The Icy South

[firespirit44 1323]

You enter the tavern, wet and soaking from the current rain. Its noisy and boisterous as always, but you pay no heed and head towards the bar counter, asking for some hot foaming mull wine and a nice plate of rosemary charcoal grilled lamb chop with whey bread to fill your empty stomach and soul. After receiving the food, you notice that all the tables are occupied and full of joyous people, save a hooded man in the back of the very corner. Sitting alone at a table meant for 3, his facial features are mostly concealed, sipping something from his silver flask. He appears to have a bunch of books and papers which seemingly covers the table as it was a tablecloth. Intrigued, and more importantly having nowhere to sit to eat, you approach the man cautiously with 2 hands full, awkwardly say to the man sitting at the empty table

"Is this table full?"

He glares at you with a raised eyebrow, with its meaning clear 'Are you fawking kidding me.'

He relents, and gestures impatiently to the empty seats. He grunts and starts placing seemingly random stacks of books onto the empty chairs, and clearing up enough room for your plate and goblet.

You thank him quietly and awkwardly, and begin to dig in your mouthwatering medium-rare lamb, cooked in a rosemary red wine sauce, and sipping hot tavern-made mulled wine. After digging through most of your meal, you glance up and notice the man still has not said a word, but is instead now holding a canvas and is painting with his bamboo brush. Curious, and now bored of the empty platter, you raise your head slightly higher to see what he is painting. You gasp when you notice what it really is after several soft strokes upon the canvas.

"What.....is that?"

You gasp in astonishment as you notice the drawing of 2 giant statues that stand vigil and guard the entrance of the mountain pass. Made from stone, these statues seem to tower as high as the mountain itself. Each statue holds a weapon. The one on the right holds a axe or a mace, the painting is too blurred to distinguish. But the one on the right unmistakably holds a sword, planted in the foot of the mountain.

[firespirit44 1323]

The man peers at you curiously with his stormy grey eyes, and seems to enjoy your astonishment, like a magician who saw the bewildered faces of his audience after pulling off a successful trick. He speaks, in a strange deep tone that seems to chill the air for every word

"These are the statues of the Twin Guardians, Khill and Nerrix. Legend has it these two brothers were born as twins in one of the Hanseti tribes, and when the woolly mammoths attacked, they stood with their favourite weapons Brunt the Mace and Frostbite the Sword, and held them off heroically to allow their tribesmen to escape further into the mountain ranges. The two twin brothers died after slaying a legendary count of 20, and finally succumbed to being gored in the chest by the woolly mammoths sharp tusks. Many years after the woolly mammoths were exterminated by Rohkeus, the Hanseti people came back and built a monument for where Khill and Nerrix supposedly fallen, and pray to their spirits to protect the regions from external dangers."

Surprised at the man's sudden talkativeness, you decide it would be best not to question further about these odd names and area he is talking about. Instead, your gaze is latched onto a few other paintings that seem to be covered in a bunch of papers and documents. The hooded man follows your gaze, and hands you another another canvas after clearing away more paper and swearing under his breathe.

The canvas has two pictures, one a village in the snow, and the other a gorgeous pine forest. You raise the canvas towards the man and tilt your head quizzically at him.

"That be the City of Hanseti right there, it was a blizzard that day. But then again, it usually is all year round."

Jabbing a calloused finger at the top part of the canvas. He continues and mutters a few unintelligent mumbles, but it seems to mean 'Doesn't look big enough to be called a city'. You ignore the ramblings and decided to admire the skillfully painted canvas. The noises in the tavern seems to have stopped, and all you can hear is the howling southern winds, and you're looking at the bright starts in this cold frozen tundra.

After what seems to be a lifetime of silence, the man suddenly snatches the canvas away from you, and places it underneath a stack of books. The tavern suddenly seems to simmer into existence with noises of merrymaking growing louder around you as you jerk yourself back to reality. The man then resumes writing in his leather bound tome with his hawk quil. You gulp, unsure whether he is acting hostile or just plain grumpy, and ask uncertainly

"Who are you?"

"Where did you paint these from?"

The man stops what he was writing, and concentrates on your face instead. You notice that behind those stormy eyes, lies a spiderweb pattern of crinkles and creases, making him seem very old.

"Finally. And I was thinking you had no decency to even give credit due to a artist when you see his goddamn work without even acknowledging him."

He huffs and puffs up his chest with pride, and says proudly in that deep voice

"I am Jack. Explorer, artist, archaeologist of Asulon. I hope you like those pictures of Hanseti. Now, buy me a goddamn mug of mulled wine, my flask is empty, and I want something in return for seeing my artworks."

-Would you like to see more? If so, please buy me my goddamn mulled wine. I'm freezing.-

((This will be a thread to showcase the various pictures I have taken in Hanseti, but with some good dose of lore and roleplay. This tavern is not located in Hanseti, but somewhere near you. Or else it would be impossible to explain the story))

[Salvalia Draamoon 11]

Grinning, I stood up and head towards the bar counter to buy the poor man(or very lazy man) his desired beverage. After placing 15 minas on the oaken bar counter, I received a toothy grin from the portly bartender received a large steaming goblet of mulled wine. Treading lightly between all the boisterous and crowded customers and blitzing waitresses, I gingerly hold the hot goblet and set it on the table, away from his books and papers, and smile lightly at him. He seems very strange, but then again so was my good friend Ogland.

I drape my winter cloak over the chair I was so 'graciously' offered by the man called Jack, and decide to speak my mind and question that has been nagging at me forever, since he started talking

"My name is Salvalia Draamoon. Pray tell, what are these wondrous monuments and story behind them?"

[firespirit44 1323]

His eyes stare surprisedly at the lass, probably never guessed he would be treated by a random stranger and someone would actually put up with his blunt and rude manners. But he quickly resumes a scowl, and takes a good gulp from the steaming goblet before it grows cold. Rubbing his hands greedily, like he finally managed to snare someone crazy enough to listen to him, he speaks excitedly to Salvalia

"I have always had a fascination for artifacts and ruins. Being a humman, I visited Rennatus as well, but there seem to have no documentation, only ruins of a giant city. The King Eze'kiel Tarus has ordered the tearing down of those ruins to make room for new buildings, so I packed my bags and left for Salvus. Got left, and found myself in Hanseti.

There are much more ruins and temples, in fact. I have even made some documentation on some ancient carvings on the stone. The story of Khill and Nerrix was engraved at the back of their weapons, so I just copied it down, for future references."

He then begins throwing papers into the air, frantically searching for something. The other customer sees this crazy old man making paper fly everywhere, and decide it would be for their best interests to inch away from him and his table.

"AHa!" He exclaims in triumph. "Got the damn book"

He eagerly shoves the old leather bound tome towards the women's face, and exclaims excitedly on about the existence of a animal that even made cave spiders look weak. You push the tome backwards and cough at the musky smell of the tome, but take a good look at the black and white sketch of the mythical animal

[img to change soon, haven't found a editing software for photos]

Peering closer, you notice the animal's skull is already as large, if not even larger than a human itself. It bears long horns, like that of the orcs, except probably about 20 times the length and width. You wonder how could such a large animal could have possibly been killed.

After examining the skull, you notice that it resides in a sort of temple ruin, as the skull a holy symbol of worship.

"Why are they worshiping this strange animal?"

The man called Jack leans back on two legs of the oaken chair, tilting at a very relaxed manner, as if he owned this tavern, with his legs resting on table, grunts and say in a dramatic voice

"Thats the Temple of Rohkeus. The War God. Legend has it that Rohkeus was a hero and stopped the mighty herds of these beasts, called the woolly mammoths. It is unknown if Rohkeus was ever related to Khill and Nerrix, but he seems to be a god if there is a temple dedicated to worshiping the skull of the beasts he exterminated."

"Regardless, it seems that what we know called the people of Hanseti, aren't descendants of the land they currently live in. It seems there was a ancient civilization, which was highly advanced, but seemingly died out. The only like I have is that Gaius Marius, the founder of the Teutonic Order, was supposedly a descendant of these people from Hanseti."

With a strange look in his eyes, he arches his eyebrows and tilt his head at you, almost comical seeing as he is already sitting in a tilted chair that would fall over any minute now.

"Why are you interested in a old man's rambling? Archaeology and history is not a popular subject with intellectual men, even less with women who seem not to care for them other than to see if these ruins hold any shiny diamonds."

[Arkelos 1027]

-Syrila offers Jack a new seat, Sitting on the other side as she Listens intently, drinking down a flask of Oasis water so her voice could become much more clearer, her face covered by her hood to not draw any unwanted attention.-

"Gaius was a great man"

-Syrila asks the Man behind the counter for some regular aged ale, taking a sip as she resumes her talking-

"Heard you over on the other side of the bar, quite the exciting life down in the newly claimed lands?"

-Syrila looks at jack, an obvious smile under her face mask as she drags it down discretely for another sip of ale, before chugging the whole thing down-

"Need a Refill?"

-Syrila's smile turns into a grin as she awaits Jack's response-

"Tell me more while your at it, I have some time."

((My avatar is what Jack and the others see :3))

[Samson Option 9652]

Sauros Alanbataar gathers his leather jerkin gloves into his hand; bunched yet leaving his bare hands free to gather a cup. Hearing the chatter of the tavern and one to always sit and observe with eye, ear, and mind; Sauros strokes his skinny goatee and grins with disformed teeth as he hears the tales spoken about Khill and Nerrix. Speaking up as he looks into his drink thoughtfully, as if treating the vibrations from his slight shaking of the cup as a channel to remember the tales orally told to him and his tribe.

'Yoo' Speek' of Gaius, no? Has he told yoo' of the Subudai, the Dervas, and the Hansetii? The three Brother-Tribes escaping the blossoming of greed for lands unraveled within Aegis at the time of the Four Brothers; Horen, Malin, Urguan, and Krug? Pray tell that Gaius has not forgaught'en his lineage, he hailed from Hansetii, the tribe that had stayed in the first home we founded in the large caugh'tinent, while my own lineage draws from thaw' Subudai.'

[firespirit44 1323]

A new girl at the table, but this one with a different feel to her. She does not seem to be the frippery kind of lass, and she seems to have knew Gaius, seeing her speak so personally about him. He must have left his mark on her, as to the rest of the Teutonic Order. Jack scowls, not sure whether to trust her generosity, but shrugs, deciding this information is harmless, it's nothing but forgotten stories that bards are not aware of.

"Aye lass, a refill would be nice...And time is something I have plenty of...At least until the fawking storm passes."

Syrila grins and tosses more coins at the portly man that served us the wine and ale. He catches the coins in one deft motions, and in 3 blinks of the eye, our beverage is served on this new table that is clean of papers, documents, and paintings. Jack gestures the lass he met earlier, Salvalia, to join them in the conversation as well.

"Only I lead the exciting life, the folks are just regular citizens like the other nations, busy building and all that development stuff. But history! It cannot be forgotten, and I'm frantically trying to collect all of these documents before the Order decides to arrest me and seize my research papers. Heh, I'll demand a handsome price for my work, you'll see."

"But since I'm in a good mood, and you two lovely ladies bought me some drinks, I'll tell you. You see, I have proof that these Hanseti people were also from Aegis, or at least, this man believes so."

Jack pulls out a old leather tome, that seems it has seen abit too many types of weathers. It is old, musty, and close to falling off like leaves from a tree in winter. But it still binds the pages, so you cautiously open the book, and flip its pages.

"What....The Wandering Wizard? ....Descendants of Horen? ...Sailing across the Verge? What is this tome?"

(link to roleplay tome here: http://www.lordofthecraft.net/forum/index.php?/topic/36729-the-history-of-the-hanseti-part-i/)

After taking a good long sip and wiping his mouth with his sleeves, Jack grins mischievously.

"I saw this tome in the room of the late Hochmeister when I was snooping around their castle. I decided it was ignored, so I took this treasure to Asulon when I saw Aegis crumbling to the ground. I'm sure they wont mind."

"Of course, this is naught but rumours and writings, but I have solid evidence that they SAILED from the verge with their galleys."

Taking a folded paper out of his trench coat, he throws it onto the table, the paper unfolding by itself, revealing a sketch of two different boats in two different landscapes.

"You can see these beauties if you walk along the coast. They were found in two different areas. The one at the top was found at the base of the city of Hanseti, and this other one was a much larger boat, found off the coast of Wolf Edge. It also seemed the purpose for each boat was different. One seemed to be a warship, and the other a passenger boat. I tried searching for any relics, but they are frozen and I risk damaging the ship wrecks."

"All I know is one thing is for certain. They hated Horen, and his overly-ambitious children, even if they were part of him. They seem to have found their own culture and religion, here far away from Aegis."

He sighs, before being interrupted by a loud voice from across the table

'Yoo' Speek' of Gaius, no? Has he told yoo' of the Subudai, the Dervas, and the Hansetii? The three Brother-Tribes escaping the blossoming of greed for lands unraveled within Aegis at the time of the Four Brothers; Horen, Malin, Urguan, and Krug? Pray tell that Gaius has not forgaught'en his lineage, he hailed from Hansetii, the tribe that had stayed in the first home we founded in the large caugh'tinent, while my own lineage draws from thaw' Subudai.'

Nodding, he flips through a different tome, one made with a fresh green binding, unlike the ancient tome earlier.

"Records are very obscure, and not much is known about them at the moment. I uncovered some ruined walls of cities, and found the supposed ancestral home of the Dervas. They made epic monuments, that now lie in ruins. There was a epic engraved in the form of pictures and a language I have yet deciphered, but it was a tale of loyalty and love. Would you like to hear it?"

Catching himself after wondering abit, he asks the man with the goatee

"You said you are the descendant of the Subudai?

[Aren Whitestorm 65]

Aren walks in the tavern, shaking of the rain, his chainmail clinging as he does that. Slowly, he cleans emaining dust and dirt off his armor and approaches the counter, and asks for some warm mead. As he flips few coins on the counter, he takes a drink and moves into side of the corner, few meters beside the table. He leans against the pillar, and listens to the conversation, slowly sipping his mead.

[Salvalia Draamoon 11]

Seeing the strange women join the conversation all of a sudden, I just follow Jack's lead and settle myself quietly next to him with the women at her table. Still sipping my half full goblet, I hear and listen in awe and a growing curiosity of these wild theories and stories that would never have been heard in Aegis. A tribe of humans who defied Horen and fled the continent of Aegis, with the rumored Wandering Wizard? That cant be.

"You say...religion. But is there not only Aeriel and Iblees, good and evil? Sure, Iblees was banished to the void but, what about Aeriel? She was a physical manifestation that I saw with my own eyes. How is it we never heard of this...'Hanseti' religion?"

[firespirit44 1323]

Nodding his agreement at Salvalia, he explains

"Ah, but you see my dear, the Hanseti people were tired of all the bickering of the brothers, and decide not to embrace the creationist story.

While I can prove they existed in Aegis, there was no mention of Aeriel or Iblees at all in this journal of a Sacerdot, or priest, from Dreva, a engineering group within the tribes of Hanseti. There was the mentioning of the cutting off ties with Horen's other kins, and them escaping from the land called Aegis."

He strokes his old journal lovingly, and continue with a slightly maniac expression on his face

"What I can conclude is they never witnessed the battle of the 4 brothers facing Iblees, as they knew Iblees existed, but they did not notice Aeriel when she came down from the heavens to help diminish the curse. Chances are that no records from Aegis reached Asulon at that time either. I dont know. Thing is, Aeriel did not exist for these Hanseti people, and over the time they seem to have forgotten Horen, a disgrace as their founder as well. They actually decided to REPLACE Horen."

Flipping through a few pages of the book, pass galley construction dates, rough sketches of walls, dates and strange words you have never seen before, he stops at a page no different from the rest, but it seems to have a two picture that fill the lower half of the two pages. It was written in a slightly nicer handwriting, as if this page is more important than the rest.

You decide you cant read it, but notice that there is a clean white sheet sandwiched between the pages once Jack turned the page. Fresh, new paper, you see written in english, a story, that was not seen to any eyes for close to a milenium...

'Before Asulon was brought into existence from the void, Deus, was in the middle of the world. When the Niflheim, Asulon, Lighthalzen was one. He slept in this shell called the Cosmic Egg . After thousands of years, Deus awoke, and broke free. Lighthalzen, Asulon, Niflheim was separated and broke apart from each other. Deus saw that the 3 realms were going to join back as one, so Deus stood up on Asulon, and held Lighthalzen on his shoulders and pushed Niflheim beneath Asulon. After thousands of years, Lighthalzen formed solidly above the skies, and Niflheim was firmly embedded below the earth of Asulon. Deus let out a breathe, and said “I am done”. Deus fell over and died on the plane of Asulon. When Deus died, his body became part of the world. His body became the mountains, his sweat became the water, his hair became the forest and the trees, his eyes became the sun and moon, his heart the riches of the earth, his breathe the winds, his blood the snow and ice, his limbs the four corners of Asulon.

Many millenniums later, the god Honra came into existance. There was no life on Asulon, and he thought it was very boring. So one day he flew to a stream, and saw his reflection in the water. So he thought “Why not make people in my likeness?”. He gathered a bunch of ice, and made a human figure from it. After that he made many more, and these would go forth and populate Asulon. But making each figurine from ice was time consuming, so he took his hammer, and smashed a giant ice glacier. Each shard formed a human, but they were less perfect than the ones made by hand. At one point, the sky rained giant hail stones, killing the humans. Honra saw this and said “They are my creations, I need to protect and preserve them”. He slayed a dragon, a mythical beast full of power. Then he took the dragon scales, and plugged the holes in the sky, saving the human race. That is why there are so many bright stars in the sky, they represent the holes that Honra plugged in with the shiny dragon scales.

"I'm glad you lasses can read, or else I would have to wet my throat and talk myself hoarse."

Jack grunts as he leans to the back of his chair, stretching and scratching his hood. He drains his now cold mulled wine, and stands up slowly, using his arms to push his body upright.

"There is so much more. But this tavern is getting a tad stale and stuffy. You folks wanna join me for a small walk underneath the cold-dragon-scaled-filled-night?"

[Samson Option 9652]

Sauros nods as Jack repeats what Sauros claimed...

"Yus' I am a descendant of tha' mighty Subudai, thunderous are our footsteps as we march the steppes flat!"

[Gemmylou 484]

Moved to the Great Library and will be sorted into a category soon.