Gothic Shujin
Fading Memory
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2005
- Posts
- 1,343
************************~PROLOGUE~********************************
Year of our lord 950...Twelfth day of the First month,
~Im still not used to life in the old continent. Hardly anything grows here, and It almost seems as I see more of the moon than the sun. I miss the children and cannot wait till i am done here with my duties so i may return to you. We set out for Emerton today. The captain of the Leviathan, a man named Raven doesnt expect us to see much trouble on the open seas, but something about this trip has me uneasy. The meeting with Lord Rabanis of Emerton must take place. The hopes of Link rest on my shoulders. As the plague threatens our continent, something darker... and more veiled threatens Link itself. The dissappearances are getting worse... my own aid... taken from her bed last week, I found myself distraught but had to pull myself together for this most important trip... everything depends on Link getting support from Emerton...
Love,
~Lord Samuel Lexxon, Link city council.
Year of our lord 950...Nineteenth day of the First month,
~We should arrive on shore today. Im eager to get off the water and off this wretched vessel! Everyone is superstitious... its a wonder the crew get anything done what with the way they are slaves to these pointless rituals! The ship itself gives me the chills... often I find captain Raven steering it alone in the middle of a stormy night... and he speaks of the futility of my mission... and how we are all doomed. Land cannot come soon enough.
Love,
~Lord Samuel Lexxon, Link city council.
year of our lord 950...Tenth day of the Fourth month,
~I feel as though i await death. I had high hopes after speaking with Emerton's city counsil. They had agreed to send food and supplies and a small militia of knights to help investigate the dissappearances since even our own military force has all but vanished to the threat. I stayed there a while and then returned.
That was nearly three months ago.
When the supplies arrived there was almost no one to partake of them. The food sat on the docks...untill a group of children came across them. The thirteen of us still in Link, prepared the meal... sparing no expense. We used our most expensive spices and the most luxurious table cloth. Knowing it would be our last joy. We dined over the blood drained bodies of the three simple knights sent from Emerton to help us with our curse.
I suppose... in the end... there was no hope for this land. When the devil takes root... when evil takes hold, you have but to quietly enjoy your last few moments, with honor. I am sorry I did not make it back to you and the children. I dont know if any of my letters reach you, as you have not written me back. Soon they will come for me... I will miss you always... my love...
Love,
~Lord Samuel Lexxon, Your loving Husband.
**********************************************************************
The old man re-sealed the letters, using the same red twine he had first recieved them with. He pondered their contents for a bit, before rapping his fingers nervously on the large wooden desk he sat in front of. The dim candle light barely kept his chamber lit. Outside his open window the sky was black save for the beautifull illumination from the heavy moon.
Lord Samuel's wife had delivered the letters to him weeks ago, and he was no closer to deciding on how to proceed as he was then. He had dispatched a message to Lord Rabanis that returned several days ago with no solution other than to petition the court more directly. The politics of the land were not the answer.
If this were his only problem, perhaps the answer would of been more forthcoming... he was concerned that the same scourge wich claimed an entire continent was now beginning to spread its tenticles this way... he was far to old to call upon his friends and take on the plight himself. Besides he was already regarded as a crazy old man by the locals for his past and the way he spoke out against the uselessness of the current Lord's of the realm...
He would need to seek out someone else... a few someone elses... but if he simply told them what his request was... well they would have to be mad to accept. He decided he would test them, after all he needed time to isolate just how best to proceed.
With a smile on his lips and eagerness in his hands he grabbed a quill and began to pen a notice on a large piece of parchment....
Done, the old man held it up to the light and read what he had wrote... his smile brightened.
It was as good a start as any.
****************~CHAPTER ONE: HUNTERS~***************************
The Kingdom of Sovereign was composed of Three major continents... The Old Continent wich was largely abandoned due to an uncontained outbreak of the new plague. The New Continent wich held Sovereign's capital and the home of King Soveriegn himself; Drakenmoore... and The last continent which was the smallest, most of it was still unexplored... hence its name the continent of "mists".
Life in Sovereign was broken up into a class system. Lords ruled over their lands directly but answered to Dukes who answered to Barons who answered to the King himself. Among commoners Knights were most revered, next to their aids... called Squires. Next Merchants were given their due and then Labor men... that is any skilled artisan or worker and finnally surfs... the life blood of the kingdom, the peasants and slaves.
The land had a fair and just ruler, and most vassels and peasants alike enjoyed their life. But lately things had seemed bleak. The expected warm summer never came, instead a cool chill blew in from the Old Continent. Suddenly roaming bands of Dogmen (called "Gnolls") and Orcs... of Half-Giants and Goblins were hijacking caravans and even the local plantlife seemed to be withering in reaction to this new season that forboded of pestilence.
The Kings knight's now had their hands full protecting every local countryside from domestic threats. It could not afford to handle every single skermish or problem that every single Lord or Noble would petition. For that reason each duchy hand a Marshal that could initiate a group of people willing to aid the kingdom as bountymen... bountyhunters with the Legal jurisdiction of accepting one bounty notice at a time. These bountyhunters were rewarded by the original writer of said notice and often by the Lord of the land for their assistance in major apprehensions and/or kills. Generally bountyhunter hires were reserved for beastial matters... or those of greater threat such as Magick.
Today was a day as was the day before. The cool air, blew in from across the sea, and the sky was murky although it was the middle of the early afternoon. In the coastal town of Emerton an old man hobbled his way towards the town's Guild hall, a place where bounty hunters relaxed, trained and checked the notice boards for recent and old posts alike.
He negotiated the many steps up to the large double doors. He allowed a rather large Hunter to do him the favor of opening it before stepping inside with a scroll tucked under his arm. Once inside his ears were filled with some of the only jovial voices in all of Emerton. Female hunters who normally found trouble with the oppasite sex, mingled playfully along their male counterparts. Songs were sung and ale was consumed in mass quantities... it was hard for the elderly gentleman to not crack a smile but as he found a large and nearly empty bulletin board he returned to the task at hand... and decided this was as good a place as any.
He grabbed the post mallet and affixed a nail in the head of his parchment. Hammering it through, he stumbled a bit to the side and rang the posters bell.
It was done....
With a speed that defied his age the old author took off out of the guild's chambers and down the hall, to the town outside. vanishing into the bustling town market...
***********************************************************************
Year of our lord 950...Twelfth day of the First month,
~Im still not used to life in the old continent. Hardly anything grows here, and It almost seems as I see more of the moon than the sun. I miss the children and cannot wait till i am done here with my duties so i may return to you. We set out for Emerton today. The captain of the Leviathan, a man named Raven doesnt expect us to see much trouble on the open seas, but something about this trip has me uneasy. The meeting with Lord Rabanis of Emerton must take place. The hopes of Link rest on my shoulders. As the plague threatens our continent, something darker... and more veiled threatens Link itself. The dissappearances are getting worse... my own aid... taken from her bed last week, I found myself distraught but had to pull myself together for this most important trip... everything depends on Link getting support from Emerton...
Love,
~Lord Samuel Lexxon, Link city council.
Year of our lord 950...Nineteenth day of the First month,
~We should arrive on shore today. Im eager to get off the water and off this wretched vessel! Everyone is superstitious... its a wonder the crew get anything done what with the way they are slaves to these pointless rituals! The ship itself gives me the chills... often I find captain Raven steering it alone in the middle of a stormy night... and he speaks of the futility of my mission... and how we are all doomed. Land cannot come soon enough.
Love,
~Lord Samuel Lexxon, Link city council.
year of our lord 950...Tenth day of the Fourth month,
~I feel as though i await death. I had high hopes after speaking with Emerton's city counsil. They had agreed to send food and supplies and a small militia of knights to help investigate the dissappearances since even our own military force has all but vanished to the threat. I stayed there a while and then returned.
That was nearly three months ago.
When the supplies arrived there was almost no one to partake of them. The food sat on the docks...untill a group of children came across them. The thirteen of us still in Link, prepared the meal... sparing no expense. We used our most expensive spices and the most luxurious table cloth. Knowing it would be our last joy. We dined over the blood drained bodies of the three simple knights sent from Emerton to help us with our curse.
I suppose... in the end... there was no hope for this land. When the devil takes root... when evil takes hold, you have but to quietly enjoy your last few moments, with honor. I am sorry I did not make it back to you and the children. I dont know if any of my letters reach you, as you have not written me back. Soon they will come for me... I will miss you always... my love...
Love,
~Lord Samuel Lexxon, Your loving Husband.
**********************************************************************
The old man re-sealed the letters, using the same red twine he had first recieved them with. He pondered their contents for a bit, before rapping his fingers nervously on the large wooden desk he sat in front of. The dim candle light barely kept his chamber lit. Outside his open window the sky was black save for the beautifull illumination from the heavy moon.
Lord Samuel's wife had delivered the letters to him weeks ago, and he was no closer to deciding on how to proceed as he was then. He had dispatched a message to Lord Rabanis that returned several days ago with no solution other than to petition the court more directly. The politics of the land were not the answer.
If this were his only problem, perhaps the answer would of been more forthcoming... he was concerned that the same scourge wich claimed an entire continent was now beginning to spread its tenticles this way... he was far to old to call upon his friends and take on the plight himself. Besides he was already regarded as a crazy old man by the locals for his past and the way he spoke out against the uselessness of the current Lord's of the realm...
He would need to seek out someone else... a few someone elses... but if he simply told them what his request was... well they would have to be mad to accept. He decided he would test them, after all he needed time to isolate just how best to proceed.
With a smile on his lips and eagerness in his hands he grabbed a quill and began to pen a notice on a large piece of parchment....
Done, the old man held it up to the light and read what he had wrote... his smile brightened.
It was as good a start as any.
****************~CHAPTER ONE: HUNTERS~***************************
The Kingdom of Sovereign was composed of Three major continents... The Old Continent wich was largely abandoned due to an uncontained outbreak of the new plague. The New Continent wich held Sovereign's capital and the home of King Soveriegn himself; Drakenmoore... and The last continent which was the smallest, most of it was still unexplored... hence its name the continent of "mists".
Life in Sovereign was broken up into a class system. Lords ruled over their lands directly but answered to Dukes who answered to Barons who answered to the King himself. Among commoners Knights were most revered, next to their aids... called Squires. Next Merchants were given their due and then Labor men... that is any skilled artisan or worker and finnally surfs... the life blood of the kingdom, the peasants and slaves.
The land had a fair and just ruler, and most vassels and peasants alike enjoyed their life. But lately things had seemed bleak. The expected warm summer never came, instead a cool chill blew in from the Old Continent. Suddenly roaming bands of Dogmen (called "Gnolls") and Orcs... of Half-Giants and Goblins were hijacking caravans and even the local plantlife seemed to be withering in reaction to this new season that forboded of pestilence.
The Kings knight's now had their hands full protecting every local countryside from domestic threats. It could not afford to handle every single skermish or problem that every single Lord or Noble would petition. For that reason each duchy hand a Marshal that could initiate a group of people willing to aid the kingdom as bountymen... bountyhunters with the Legal jurisdiction of accepting one bounty notice at a time. These bountyhunters were rewarded by the original writer of said notice and often by the Lord of the land for their assistance in major apprehensions and/or kills. Generally bountyhunter hires were reserved for beastial matters... or those of greater threat such as Magick.
Today was a day as was the day before. The cool air, blew in from across the sea, and the sky was murky although it was the middle of the early afternoon. In the coastal town of Emerton an old man hobbled his way towards the town's Guild hall, a place where bounty hunters relaxed, trained and checked the notice boards for recent and old posts alike.
He negotiated the many steps up to the large double doors. He allowed a rather large Hunter to do him the favor of opening it before stepping inside with a scroll tucked under his arm. Once inside his ears were filled with some of the only jovial voices in all of Emerton. Female hunters who normally found trouble with the oppasite sex, mingled playfully along their male counterparts. Songs were sung and ale was consumed in mass quantities... it was hard for the elderly gentleman to not crack a smile but as he found a large and nearly empty bulletin board he returned to the task at hand... and decided this was as good a place as any.
He grabbed the post mallet and affixed a nail in the head of his parchment. Hammering it through, he stumbled a bit to the side and rang the posters bell.
It was done....
With a speed that defied his age the old author took off out of the guild's chambers and down the hall, to the town outside. vanishing into the bustling town market...
***********************************************************************
