Castlelord
Okriam was master of Firian Castle in the year of 494. At that time merchant
caravans travelled along the Old Road through Firian Forest, carrying goods
between Santamatara and the eastern communities. However, the elves, who
sometimes had business in Firian Forest, didn't appreciate the recent arrival
of the humans, which led to some animosity between the two races. Thus
Castlelord Okriam travelled north to the elven court, in order to negotiate
a peace treaty. The meeting with the elven queen was a success, and an
era of peace between the humans and the elves began.
But the real story is about
the happenings in Firian Castle. Okriam had a wife, Tigola, who was widely
known for her beauty. It wasn't just her fair brown hair and lively green
eyes, she also had an inner glow of life which didn't leave any man untouched.
While Okriam had a wife named Tigola, his wife had a lover named Kurra.
And when Okriam returned from the peace negotiations, he found Tigola and
her lover together. He couldn't find it in his heart to harm Tigola, but
he banished Kurra to a small chapel west of Firian Forest, hoping that
Tigola would start loving him now that Kurra was out of the picture.
But his hopes were in vain,
for Tigola didn't cease to long for her beloved Kurra. After a few months
she disappeared and was later found dead at the bottom of the waterfall
south of the castle. But the grief did not end there. Two weeks later a
dark cloud descended on the castle, and swept Castlelord Orkiam in it's
Evil fold. He battled the unholy forces within the cloud, and emerged victorious.
Or so he thought, until he realised that people no longer noticed his presence.
He tried to speak, but no one listened, or even showed that they heard
the sound of him. He had been rendered a mere ghost of his former self,
and Evil forces drove the people away. As the years passed by the castle
crumbled into ruins and with the collapse of the city of Santamatara the
Old Road became overgrown from lack of use.
Then one
day, about 900 years later, a pale young boy met with a few chosen ones.
The 'chosen ones' were me (Minq), Bahne, Belinda, Carmen and Sif, and we
had been asked to meet this messenger at the temple yard in Riversy. Although
the two red dots on the boy's neck made us suspicious, we decided to follow
the boy to his master, Castlelord Okriam, who would be waiting in Firian
Castle. We eventually got there and met the man, and he confirmed our suspicions
by explaining that he indeed was a vampire, an incredibly old and
powerful one at that.
He told us his story, and further
explained how he had been cursed with an unlife that it was now time to
end. The curse had kept him from leaving the castle ruins, so he had spent
the time trying to learn more about his curse and his condition. From these
studies, he had come to the conclusion that the curse must have it's origin
in an Evil being more powerful than a god. But even though he had learned
this and other things, and now even managed to show himself to mortals,
he still lacked the knowledge that could be found in books and from wise
men. Therefore he needed a few trustworthy and able persons to act as his
agents in the outside world. Our task were to find out as much as possible
about his curse, preferably enough to break it so he could have his rest.
Suddenly
Okriam interrupted our meeting. Evil was approaching, and it would not
be a good thing if we were detected by it. We hastily made our way through
the forest, as cold winds blew through the trees and dark clouds gathered
in the sky. We headed straight for Heirat, as we thought the old man would
know about powerful and ancient curses. But he didn't have much to say
about curses, except possibly that 'our' curse originated from the Evil
One, and instead he suggested that we visit the library in Riversy. If
there was information availible on ancient curses, it would be stored there,
he said. At Heirat we were also found by a carrier pigeon, which left a
message from Toris, where he wrote that he knew about us and would try
to aid us in our cause. After the message was delievered the pigeon disappeared
in a mushroom cloud, and I had no idea about who this "Toris" was and how
he would help us.
The clerics took us back to
Riversy, and we walked off to the palace, and eventually found the library.
We told the librarian that we were searching for information about ancient
curses, especially ones cast by the Evil One. The poor man got very upset
when we mentioned the Evil One, so we had to calm him down. Since finding
specific information in a library can be quite tricky, he agreed to study
the books until the next day, and hopefully find something useful. We waited
until the next morning to see what the librarian would come up with, and
we weren't disappointed.
Apparently the gods had created
an artefact at the time of the god wars. This artefact was to be used against
Evil curses, and the librarian had even managed to find an old book containing
some clues leading to the location where it was supposed to be hidden.
But the real clue came from Toris, delivered by a second carrier pigeon,
which just like the first one disappeared in a mushroom cloud after the
message delievered. According to Toris we had to "go up the mountain, in
the mountain, out of the mountain and search beneath the building". After
paying the librarian for his services, we took off for the kobold mountains,
confident that this was the place Toris had referred to.
Outside
Logby the wind started to pick up, and before we knew what was happening
we were assailed by hellhounds. After taking a heavy beating we had to
retreat, and as always when I've been mauled and crippled in combat, I
longed for the elves' healing pond. After some discussions we headed back
north, to recuperate and consult the ancient elven queen. And she had a
lot to tell.
Kurra, the chapellan Okriam
banished, had made a deal with the Evil One to get revenge. But it did
not work out the way Kurra had planned. Even though Okriam was cursed by
the Evil One, Kurra himself lost his soul and has from then on been kept
in an unlife of pain. We had already thought about this scenario, and it
was nice to have it supported by the queen's information. She continued
to tell us about the great and ancient city of Santamatara, and how it
was ruled by the great archmage Toris. She also told us how Toris was too
wrapped up in his search for the fountain of youth to protect the city
when Evil attacked. Ruins were now all that remained of Santamatara and
Toris' castle. This all sounded very familar, I had already been told about
these historical events and probably forgot about them to make room for
other knowledge.
After the
elven queen's history lessons we departed for the kobold mountains once
again, this time determined to let nothing stop us. And indeed, nothing
did stop us, or even made a try to stop us. We reached the kobolds' watchtower
and immediately headed for their underground torture cellar. There we searched
among old barrels and tools of pain, and after a while our efforts were
rewarded. We found an ancient symbol, some sort of star supported by three
struts, with some kind of hole in it. On the symbol we could also read
a cryptic inscription, one which carried clues to the usage of the symbol.
Some of them we understood, some of them we didn't. And we would later
disobey all of the instructions.
At this time we also received
a new message from Toris, as usual carried by a magic carrier pigeon. He
explained that the sacrifice needed to activate the symbol would be of
powerful magic, and could be found in a "weedy garden" close to the one
responsible for the curse. Like the last time, Toris' information put us
right on the spot, and this time we headed for the ruined old chapel north
of the troll bridge. We decided to take the ferry from Riversy to Rodby,
and go by river to the chapel. But we were somewhat vulnerable on the ferry,
and before we reached Crystal Lake the wind carried a hellhound to our
position. But after the spellcasters blinded and slept it, that hellhound
became as harmless as a puppy. We reached Rodby safe and sound, and proceeded
to the chapel. There we found the garden, and after searching through the
weeds, we found a pulsing green stone. Powerful magic indeed.
From the
legend we knew that the symbol was closely connected to a special place,
and that it could only be used in that place. The legend contained hints
toward mountains, and a place well hidden in a forest, close to the gods
and protected from all Evil. If only we had seen the hidden code in the
inscription, instead of drowning in the vagueness of the different clues.
Among several possibilities, we decided to try out the Mithril Temple on
Mount Tremont. It seemed to fulfill most of the requirements in the legends,
close to the gods, a small forest and the mountain. We travelled south
on the Old Road, and ascended the mountain. Behind the Mithril Temple we
gathered around the symbol, trying to interpret it's faint humming into
something.
And then we decided to take
a chance. Carmen lifted the symbol up and put the sacrifical green stone
in the center, even though the inscription had clearly stated that the
symbol was not to be held in the hands when activated. Before she could
put it back on the ground the stone exploded in a multitude of crystal
shards, ripping her body to shreds. It was only with the help of the clerics
that we managed to get her back. Somehow we realised that this was not
the place, although we couldn't be entirely certain. As we made our way
out of the mithril canyon we felt the icy winds yet again, and yet again
we were saved by magic. This time the magic took us to the Temple of Riversy,
where no hellhounds could gain entrance.
Well, by
now our inclination to experiment with human lives had faded, so Belinda
turned to her gods for some immortal thoughts on the matter. Meanwhile
we tried to find someone who could tell us more about magic, but all we
found was the attention of a few hellhounds. Eventually Belinda's prayers
paid off, and she must have received some divine inspiration. We finally
saw that the inscription on the artefact hid a code that spelled out K-A-F-K-A.
Kafka's house was indeed hidden in a forest, but I myself had never thought
of it as "close to the gods" or even a place shielded from Evil. But it
was our best bet, so we followed the river upstream to the woods of Mallorn.
Once there we realised that we couldn't do much. Even if this was the place,
and we could feel that this was the case, we still needed Okriam there
in order to release him from the curse. But Okriam had explained that he
could not leave the ruins of Firian Castle, so the next step would be to
break that part of the curse.
As if he could read our very
thoughts, Toris sent us a carrier pigeon with a most helpful message. Apparently
his loved one was still to be found in his ruined castle, and she would
have a useful object for us. We returned to Riversy and proceeded to Elwyn
to consult their archmage. Once again we were attacked by hellhounds, and
had to retreat to Tebnarsakar's house. He became very enthusiastic when
he saw our ancient artefact, but he was of no real help. Thus we left for
the old ruined castle west of the great southern swamp, and searched the
rosegarden for the white dame that had been seen there. She welcomed us
and told us that she had a black rose which we could use for protection.
However, the rose needed some blood from someone who actually had protection
from the Evil One. Before we had a chance to finish our conversation with
the white dame, the Evil of which we spoke decided to make an appearance.
We quickly ran out of the castle, hearing the white dame yelling one last
sentence; "Seek the HeartSinger!". Escaping the hellhounds we returned
to Riversy, once again.
We had
some theories about who could have gained protection from the Evil One,
and one was that Tigola had sacrificed herself in order to gain protection
for her loved one. But we also knew that neither of the two men in her
life had been spared, so there must be someone else. I think it was Belinda's
gods which led us to believe that Tigola's family might have been the ones
gaining protection from her sacrifice. Well, while we were close the the
libraray we decided to search there for some information about the HeartSinger.
The librarian could only tell us that HeartSinger was a very common name
in these parts of the realm, but perhaps the most known family of HeartSingers
were the merchant family. The Riversy grocer was a member of this family,
and we already knew that Tigola had been a merchant's daughter. So we asked
the grocer about any ancestors he might have had, but he did not seem very
interested in much except money. But his daughter had taken an interest
in the old stories about Tigola. She was in Elwyn at the time, trading
with the villagers, although she had forgotten some herbs she was supposed
to deliver to Tebnaraskar.
We agreed to bring the herbs
to her, and boarded the ferry. As usual our journey was disturbed by a
hellhound, and as usual it was subdued by magic. We reached Elwyn without
further trouble, and met a young woman in the marketplace. She introduced
herself as Mira Heartsinger and her green eyes, brown hair and inner glow
made her look just like the Tigola Okriam had described. Any doubts about
her heritage disappeared as we were interrupted by another hellhound. It
charged toward Mira, but halted when it got close. Obviously it couldn't
attack Tigola, so instead it turned around and attacked us. After that
brief battle we quickly explained everything to Mira, and she agreed to
make the small sacrifice that was needed. As she touched the rose a thorn
pierced her finger and a single drop of blood remained on the rose as she
dropped it on the ground.
We thanked
Mira for her cooperation and hurried to Firian Castle. There Castlelord
Okriam awaited us and we told him about our adventures. He was surprised
at our success, and after accepting the black rose he followed us out of
the ruined castle. Our journey northeast went fine, until we reached the
woods of Mallorn. There we lost our way, until Bahne took the lead and
showed us the way. However, the Evil One was not about to give up so easily.
Hellhounds awaited us outside Kafka's house, and before we could enter
we had to fight one final battle. But we had become accustomed to their
Evil ways by now, and they soon fell to the ground.
As we entered Kafka's domain
Okriam exclaimed how he felt relieved of the Evil forces that had haunted
him for the past centuries. But our work was not done. We still had to
set up the ancient artefact, and place the sacrificial green stone in the
centre. We crossed our fingers and prayed for success, and this time we
must have done everything right. The symbol started to emit a bright light
and suddenly Castlelord Okriam faded away, completely relieved of the vampire
curse. The Evil One's influence had been diminished, and this battle had
been won by the forces of Good.
Written by Minq, in the year of 1402