caden_graka
05-31-2004, 02:47 AM
[This is the first of many Chapters of the story of the Guardians of Gothar, leading up to the time when the game launches, we will periodically release new chapters of our saga. This chapter was written by Zyke and Caden]
The air was rich with the smell of incense, and the fire gave off warmth that was pleasant and relaxing on this cold rainy night. A hooded figure, cloaked in the clouds of incense, was kneeling quietly before a shrine, fervently reciting prayers. Despite the rain, the thunder, and the cold murkiness of the night, he felt as if his god was there in the hut with him. He knew that his god was going to do something miraculous that night. So, he continued praying and chanting, all the old prayers that had been passed down through endless generations by the priests of the Dark Order of Gothar. A bright flash of light seared through the room as he was finishing the sixth stanza of the creation chant, it was followed by a deafening boom.
The next morning, a high priest found him lying prostrate before the shrine; the outer layer of his robe had been incinerated. When he finally awoke from his long slumber three days later, everyone knew he was a changed man. For the first thing he said upon waking was, “I am no longer Zanoth, I am the Supreme Guardian Zyke, and you are all to obey me.”
After a few weeks, the village leaders felt that Zyke was becoming dangerous; he had become one of the strongest, fastest, and brightest hunters anyone had ever seen… And, he was still demanding, and even forcing several of the villagers to serve him. One night, the leaders of the village and the high priests of the monastery met to determine what to do about Zyke. After several hours of heated debate, they finally agreed that banishment from the village was the only course of action they could take.
Zyke left the village peacefully, as he knew it was Gothar’s will, but as he left, he turned and faced the assembled villagers and clerics. He mounted a large stump from a recently felled tree, and spoke in a clear and decisive voice, “One day soon, Gothar will remove this village from Ganareth, and kill all its inhabitants.”
A few weeks later, several hunters from a near-by village came across a lake where the Monastery of the Dark Order of Gothar and its village once stood.
The next day…
The hooded figure walked down the muddy trail in the forest, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings. His cloak was colored pitch black, and his face was covered in shadow. Below the cloak, nothing could be seen. His feet sloshed in the puddles as he went, and with annoyance he noticed the mud all over his boots. The forest was quiet, not even the sound of chirping birds or small scurrying animals could be heard. The hooded man thought that strange, but paid little attention to it as he walked. He had at least two days more of a walk until he reached his destination, some nowhere village called Merellian. He didn’t know why he was going there, but the great god Gothar had commanded it, and so he went. That night, he set up camp. A simple fire and a wool sleeping bag.
The next day, the cloaked man woke up with the tip of a sword looking down at him from just inches above his face.
“Get up and give us all your stuff,” said a rough voice. Obviously, the cloaked man thought, the owner of the sword.
“What do you want from me?” the man asked.
“Shut up!” The rough voice said. “Now just give me all your stuff or I will slit your throat maggot!”
“I advise you leave now, or dire consequences will come upon you.”
“I’d rather stay.” Said the voice once more.
“Suit yourself.” With that, the cloaked man rolled, kicking out as he did so. The kick caught the thief square in the knee, causing him to stagger backwards. Before the thief could recover, the cloaked man was on his feet. The thief came in for a lunge with his sword, but the hooded man side stepped and landed a kick in the thief’s abdomen. The thief let out a scream of pain, and dropped his sword. As the thief began to regain his balance, the cloaked man pulled out a dagger hidden inside his cloak, and gracefully plunged it into the thief’s back, and within a second had it back inside the cloak. The man then turned back to the dying thief. “Do not interfere with the will of Gothar.” The cloaked man then gathered his things, and continued his journey.
Several days later in the town of Merellian…
“Dear, what are you fussing about now?” A beautiful young half-elf inquired, looking up from her seat in front of the hearth.
“I am growing weary of all these simple farmers and their petty problems. I’ve withstood two years of their bickering! Two years, I’ve been the junior magistrate of this town, the old geezer Marathnos was supposed to have died by now!” Caden had taken the job of Junior Magistrate of Merellian only after being assured that the Town Magistrate Marathnos was due to die at any moment, he had already lived longer than most humans would ever dream of living. “You know I have bigger plans for myself than this mud-hole! I knew I shouldn’t have left Al-Drifa.”
“You should pray to Gothar about it more…”
“You know I don’t believe in any of the gods! Praying won’t do me a bit of good.”
“Just because you don’t believe in them, doesn’t mean they don’t believe in you… listen, I know you are destined to accomplish greater things than even you have imagined, I have seen it.” Her tone grew more serious, it was a tone of voice that he had grown to listen to and respect… “Tomorrow, you are going to run into a human, named Zyke, you should listen to what he has to say, and you should help him in whatever means you can…”
In spite of her being very religious, Caden knew there was something special about his wife, some connection to mana, he thought, because she would always make predictions or have visions, and they would always turn out to be true… Except for one, which had not happened yet. Now he knew he had to be on the lookout for this Zyke character, unfortunately, wayward humans wandered in and out of Merellian all the time, and it wasn’t very smart to run up to each one and ask them their name.
The next day…
Caden was walking briskly to the town center; the weather had taken a turn for the worse earlier that morning. The wind was blowing hard enough it could have sent a faerie all the way to the moon. With his cloak wrapped tightly around his body he walked up the few steps into what was essentially the town hall (which also served as the jail, courthouse, and market). As he walked through the market, an exotic fruit caught his attention in one of the stalls; he had never seen anything so beautiful in his life (his wife the exception).
“Ooof!” A man yelled as Caden crashed into him.
“My apologies my dear sir, I hope you are not hurt…” Caden said as he helped the man get up.
“No, I am fine, thank you though… could you possibly tell me where I could find a magistrate?” The man asked as he brushed the mud and straw from his cloak.
“Sure thing, I am one of the local magistrates, Caden Graka”
“Nice to meet you, Caden, I am Zyke…”
“Ah, I have been expecting you” Caden laughed as he remember what his wife had said the previous day, he just never thought she had meant running into this Zyke so literally.
“Really? Well, is there somewhere we could talk?”
“Sure, how about the Frothing Mare, it is a pub not too far from here”
They talked about meaningless topics for a while as they sat in the pub knocking back a few pints before Zyke began to get into the reason for why he wished to speak to a magistrate. He was primarily interested in finding a house to purchase and wanted to know about the local laws and about religious freedom in the area. Caden told him how they local laws followed in the wishes of Gothar, that all creatures can choose for themselves what to believe, when Zyke interrupted him.
“You are a follower of Gothar?” Zyke asked.
“Well, I am a half-elf and my wife really loves him…” Caden replied.
“Ah, then you might be interested in knowing why I am here…”
Zyke then regaled Caden with the story of how Gothar had appeared to him in a shrine one night. Entrusting Zyke with a sacred mission and appointing him the Supreme Guardian of all of Ganareth. Zyke continued on and on with his beliefs and what had brought him to Merellian. Caden sat and listened, partly because of what his wife had said, but also partly because there was something special about this human sitting in front of him. He was no ordinary religious lunatic; there was a special fire in his eyes, a brightness of his mind. Then his mind became flooded with thought, with realization, he remembered one of his wife’s visions: ‘I see you, Caden, seated on a white granite throne overlooking a vast realm.’ It dawned on him… this Zyke, was Caden’s ticket out of this mud-hole, his ticket to greatness.
“Will you help me Caden? Will you help me bring peace and prosperity to this land? Will you help me restore Gothar’s greatness to all the land?” Zyke inquired.
Caden sat silently, deep in thought, letting the question linger in the air for a moment, and then he looked up and looked Zyke right in the eyes.
“Yes… yes, I will help you.”
Many months later…
The air in the room was stifling, due to the large amount of people in the room, but Caden could feel the excitement, the energy running through the room. This was the night. The night that would change the face of Ganareth, then men and women that had gathered in this room where some of the brightest and strongest in the region. And they had all come to hear Zyke.
A hush fell over the room as a door in the back slowly opened, and a tall slender figure stepped through. Clothed in majestic robes and looking like royalty, Zyke walked to the front of the room, where a tiny stage had been prepared for him.
“Greetings brothers and sisters, I have asked you all to come here, because each and every one of you has agreed to help me, and to help Ganareth itself. We are here because we all want to see a new Golden Age return to this world. We want to see everyone live in peace and prosperity, no more fighting, no more pain, no more disease, and no more death. We are all Guardians of an idea, the sole keepers of a special knowledge that Gothar himself has given to me, and I to you. Gothar told me, many months ago on the side of a mountain, that one day; he will return to Ganareth in his full glory and splendor and turn this world into a paradise. But before he can do so, we must convert every mana well to dark mana. That it is only the endless bickering caused by the two forces that prevents him from accomplishing what he wishes. We will unite this world under one banner, under one name, UNDER GOTHAR!” Everyone in the room cheered wildly, until Zyke signaled everyone to be quiet.
“So tonight, we shall declare ourselves Guardians of Gothar, and tonight we shall mark the beginning of the Empire of Gothar!”
//Read the next Chapter Here (http://www.darkandlight.net/forums/showthread.php?t=9646)
The air was rich with the smell of incense, and the fire gave off warmth that was pleasant and relaxing on this cold rainy night. A hooded figure, cloaked in the clouds of incense, was kneeling quietly before a shrine, fervently reciting prayers. Despite the rain, the thunder, and the cold murkiness of the night, he felt as if his god was there in the hut with him. He knew that his god was going to do something miraculous that night. So, he continued praying and chanting, all the old prayers that had been passed down through endless generations by the priests of the Dark Order of Gothar. A bright flash of light seared through the room as he was finishing the sixth stanza of the creation chant, it was followed by a deafening boom.
The next morning, a high priest found him lying prostrate before the shrine; the outer layer of his robe had been incinerated. When he finally awoke from his long slumber three days later, everyone knew he was a changed man. For the first thing he said upon waking was, “I am no longer Zanoth, I am the Supreme Guardian Zyke, and you are all to obey me.”
After a few weeks, the village leaders felt that Zyke was becoming dangerous; he had become one of the strongest, fastest, and brightest hunters anyone had ever seen… And, he was still demanding, and even forcing several of the villagers to serve him. One night, the leaders of the village and the high priests of the monastery met to determine what to do about Zyke. After several hours of heated debate, they finally agreed that banishment from the village was the only course of action they could take.
Zyke left the village peacefully, as he knew it was Gothar’s will, but as he left, he turned and faced the assembled villagers and clerics. He mounted a large stump from a recently felled tree, and spoke in a clear and decisive voice, “One day soon, Gothar will remove this village from Ganareth, and kill all its inhabitants.”
A few weeks later, several hunters from a near-by village came across a lake where the Monastery of the Dark Order of Gothar and its village once stood.
The next day…
The hooded figure walked down the muddy trail in the forest, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings. His cloak was colored pitch black, and his face was covered in shadow. Below the cloak, nothing could be seen. His feet sloshed in the puddles as he went, and with annoyance he noticed the mud all over his boots. The forest was quiet, not even the sound of chirping birds or small scurrying animals could be heard. The hooded man thought that strange, but paid little attention to it as he walked. He had at least two days more of a walk until he reached his destination, some nowhere village called Merellian. He didn’t know why he was going there, but the great god Gothar had commanded it, and so he went. That night, he set up camp. A simple fire and a wool sleeping bag.
The next day, the cloaked man woke up with the tip of a sword looking down at him from just inches above his face.
“Get up and give us all your stuff,” said a rough voice. Obviously, the cloaked man thought, the owner of the sword.
“What do you want from me?” the man asked.
“Shut up!” The rough voice said. “Now just give me all your stuff or I will slit your throat maggot!”
“I advise you leave now, or dire consequences will come upon you.”
“I’d rather stay.” Said the voice once more.
“Suit yourself.” With that, the cloaked man rolled, kicking out as he did so. The kick caught the thief square in the knee, causing him to stagger backwards. Before the thief could recover, the cloaked man was on his feet. The thief came in for a lunge with his sword, but the hooded man side stepped and landed a kick in the thief’s abdomen. The thief let out a scream of pain, and dropped his sword. As the thief began to regain his balance, the cloaked man pulled out a dagger hidden inside his cloak, and gracefully plunged it into the thief’s back, and within a second had it back inside the cloak. The man then turned back to the dying thief. “Do not interfere with the will of Gothar.” The cloaked man then gathered his things, and continued his journey.
Several days later in the town of Merellian…
“Dear, what are you fussing about now?” A beautiful young half-elf inquired, looking up from her seat in front of the hearth.
“I am growing weary of all these simple farmers and their petty problems. I’ve withstood two years of their bickering! Two years, I’ve been the junior magistrate of this town, the old geezer Marathnos was supposed to have died by now!” Caden had taken the job of Junior Magistrate of Merellian only after being assured that the Town Magistrate Marathnos was due to die at any moment, he had already lived longer than most humans would ever dream of living. “You know I have bigger plans for myself than this mud-hole! I knew I shouldn’t have left Al-Drifa.”
“You should pray to Gothar about it more…”
“You know I don’t believe in any of the gods! Praying won’t do me a bit of good.”
“Just because you don’t believe in them, doesn’t mean they don’t believe in you… listen, I know you are destined to accomplish greater things than even you have imagined, I have seen it.” Her tone grew more serious, it was a tone of voice that he had grown to listen to and respect… “Tomorrow, you are going to run into a human, named Zyke, you should listen to what he has to say, and you should help him in whatever means you can…”
In spite of her being very religious, Caden knew there was something special about his wife, some connection to mana, he thought, because she would always make predictions or have visions, and they would always turn out to be true… Except for one, which had not happened yet. Now he knew he had to be on the lookout for this Zyke character, unfortunately, wayward humans wandered in and out of Merellian all the time, and it wasn’t very smart to run up to each one and ask them their name.
The next day…
Caden was walking briskly to the town center; the weather had taken a turn for the worse earlier that morning. The wind was blowing hard enough it could have sent a faerie all the way to the moon. With his cloak wrapped tightly around his body he walked up the few steps into what was essentially the town hall (which also served as the jail, courthouse, and market). As he walked through the market, an exotic fruit caught his attention in one of the stalls; he had never seen anything so beautiful in his life (his wife the exception).
“Ooof!” A man yelled as Caden crashed into him.
“My apologies my dear sir, I hope you are not hurt…” Caden said as he helped the man get up.
“No, I am fine, thank you though… could you possibly tell me where I could find a magistrate?” The man asked as he brushed the mud and straw from his cloak.
“Sure thing, I am one of the local magistrates, Caden Graka”
“Nice to meet you, Caden, I am Zyke…”
“Ah, I have been expecting you” Caden laughed as he remember what his wife had said the previous day, he just never thought she had meant running into this Zyke so literally.
“Really? Well, is there somewhere we could talk?”
“Sure, how about the Frothing Mare, it is a pub not too far from here”
They talked about meaningless topics for a while as they sat in the pub knocking back a few pints before Zyke began to get into the reason for why he wished to speak to a magistrate. He was primarily interested in finding a house to purchase and wanted to know about the local laws and about religious freedom in the area. Caden told him how they local laws followed in the wishes of Gothar, that all creatures can choose for themselves what to believe, when Zyke interrupted him.
“You are a follower of Gothar?” Zyke asked.
“Well, I am a half-elf and my wife really loves him…” Caden replied.
“Ah, then you might be interested in knowing why I am here…”
Zyke then regaled Caden with the story of how Gothar had appeared to him in a shrine one night. Entrusting Zyke with a sacred mission and appointing him the Supreme Guardian of all of Ganareth. Zyke continued on and on with his beliefs and what had brought him to Merellian. Caden sat and listened, partly because of what his wife had said, but also partly because there was something special about this human sitting in front of him. He was no ordinary religious lunatic; there was a special fire in his eyes, a brightness of his mind. Then his mind became flooded with thought, with realization, he remembered one of his wife’s visions: ‘I see you, Caden, seated on a white granite throne overlooking a vast realm.’ It dawned on him… this Zyke, was Caden’s ticket out of this mud-hole, his ticket to greatness.
“Will you help me Caden? Will you help me bring peace and prosperity to this land? Will you help me restore Gothar’s greatness to all the land?” Zyke inquired.
Caden sat silently, deep in thought, letting the question linger in the air for a moment, and then he looked up and looked Zyke right in the eyes.
“Yes… yes, I will help you.”
Many months later…
The air in the room was stifling, due to the large amount of people in the room, but Caden could feel the excitement, the energy running through the room. This was the night. The night that would change the face of Ganareth, then men and women that had gathered in this room where some of the brightest and strongest in the region. And they had all come to hear Zyke.
A hush fell over the room as a door in the back slowly opened, and a tall slender figure stepped through. Clothed in majestic robes and looking like royalty, Zyke walked to the front of the room, where a tiny stage had been prepared for him.
“Greetings brothers and sisters, I have asked you all to come here, because each and every one of you has agreed to help me, and to help Ganareth itself. We are here because we all want to see a new Golden Age return to this world. We want to see everyone live in peace and prosperity, no more fighting, no more pain, no more disease, and no more death. We are all Guardians of an idea, the sole keepers of a special knowledge that Gothar himself has given to me, and I to you. Gothar told me, many months ago on the side of a mountain, that one day; he will return to Ganareth in his full glory and splendor and turn this world into a paradise. But before he can do so, we must convert every mana well to dark mana. That it is only the endless bickering caused by the two forces that prevents him from accomplishing what he wishes. We will unite this world under one banner, under one name, UNDER GOTHAR!” Everyone in the room cheered wildly, until Zyke signaled everyone to be quiet.
“So tonight, we shall declare ourselves Guardians of Gothar, and tonight we shall mark the beginning of the Empire of Gothar!”
//Read the next Chapter Here (http://www.darkandlight.net/forums/showthread.php?t=9646)