Aramia, part 1: BladeMage.
Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2005 10:21 am
Well, I've started. Chapters will be separate posts, with linkage from first post. Prologue will be on first post for each segment. So, without too much adiue, (However it's spelt) I give you… the contents!
Contents:
1. A night's rest.
2. Encounter with the plague
3. To the borderlands.
4. A captive Venishari.
5. Escape via sewer.
6. The pale ones.
7. The first people.
8. Quarantine.
9. Mavri's Eye.
10. The Dream.
Prologue
Excerpt from Diary of Tylis, March 14th, 780 AC.
The events leading up to my current situation have been a weight on my shoulders for too long, and I shall write them down so as to keep them for when I need to remember who I am…
It all began with the horrors of the great plague. The plague destroyed the flesh of those it inflicted, and left few survivors. It still lurks in the deadly lands of the west, leaving the mountains impossible to get to.
The knights of the crown were badly struck by the red death (As commonfolk have named it) and few could flee from the west in time. Less than a tenth of the Knights survived, and most soon retired from service. This left the force seriously depleted in numbers, something my master Hestio was mortified about.
Hestio was a knight of high ranking in the Knights of the crown. He was always helping survivors and worried families. He was of divine strength and honourable reputation, but had little tolerance for improper behavior or tardiness. The force of the plague struck him mentally, and he panicked about the "Extinction of the knights" as he called it.
Hestio began recruiting squires as soon as the plague lost its ultimate virulency. He was continuing this until 15 years after, then he became slightly less edgy about the "Extinction", and decided to train only one more. Someone who could not only use the sword and bow, but also aid with divine powers in the aftermath.
I was only 12 at the time.
Being born from a middle class family with siblings in the thief's guild, my family were displeased at my wish to join the new knights of the crown, but I assured them that I would not reveal any details about my family's "Connections" It took a lot of persuading, but my diplomatic ability took over in the end. Last time I saw my family was as I was riding to the recruiting station nearby.
Hestio stopped by the building an hour after I got there, and saw some form of magic potential deep inside me. Barely two hours later I was on my way to his Barony.
I learned basic dagger and short-sword work at the age of 10, so my body soon became accustomed to the more slender longsword Hestio taught me with in the first months of my training calendar. I learned the history of Aramia, the names of great kings and other nobility, and ways to speak to nobles.
Hestio lived near a temple of Memeri, the scholar. I often paid visits to her great halls of books. I could read barely half a bookcase and learn more than I would have from a dissection of a dragon. I knew the clerks by name, and found them fascinating to talk to. Some spent their entire lives reading through the tomes of knowledge, and were more intelligent than sages.
One year after I began my master presented me with a grand gift. A bastard sword of fine quality, with a pattern like two interwoven threads along its length. I liked the sword. It was heavier, sharper and more balanced than the longsword I used, so I found myself using delicate dancing movements with the weapon, focusing on the flowing motions the weapon of a master's work could allow.
Soon I became so interested in weaponwork that I began learning weaponsmithing from my master. My first sword was crude, but still useful, and I carried it with me for a year before it broke. I had much more practice with the art of sword forging in the year that followed.
I was 14 and a half when my master announced that I would learn divine magic. I was so thrilled at the thought of power granted from the gods at my usage, and the honour that it would represent.
That night, something strange occurred. My hands seemed to glow a little. On closer inspection they seemed to have tiny bolts of lightning dancing around on the surface. I took it as a divine sign from Mavri, the protector, and was glad.
But divine magic, I never learned.
I had been working in the village forge on a bastard sword when a flustered peasant came to me. He said there had been noises, shouts and breakings, coming from Hestio's house. I rushed to my master's dwelling, and was shocked.
Books lay scattered over the floor. Swords had been taken, and anything that looked of value. Even my prized bastard sword was gone, and what wasn't taken was slashed to bits.
Including Hestio.
He lay there, still in his study clothes, his hand gripping a sword that had been taken. A blank look lay on my master's eyes, and a deep cut lay in his bare chest.
Not only did the thieves take material wealth. One of the gnomish servants said his child was kidnapped by the culprits.
There was only one small thing the robbers hadn't taken. A small box hidden with a small sum of gold. I grabbed the box, what I could salvage (some clothes and food, nothing more) and left, following the fresh tracks of the murderers.
I have followed these people for a week, and yet I feel strange. Am I truly Tylis the apprentice of the crown, or am I something else? The lightning on my fingers is growing brighter. I fear the thunder shall soon be heard…
Contents:
1. A night's rest.
2. Encounter with the plague
3. To the borderlands.
4. A captive Venishari.
5. Escape via sewer.
6. The pale ones.
7. The first people.
8. Quarantine.
9. Mavri's Eye.
10. The Dream.
Prologue
Excerpt from Diary of Tylis, March 14th, 780 AC.
The events leading up to my current situation have been a weight on my shoulders for too long, and I shall write them down so as to keep them for when I need to remember who I am…
It all began with the horrors of the great plague. The plague destroyed the flesh of those it inflicted, and left few survivors. It still lurks in the deadly lands of the west, leaving the mountains impossible to get to.
The knights of the crown were badly struck by the red death (As commonfolk have named it) and few could flee from the west in time. Less than a tenth of the Knights survived, and most soon retired from service. This left the force seriously depleted in numbers, something my master Hestio was mortified about.
Hestio was a knight of high ranking in the Knights of the crown. He was always helping survivors and worried families. He was of divine strength and honourable reputation, but had little tolerance for improper behavior or tardiness. The force of the plague struck him mentally, and he panicked about the "Extinction of the knights" as he called it.
Hestio began recruiting squires as soon as the plague lost its ultimate virulency. He was continuing this until 15 years after, then he became slightly less edgy about the "Extinction", and decided to train only one more. Someone who could not only use the sword and bow, but also aid with divine powers in the aftermath.
I was only 12 at the time.
Being born from a middle class family with siblings in the thief's guild, my family were displeased at my wish to join the new knights of the crown, but I assured them that I would not reveal any details about my family's "Connections" It took a lot of persuading, but my diplomatic ability took over in the end. Last time I saw my family was as I was riding to the recruiting station nearby.
Hestio stopped by the building an hour after I got there, and saw some form of magic potential deep inside me. Barely two hours later I was on my way to his Barony.
I learned basic dagger and short-sword work at the age of 10, so my body soon became accustomed to the more slender longsword Hestio taught me with in the first months of my training calendar. I learned the history of Aramia, the names of great kings and other nobility, and ways to speak to nobles.
Hestio lived near a temple of Memeri, the scholar. I often paid visits to her great halls of books. I could read barely half a bookcase and learn more than I would have from a dissection of a dragon. I knew the clerks by name, and found them fascinating to talk to. Some spent their entire lives reading through the tomes of knowledge, and were more intelligent than sages.
One year after I began my master presented me with a grand gift. A bastard sword of fine quality, with a pattern like two interwoven threads along its length. I liked the sword. It was heavier, sharper and more balanced than the longsword I used, so I found myself using delicate dancing movements with the weapon, focusing on the flowing motions the weapon of a master's work could allow.
Soon I became so interested in weaponwork that I began learning weaponsmithing from my master. My first sword was crude, but still useful, and I carried it with me for a year before it broke. I had much more practice with the art of sword forging in the year that followed.
I was 14 and a half when my master announced that I would learn divine magic. I was so thrilled at the thought of power granted from the gods at my usage, and the honour that it would represent.
That night, something strange occurred. My hands seemed to glow a little. On closer inspection they seemed to have tiny bolts of lightning dancing around on the surface. I took it as a divine sign from Mavri, the protector, and was glad.
But divine magic, I never learned.
I had been working in the village forge on a bastard sword when a flustered peasant came to me. He said there had been noises, shouts and breakings, coming from Hestio's house. I rushed to my master's dwelling, and was shocked.
Books lay scattered over the floor. Swords had been taken, and anything that looked of value. Even my prized bastard sword was gone, and what wasn't taken was slashed to bits.
Including Hestio.
He lay there, still in his study clothes, his hand gripping a sword that had been taken. A blank look lay on my master's eyes, and a deep cut lay in his bare chest.
Not only did the thieves take material wealth. One of the gnomish servants said his child was kidnapped by the culprits.
There was only one small thing the robbers hadn't taken. A small box hidden with a small sum of gold. I grabbed the box, what I could salvage (some clothes and food, nothing more) and left, following the fresh tracks of the murderers.
I have followed these people for a week, and yet I feel strange. Am I truly Tylis the apprentice of the crown, or am I something else? The lightning on my fingers is growing brighter. I fear the thunder shall soon be heard…