Manticore — Roleplayer Guild

The Curse of the Crown

Preface

The lands of Obrethon were once made up of 5 individually ruled kingdoms: The Kingdom of the Seven Lakes, the Kingdom of the Dragon Mountains, the Kingdom of the Misty Rivers,  the Kingdom of the Vales, and the Kingdom of the Barren lands.

The five kingdoms lived in harmony for hundreds of years, and they thrived in the absence of a common enemy. The lands were fertile, each with its own advantage, and the collaboration between the kings was great. Once a year they got to sit together at the round table, and spoke of their wishes, expectations, problems, and solutions. King Armagen, the ruler of the Barren lands came with the same troubles every year – his lands were losing fertility, and for some reason the summer droughts were getting longer and longer. Being unable to produce enough food to sustain his people, he had to buy it off from other Kingdoms. But having nothing much to return the favour, the prices of food soon became too high. Other kings, however, didn't seem to have much compasion for his troubles, blaming him for not being resourceful. So, Armagen furiously left the table, and swore to himself that he would find a way to overrule them all.

His desperation was great, and eventually led him to seek the Witch of Eddor'had. She used to be quite a trouble maker back in the days, until the five armies exiled her to the Island of Eddor'had, where the vulcano erruptions destroyed the lands, leaving them liveless. Upon recognizing the great opportunity, the Witch proposed him a deal he could not refuse. She would make him five magic gemstones, each of them containing the unique power of one of the 5 basic elements. They were known as Meru'rithil - The Stone of Air, Apo'rithil - The Stone of Water, Mag'rithil - The Stone of Earth, Ag'rithil - The Stone of Fire, and Sil'rithil - The Stone of Mind. Each gemstone would allow him to control whatever was made of these elements. Using the Earth stone, he could make his land fertile again, with the Water he could prevent the deadly droughts, and so on. But the most powerful of them all was the Mind stone, which enabled its carrier to control someone else's mind, and consequently his body. And all she wanted in return was that twice a year he would bring her gifts in form of gold, jewellery, food, clothing...anything she'd demanded. King Armagen didn't think twice, and he took the deal. 

He installed all the gems into his crown, so he had immediate power of all the given gemstones at the same time. Then he began to transform his dying lands, making them livable again. His Kingdom soon began to thrive as never before, while the others soon began to fear him. They spoke of madness that was corrupting his mind. All that power contained in the gems was slowly taking over his very own mind. Eventually, his insanity completely took over, and he declared the war on all four kingdoms. He wanted their land, and he wanted all the other kings dead. The great war began, and it lasted for about 5 years before the lands of Obrethon were one big pile of blood. There were no more kingdoms, apart from the Armagen's tyranny. He was unstoppable. Even his people that once worshiped him, were now terrified of him.  
Then one night, his son, Prince Edgar, learnt of his father's deal with the Witch through the vivid dreams that were sent to him by a Sorceress, who claimed to be one of the good ones, and wanted to help. Desperate enough, prince Edgar chose to believe what he thought was only intuition, and went after his own father. Even the King himself with all the powers over his head did not expect his loyal son to cut him in his back. As they were tussling, the Crown had fallen off King's head, instantly weakening him, which have Edgar the opportunity of killing him.

Edgar then took the gems out of the Crown, and wondered what to do with them. He figured he had to separate them from one another, hide them somewhere or give them to someone he trusted with his own life, and make sure they will never be put together like that again. So, he chose his 4 best knights he trusted the most, and gave each of them one stone: Fire,Eearth, Water, and Air. He then sent them out to use the gemstone powers in order to rebuild the old kingdoms, make them forever seperate. As for the Mind stone, he kept it for himself, determined to find the Witch of Eddor'had, and destroy her once and for all.

What he didn't know is that the Witch was now more powerful than ever. During the years King Armagen did what she could never done it herself, she raised an army of Hellhound creatures, and demonic warriors. They were beasts born out of magma, and black magic's intent, closely tied to the gemstone's magick, and the blood that was spilled by them. He goal was now to invade all the Obrethon lands, and get the ultimate revenge. But first she had to find and collect the 5 gems, which shouldn't be so hard since her beasts could smell them from miles away...

Maps

Quest

Prince Edgar and his fellow knights must get to the Eddor'had island in order to destroy the gemstones by throwing them into the heart of the vulcano. They are accompanied by a Sorceress Shi'larra, who holds unique knowledge of the world they are about to face. Their journey begins at mysterious town of Kirin Taq.

Background story details

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Chapter 1 - The Gathering of the Chosen ones

Kingdom of the Barren lands, Western border - the Town of Kirin Taq

Where the sands of Nazearth desert met the streams of the Azurdil' lake, there lied the town of Kirin Taq. Its inhabitants often said: ''whoever comes to visit, does never truly leave''. The town was small, and very well hidden, thus being a perfect place for having a retreat. As it happend, the War seemed to completely bypass it, for the housing appeared to be left untouched. For those who knew of its whereabouts it was considered the safest place on Obrethon. Not because there would be the highest walls around it – in fact, there were none – but because of something much stronger than that. 

Magic.

Traveller's den, that's how they called it, even before the witchcraft was known to a common man. It was build by a Travellers' clan, know as the Kirindaars, and it kept its invisible gates widely open to anyone who'd come in with goodness in their hearts. No evil creatures could ever enter, as the town would not exist for them.

Shi'larra thought that would make it the safest place to meet the Prince and his fellow knights, for she was still unsure of their intentions. It was clear to her, that the stones were meant to corrupt its carrier's mind. They acted like a fertilizer on a seed of greed. The greedier one was, the more the stone would speak to them, twisting their thoughts.

At least, that was her theory. Knowing her sister Moriana, who was then mostly known as the Witch of Eddor'had, she could assume that greed was in the core of every one of the gems. Everything Moriana did was fueld by her desire to gain more, and more. Little did she know that the hole she felt inside her could not be mended with either blood nor war. 

Inside one of the small empty houses, Shi'larra sat in waiting for the knights. They were told to meet with her in the town of Kirin Taq on the night of the third full moon, without any kind of explanation as to why exactly there. She expected some of them to be quite annoyed by that, since they had to travel half the Obrethon to get to the Kirin Taq, only to be headed back to where they just came from the very next day. Clearly, Shi'larra had her resons. She only hoped that their loyalty to the Prince exceeded the doubt they had for her.

There was, however, one Knight she didn't have to be wary of. Although startled by the news of Alexis becoming a knight, she couldn't be more proud. Shi'larra, having no family of her own, considered this girl, who had grown to be more than just an ordinary woman, to be the closest of her kin. And thus the only one, whom she trusted with her own life, making her a valuable companion.

Starting to get impatient, Shi'larra approached the window, and stared onto the streets. They were empty as per usual, since no one on the inside would have any business sneaking around at night. Evil deeds did not flourish here, which was why some people considered this place to be very much boring. Since the locals relied on magic to keep them safe at night, no one bothered to lock the doors or to keep an eye on the possible newcomers. Therefore, it was very unlikely that someone, besides Shi'larra, and Alexis, who was outside on the lookout, would spot a group of armed men entering the invisible gates, and marching past the houses.

* * *
Meanwhile, not so far away, a vicious creature walked the earth. A giant wolf surrounded by a scortching heat, its massive body covered all in wounds from which no blood was pouring, only melted rock. The smell of sulphur reeked from its heavy breath, poisoning the air around it. 
Its aim was near, and it could smell it. ''Run, run, oblivious ones, for you shall never hide...''

"Well Mori, I hunt vampires for a living. I'm a vampire hunter." Anthar paused a few seconds, then put on a small smile. This wasn't the first time he had to answer that question, so he had an answer ready. "I'm joking of course. I am an artist. A painter. I travel the country looking for small towns like this. Small towns usually have the best views, and also they give me inspiration." Anthar noticed Mori was struggling to get the bottle open. "You need help with that?" Anthar pointed at the bottle, "What is it? Whiskey?"@AllIsOne

Mori almost choked on the notion of the word hunter, but she somehow managed to cover it with a weird laughter. Meanwhile, her heart began to race like Anton on her way to a free booze. She was now sure that this guy was not an ordinary human. What kind of person would otherwise use the words 'vampire hunter' when flirting with a woman? No, no, no… he was a hunter for sure. Or an idiot, whose life was now in danger just because he made a terrible joke. Either way, Mori was convinced to find further proof, even if she had to turn his insides out in order to do so.

''Right. And I thought you were seeking inspiration in the lonely women like myself,'' she smirked at him. She wouldn't believe him, even if she didn't suspect him of being a hunter. Mori knew all about men, since she was practically raised by them from an early childhood on, and she could always tell when they were hiding something. ''Yeah, I guess so,'' she answered him. For a moment, she questioned her decision, thinking it might be better if she used it to knock the guy unconscious (just to be on a safe side), but then despite her temptations handed the bottle over to him. ''I have no idea. But it's very popular around here, and I thought you'd appreciate a taste of something local,'' she spoke with intended ambiguity, bitting her lower lip seductively. Alright, I think I'm getter better at this, she thought almost proudly. Being a beautiful woman really had its perks.

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The Wicked One

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