of all save the guards and had the elf visitor admitted into his presence. The elf looked pointedly at the guards but the King said, “They will stay. No one is admitted to my presence without my personal guard here.”
Nodding his understanding the visitor replied, “Then I suggest you permit me to mind speak you, for what I have to tell you will cause you to wish to maintain secrecy.”
Oberon agreed to this and the man explained himself. He was Gluriurl. He had come to warn Oberon that the Harbinger would be returning soon. Indeed, that return would occur on the night of the Great Festival that the elves were planning. He further stated that Artherk’s love for the elven maiden would be perceived as unbalanced in the favor of good. He pointed out that the elves were the favored people of Artherk who had gone so far as to create the Elvenweave, a great tapestry that depicted the elves and celebrated their greatness.
Gluriurl, in elven form, then stated with assurance that this relationship was dooming the elves. Without warning, he then gave Oberon the gift of sight and let him see the return of the Harbinger and the annihilation of the elven race.
Aghast at what he had seen, Oberon ordered the guards from the room so that he could speak candidly with Gluriurl who had come to befriend the elves. “Is there a way to avoid what I’ve seen?” he asked in the hopes that the god would assist his people.
“Yes, there is a way. If there were no way to avoid this, I would not have approached you. You must help to set a trap for Artherk. If you kill his physical form here, you will banish him to the celestial realm.”
“You suggest I kill a god?!” Oberon exclaimed.
“Only the physical form he uses here will be destroyed, he will still exist in the celestial realm. And the death of the physical body will be perceived by the Harbinger as a restoration of the balance.”
“But even the physical body of the god Artherk is much stronger than mere mortals. I doubt that I could kill him, even if I were willing.”
Nodding his head Gluriurl said, “You are wise, even for an elf who are the wisest of the races. What you say is true. But you will have the help of a gods. Ogrimar has agreed to bestow a weapon upon you that will slay the god Artherk’s physical form. If you agree to help restore the balance, I will help you by enhancing your skills and powers, if you but open yourself to my mind at the moment of the attack.”
Oberon considered all of this very deliberately. “Such an important issue should not be decided in haste. There is still plenty of time to decide. The festival is a moon away. Please return in one week. You will have my decision then.”
Outwardly, Gluriurl seemed pleased by this response. He said, “As you wish, Oberon, but you should know that if you delay beyond that week to make the decision, it will be moot. It will require time for Ogrimar to produce the gifts that he will bestow upon you.”
“You shall have the answer in one week,” replied Oberon.
***
Oberon gave the matter serious consideration. The gift of sight that Gluriurl had bestowed upon the monarch returned many times to haunt his dreams and his days of work. Many times, he saw the Harbinger enter the city and begin to slay the elven race. Several times, he saw the city and all of the elven cities destroyed by the Harbinger.
On the fateful day that Gluriurl was to return, King Oberon had the audience room cleared and told his advisors to admit the strange visitor as soon as he returned. A far different Oberon greeted Gluriurl, the god of corruption, when he returned. Oberon was exhausted from lack of peaceful sleep and the nightmarish images that the gift of sight had been visiting upon him. This weakened king asked Gluriurl, “What do I need to do to accept your proposal?”
Smiling pleasantly Gluriurl replied, “Accept the pact. Take the gifts Ogrimar will offer. That’s the first step. The next step is to help me capture the essence of Artherk on Althea where he is vulnerable. Then and only then I will be able to banish him to the Celestial realm forever. You must open your mind to me shortly before the attack so that I can aide you. Without my aide, you cannot possibly defeat Artherk’s physical form even with the gifts that Ogrimar will bestow upon you.”
Rubbing his sleep deprived eyes, Oberon said, “It shall be as you say then, for I cannot bear to see the visions come to reality.”
Smiling pleasantly at Oberon, the god of corruption replied, “Having made these decisions, I doubt that you will see the visions of the annihilation of the elven nation again. You have altered the future already.” Gluriurl removed the gift of sight with which he had burdened Oberon, and Oberon took their banishment as a sign that the annihilation of his people had been averted.
“Now, good King Oberon, you must prepare yourself mentally to embrace the limitless power that will come to you once you have slain Artherk’s physical form for what power that form has will be transferred to you.”
Oberon’s eyes widened at the thought of this power being transferred to him and the faintest of smiles touched his lips. Being rewarded for what he must do hadn’t occurred to him. This made the events to come much more interesting to him.
Gluriurl, god of corruption had lived up to his title. He had corrupted the Elven King.
With a solemn expression on his face, Gluriurl said, “I have informed Ogrimar of your willingness to participate in the plan. He will see you with the gifts the day before the festival. Arrange a free hour both before and after high sun. He will see you here in these chambers within that period. Be alone.”
Nodding his head Oberon said, “It shall be even as you say.” There was no way that he would ever permit his men to see him plotting a murder with the god of evil and chaos. It would stain his honor.
Gluriurl, seeing what was in the heart of Oberon, sealed the fate of the Elven King when he said, “Think not of this as murder. Think instead that you are sending Artherk back to his realm and saving your people from certain annihilation at the hands of the Harbinger. What honor is there in failing a people, and in that failure, ensuring their extinction? No, good King Oberon, your actions are not dishonorable. On the contrary they are noble and quite honorable.”
Oberon’s smile was warm and genial as he replied, “Why thank you, my friend. That does put things into a better light. I’m glad that we had this conversation.”
“So am I, Oberon. So am I,” replied Gluriurl.
Leaving the king, Gluriurl returned to a secret place on Althea where he dwelled. Assuming his preferred form while on Althea, he took on the foul appearance of a giant red demon with massive wings. Calling on Ogrimar he said, “Oberon is ours. Still I will make certain that he stays ours. I will follow the plan that we contrived together. You make certain you do your part in all this.”
“With great pleasure,” replied Ogrimar, who found the prospect of Artherk’s favored race being the instrument of his destruction exceedingly pleasing.
Chapter 3
The day before the festival, King Oberon was very busy. A myriad of details screamed for his attention. He spent most of the morning pouring over those details and making last minute decisions. He was so pressed by the issues at hand that he almost forgot about his appointment to await Ogrimar, but an aide reminded him of the two hours he had scheduled for solitude and tranquility.
As the appointed hour approached, the aides began the process of clearing the hall, and then they left the king to his solitude. As he awaited Ogrimar, King Oberon contemplated what was going to happen at the festival. At precisely three minutes past the appointed hour his vigil was to begin, Ogrimar appeared before him in the form of an aged but healthy elf.
“Greetings to thee, Oberon, king of the elven people,” said Ogrimar, greeting the king formally.
“Greetings to thee, Ogrimar, god of evil and chaos,” the King responded just as formally.
“You are still committed to this course of action?” Ogrimar asked.
“I am,” replied the king. “I wish that it was not needed, but I have a duty to my people.”
“Indeed it is necessary. The elven people are fortunate in that you are their king. A lesser king might not rise to the occasion at this moment of dire need for direct action.”
Smiling faintly, Oberon said, “Gluriurl said that you had gifts that would aide me in the coming confrontation.”
“Indeed I do, Oberon. Hand me your crown if you please.”
“My crown?” asked Oberon in some confusion.
“Yes, I have a gem that I will embed in the crown. That gem will enable you to call upon certain powers when you are battling Artherk,” Ogrimar replied.
Removing his crown, Oberon then handed it to Ogrimar who took a blue gem from his pocket and touched it to the center of the golden crown. Handing the crown back to the monarch, Ogrimar said, “There, that is finished. The gem will work automatically when you are attacked. There is nothing that you need to learn to utilize its power.”
Next, Ogrimar held forth both hands palm up and summoned a staff. When Oberon’s eyes fell on the staff, he drew in his breath in surprise at the beauty of the weapon. “This staff is one of a kind. It has a name but you should not reveal the name to others. The staff is named God Slayer. It is thus named because it is the only staff ever crafted that has the potential to slay a god in the physical form. Naturally your people might not appreciate such a staff being carried by their king.”
“The people do not need to know the name of the staff. There is wisdom in your words.” Oberon stated, his eyes riveted on the beautiful staff.
Ogrimar smiled and handed the King the staff. Once more he held his hands before him palm up and summoned a robe. It was a beautiful robe of blue with padded shoulders and gilded with golden trim and golden belt.
“The robe, staff, and gem all work together to make the man equipped with them the most formidable of spell casters. Your spells will devastate Artherk,” Ogrimar stated as he handed the robe to Oberon. Then he cautioned, “Let no other wear or handle these items, lest they discover their true value and covet them for themselves.”
Oberon’s eyes narrowed at the thought of someone taking these things from him and he replied, “They will not leave my sight, Ogrimar. I thank you for the gifts.”
“You are most welcome, Oberon. Now I bid you good day. Perhaps I will see you after the festival tomorrow night to congratulate you on averting the Harbinger’s wraith upon your people.”
***
A few days earlier in a remote elven village, the people found an odd mist obscuring the countryside around them. The men of the village gathered to speculate as to what this portended. Soon they were joined by the women and children of the village, who being curious, went to see what had caused the men to gather.
From out of the mist strode a dark robed and hooded figure. A foul odor hung upon the morning air as he approached. Stopping before the villagers, he said, “I am the Harbinger and I have come to judge your race. If you have maintained the balance between good and evil, all is well. If you have not maintained that balance, then I will punish you.”
A moment later, the stranger disappeared leaving many unanswered questions hanging in the morning air. The village chief then sent messengers to other villages asking the chiefs to come to the village to discuss the stranger and his warning.
After much discussion, they decided that a group of the chiefs and several villagers who had seen the Harbinger would go to Anwynn to speak to King Oberon and report what had transpired. They set out for the city on the day of the festival but were stopped just outside the city by the guards who had orders to admit no one after a set hour.
***
The day of the festival, King Oberon was so busy that he had little time to feel any anxiety at what was to come. He was seeing to the details of the festival when an aide told him that his strange elven visitor, who had twice before sought private audience with the king, had returned to the castle and waited to speak with him. Since the king had left orders to always admit the elf and treat him with the utmost respect, the elf had been admitted.
King Oberon immediately went to speak to Gluriurl. The moment that he walked into the chamber, he dismissed his guards and greeted the god of corruption. Gluriurl said, “I see that Ogrimar has indeed given you the gifts.”
Smiling Oberon replied, “Yes he arrived yesterday just as you said he would.”
“Would you mind setting that staff down beside your thrown?” Gluriurl requested. “It makes me nervous. You understand, I’m sure.” he added with a wry grin.
Thinking of the implications of holding the staff in the god’s presence, Oberon blanched slightly and set it down beside the thrown as requested. “I’m sorry, my friend. I assure you, I meant you no harm.”
“The God Slayer is a very dangerous item. your majesty.” Gluriurl stated smoothly thus building Oberon’s confidence that he would be able to fulfill his mission.
Nodding his head in understanding Oberon replied, “I am ready to do as you have bid me. Tonight, I will use these items to avert the Harbinger’s wraith upon my people.”
“That is why I am here today. If the items are to succeed in this endeavor, Artherk must be very close to you. Therefore, you will need to contrive a reason for his close proximity at the desired time. I have pondered the matter diligently. Only one event will cause this to happen. You must begin a ritual that requires Artherk to be very close to you. This can be accomplished by declaring that, on behalf of the elven people, you have decided that the elves will officially become the followers of Artherk. He will have to step near you then to accept this noble gesture of the Elven Nation. As he steps near you to accept your people, you must clear your mind and open it to me if I am to augment your powers and abilities. If you do these things, and have Ogrimar’s gifts equipped, you cannot fail.”
Looking at Oberon with keen interest, Gluriurl in elven form then asked, “Do you understand all of this?”
Oberon was pleased. He had been pondering the problem of getting Artherk close enough that he could attack him and not endanger his own people. This plan would be perfect, and would also work to cause Artherk to drop his guard. Smiling he said, “I do understand. It is an excellent plan. It solves several problems. I shall do as you have advised.”
“Good. Then you cannot fail. If he is reluctant to come near of his own accord then ask him privately to come stand beside you as you make an official announcement to your people, and then tell him what the announcement entails. He will come then. Any god would for such a momentous occasion. At that point, command your people to kneel in honor of Artherk. This will put them lower to the ground and out of harms way if a stray spell flashes out from the fight that will soon ensue.”
“Brilliant!” Oberon exclaimed. “You have thought of everything that concerned me for in truth it had occurred to me that some elves might be harmed in the battle and that is unacceptable.”
“Unacceptable? Oberon you forget what is at stake here. If you fail, the entire Elven Nation is doomed to extinction at the hands of the Harbinger.”
With no outward sign that anything was amiss, Gluriurl exerted his will and Oberon saw the Harbinger attacking the elven people slaying them in the hundreds and then thousands. A moment later, Gluriurl banished the vision and Oberon staggered. Reaching out a hand, Gluriurl feigned concern. “Oberon, are you alright?” he asked solicitously.
Rubbing his forehead, Oberon replied, “Yes, I just saw the vision of the Harbinger attacking my people again.”
“Then you must steel your resolve. You are the Elven King. It is your duty to protect the people. If you are weak and fail them…” Gluriurl left the rest unsaid. He didn’t need to finish the statement. Oberon had seen all that he needed to see to remind him of the consequences of failure.
Before he left, Gluriurl laid a false image on the mind of Oberon. If Artherk decided to check Oberon’s mind he would see a king who was a devote follower and wished to honor him. If he probed deeper, he would discover the truth. But by then it would be too late. He informed Oberon of this settling the last concern in the mind of the Elven King. Oberon was now ready to be Gluriurl’s avatar.
Gluriurl wasn’t concerned about Artherk identifying the staff as a god slaying weapon. No such weapon existed. If it did, then the gods would never hand it to a mortal. That was just a lie told to Oberon to give him the courage to follow through with the plan. It was however, a powerful focus of magical power as were the gem embedded in the crown and the robe. Those three items combined would give a mage incredible power and turn him into a formidable opponent.
Chapter 4
Oberon had a last minute meeting with the commander of the city guards. He told the commander that Artherk would be honored during a ceremony that night, and further stated that once that ritual ceremony had begun, no one was to be admitted into the city for he did not want the ritual disrupted by new arrivals who would not be participating. The commander assured the king that the order would be carried out and requested clarification if that order was to be enforced, no matter who the visitor happened to be.
The king was adamant that there were to be no exceptions. He planned to be in total control of the situation at the critical moment just prior to his attack. The last thing that he wanted was the unexpected arrival of people who might not be fully under the sway of the emotions of the moment for he fully intended to mesmerize the people present with the ritual just before the moment of the attack. In that way the danger of outside interference was minimized. The king was leaving nothing to chance.
***
That afternoon, the festival began right on schedule. The king opened the festivities with the traditional blessing upon the people present. As he completed that ritual blessing he spotted Artherk in his elven form standing beside the elven maiden that he had come to love. She was a beautiful elf from an old elven family whose ties to the monarchs went back one thousand years to the very first Elven King. As such, she would be seated at a table near the king’s own and Artherk would be beside her.
As for Artherk, he had chosen an elven mage form and even in that physical form, he would be an incredibly strong adversary. He had brought with him a tapestry that he had created to celebrate the Elven people, whom he favored of all the races. That tapestry he called the Elvenweave. The tapestry depicted the beautiful elven city of Anwynn.
For hours, the people feasted and socialized. There were booths set up where great works of elven art were displayed. Venders displayed fine elven armors and the latest in elven weaponry, including the famed elven bows. Elven poets and bards circulated among the people entertaining the small crowds that gathered to hear them ply their craft.
Several of the dwarves entertained a crowd as they threw their battle axes at various targets.
The humans present took it all in with wide-eyed wonder and paid well for the weapons and bows that took their fancy. They also had an almost insatiable desire for the minor magical items and scrolls that the elven mages crafted and sold as a means to finance their magical experimentation. This was a habit that they held in common with the dwarves and bidding wars often erupted between the humans and the dwarves.
King Oberon took a final sip of the excellent elven wine that was being served, and then stood to make an announcement. At a nod from the king, trumpeters blew the notes that called the attention of the crowd to the king’s table. As the idle chatter stopped, the noise of the crowd diminished, and every eye present turned toward the king.
Facing the crowd, the king announced, “People of the Elven Kingdom, I have an announcement to make. One that will surprise some of you.”
Pausing for a moment, the king bespoke Artherk’s mind and asked him to join him at the table for he was about to announce that the Elven people would follow Artherk. Artherk arose from his chair and bent to kiss the cheek of the elven maiden. He whispered an explanation in her ear and then made his way to the king’s table.
When Artherk had joined him, he went on, “As you all know, the elven race has traditionally stayed away from following the gods. Yet I have decided to change this. Having reached this decision, I have pondered the matter seriously and decided that we should follow Artherk as a race for his philosophy most closely matches our own.”
The stunned crowd remained silent and the king went on, “As king, I cannot command this of you, but I do ask you to consider it. Now let every elf present knell and declare your fealty to Artherk. If you’d rather not make that commitment at this time, then at least knell to show your respect to the god of good and light.”
The Elven people knelt then as commanded by their king. Many did give their oath of fealty as he requested. Many more did not do so at that time. Those preferred to wait and ponder the matter before committing themselves.
Turning to Artherk, he saw the warmth and gratitude in the eyes of the god. For a moment, he wavered and then Gluriurl’s voice spoke inside his mind saying, “Do not falter now. The moment is at hand. Clear your mind and prepare to accept the power I will give you.”
This message sealed the fate of the king, for it served to steel his resolve. The king cleared his mind and a moment later the mind of Gluriurl burst through his few barriers and possessed Oberon. Smiling malevolently at Artherk, he raised the staff and struck with the full might of his magical power.
Artherk reeled under the magical assault of the traitorous king. So vast was the power of the spells being hurled at him that hundreds of elves nearby were instantly slain where they knelt. Gasps of astonishment went up from all over the crowded area as the spells lanced into Artherk’s elven form and continued to wash over the elves in attendance.
Soon thousands were dead and only then did Artherk begin to fight back. He had withheld his own spells at first, for fear of harming the innocent elves in attendance. But so vast was the assault upon him that it had washed over the table of his beloved elven maiden, and she had died horribly burned. Artherk had seen her die and in that moment, he retaliated with his own devastating attack spells.
The gods fought on, inflicting damage upon one another. Yet Artherk confined his attacks to Oberon only. He refused to use his most powerful spells, because they would also kill hundreds of innocents.
***
On the outskirts of the city, the guards who had stopped the group of village chiefs heard the sounds of the battle. They heard the screams of the elves as thousands were being slain. Turning back to the city, the guards raced away to join in the fighting to defend the citizens from what they felt must surly be a mass attack from some unknown enemy.
Shortly after those guards left, the village chiefs saw a dragon fly past them and head into the city roaring a challenge. It was Crimson Scales.
Thinking to enter the city themselves, the villagers were shocked when the dark shape of the Harbinger stepped past them and turned to address them. “The Elves have failed in their appointed task. They were to maintain the balance between good and evil. Yet your king has conspired with evil and corruption to slay Artherk. I go now to punish the elves. Yet you were wise and did not participate nor did your villagers who are not present. You I will spare. You will be placed inside the Elvenweave to preserve your wisdom. Perhaps one day you will again walk the lands of Althea.”
The moment he completed his statement the elves there disappeared, as did the villagers who had remained in all of the villages represented by the leaders. They were placed inside the Elvenweave just as the Harbinger had said.
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