The New Emerald Knights

[Tempir Amedaius 12]

The Emerald Knights

Lore

The Emerald Knights are a group of mercenaries who offer and sell their services to nations and cities in need of help. These mercenaries will only offer services to help protect the innocent, and fight for the good of the people, by any means necessary. They are not greedy, power hungry, or in seek of great wealth either, they will find a way for the people they offer their services to, to pay in a way they can afford to do so, whether it be food, ore, or a free room in an inn, or some land.

History

(Actual in-game RP, retold in story form)

1

After another long night of drinking and hunting down some beautiful women Norris fell behind on our travels back to our homes in Alras I reached my home only to find it had been robbed, after sobering up on the realization my house had been robbed i found the window shattered from the inside, a few items stolen from my chests, the door lock scratched from lock picking and a signature cacti plant and note left by the theif, a Pharoahs Keeper. Xerath my neighbor and friend was yelling at me from his yard asking what happened, and i told him to come over and look for himself, the glass he stated had landed all the way into his yard, indicating the theif leapt from the window out and away from the scene. Xerath helped me pick up all the glass and get my window replaced after looking for an Alras guard. The guards seemed to be utterly useless, basically stating that he did not care about our troubles nor who this "Pharoahs Keeper" is, and just pointed us to the library, which of course had nothing in it about the note left in my home. We decided for the night to go home and sleep, but on our way we found Norris, slumped over and passed out at his door, his problem....we went to bed.

In the morning there was a banging at my door and i could hear Norris yelling from below, he told me how on his way back he was robbed by a group of bandits mere meters from Galahar and the guards just stood and watched. We all agreed the guards all seem to be useless and if we are to stop this sort of thing and find out who robbed us we would have to find out for ourselves. We gathered what evidence we could from my house and upon finding a strange white powder on one of the chests in my room that the lock was not destroyed on we decided that was a good start. We looked throughout alras for an apothecary or alchemist and ended upon a mage. He described the powder to be of bone residue and is a tool of skilled theives.

No one disrespects the house of Kelbourne, nor us, we will not stand for such a blight. We somewhat decided at that moment we would work together against this bandit and if any friends he has against them as well.

The next week Alras was attacked and conquered by the undead, leaving it in ruins, and everything in disrepair. We found ourselves without shelter, without food, or any of our belongings aside from what we had carried, armor, swords, and ale....we never forget our ale. We traveled down king's road out of Alras and came across the same mage whom we spoke to before, after he asked of our progress and explaining our troubles he offered his residence and became part of our group that day. We vowed ourselves against the evils of men, the petty theives and miscreants that desecrate the respect and honor of others, fearing any attempts to go against the undead after having seen their power first hand, we will not go up against them, but theives and bandits shall come to know us.

I will find the man who robbed me, and put a stop to such theives, all it seems i have to go on is the obvious skill of the theif, his calling card cacti, and his name. We will not give up.

2

Our alchemist friend that identified the powder, offered us shelter in his home in Serpent's Ridge just outside of Laurelin. It seemed to have been a meet of luck to have found Drake Faendal. We spoke, drank, we searched the library in Laurelin for answers. We asked around town if anyone had heard of the thief we were looking for, but to no avail, along the way of course Kourik had to chat up every pretty looking Elf girl he saw. After about a week of searching we felt and heard a rumbling as a deep ominous voice jested against the world claiming his power could not be stopped, it was that of iblees, there was no doubt in our minds, he was claiming the cloud temple. We knew it was time to go and had heard of boats being made in the verge, and decided that was where we needed to go, we could hear screaming and shouting as we ran with everyone, a dragon roared above, and Zombie Pigmen Warriors continued to phase into existance because of Iblees, giant spiders began to crawl through the forests around us, but we pressed on. We passed through the portal, and it almost seemed slightly warmer, no longer the chill of dying world of Aegis, our home, but perhaps the warmth of hope, sanctity and security. We rushed out of the ruins of which the portal brings you, thousands of people running for their lives, and there was nothing we could really do to help against such a threat. As we arrived, we could feel and hear more explosions from underground, our only guess that iblees destroyed the portal and trapped whosoever did not make it through....those poor poor souls. We helped on the boats as much we could for the wounded and maimed travelers, as we set sail to new lands, not entirely sure where we were going.

After many weeks on the boats, our armors and swords had rusted from the salts of the seas, any food we had was gone, we were now just as poverty stricken as anyone else, all we had left were some minas, which were of no use here, worthless really. We landed on an island shaped of a crescent moon, and a small camp had been made by a few humans, we think, it was hard to get anywhere close to them, as the mass of people were rushing toward them for food and something, we decided it was best for now if we found our own food, and nourishment and followed the direction of a man to the monks temple. It was a long swim, but we finally made it, we spoke to a few monks but little information was really able to be obtained, they were simple folk, as we expected, but they showed us a rough map of the lands and we decided we would just go north as best we could, it would make it easier not to get lost, and the monks map showed a pine forest up north, and i do love the smell of pine.

We traveled for 3 days, gathering food along our way, until we finally came upon the beautiful redwood and pine forest. It was as good a spot as any and we got started setting tents and getting to work. Xerath and Drake did some mining for new iron and gathered what stone they could for building use. Norris started cutting down some trees in the area to make a small clearing, not to large however to keep our area concealed, he went around the large hill north of us for most of the wood we gathered. I started hunting for food, and Thom started a small farm for us to live off of for the time being.

Over time we built ourselves some small huts, and two towers to keep watch around our settlement. Norris decided to do some scouting of the area, while Xerath and I got to work smelting and folding the iron that had been obtained, Xerath a better blacksmith than I, but i kept a good pace. We were able to craft some armor and swords for us all to better defend ourselves, and of course i made a bow for myself as well. Norris returned speaking of a small clan that had taken over a native village, and guided us to see for ourselves and we saw they started building their own out of what the villagers had made, nary a villager was seen which was troubling, and they tore apart the lands to better suit their needs. This group seemed to have no care for life in any of its forms, and we decided we would need to keep a good eye on them.

3

Norris and I decided to go on a scouting mission, to get a better idea of our neighbors, to the southwest, we found the tearing the land apart, and they somehow built a giant moat around their little village bringing in boat loads of water to fill it in the middle of the desert. These seemed to be desperate people but of no threat to us. As we were leaving to head back to our encampment we noticed we were being followed by one of them, they had the same marking born upon the flag of the village we just left upon their shoulder.

We took a detour and split up so we could trap him and question him, and his reasonings for following us. He was scared, as he should have been, but hesitated on every question, indicating deceit and causing us to be wary of these White Ravens, we told them to tell his leader that if they cross into our forest again we will consider it an act of war and an attack, fearfully he retreated to his village. We reconvened and drank ale as we decided what to do next. Thom our farmer went out to gather seeds for the farm and noticed someone scouting the area with the same insignia, I gathered our men and decided it was time to visit their leader ourselves. We took a long route south along the river, hoping to spot any other scouts that may be lurking about, but nary a one was found. As we reached the village we only saw a farmer, i questioned him, and he was a quick tongued young man, of which any disrespect we do not take kindly to. I nicely asked him at sword point where his leader is, and he quickly replied that the leader was away to Alras. Norris and i agreed that his answer was suspicious so we took a longer look around, and found ourselves at their sandstone tower, the coward was hiding inside. The coward would not come out and followed suit of disrespect to us as well, we attempted to break down the wooden door, but it was of strong sturdy oak, (fail rolls 1,1,2 lol). He finally decided that he would let one of us in to speak with him, I as the surrogate leader was the one to go in.

I interrogated him about the scouts, of course he denied such action, and i told him that any further action will result in a full attack on their village, I will not stand for such insolence, he said it may have been his neighbors not 50 meters away, but of the same mark he wore, what harm was it to find out personally. As we left down the tower I saw the farmer running to where we were headed, a warning perhaps. We approached the city from the east, sending Drake to scout around the other side, we found the gate closed and the doors barred. I asked for their leader, getting the same response, that he was not their, such cowards, I demanded his presence, standing no longer for such blind arrogance and cowardice. The "mayor" finally approached on top of the wall in full armor, a strange poorly made armor with buttons, a surprise it did not pop off his chubby build. He asked our reason for being their, of which i gladly replied. As we spoke i could hear his one soldier in the back helping to arm and armor his farmers and citizens and then climbed the wall to stand beside the mayor as well. I wished to speak to the mayor on level ground, but the coward stayed a top his wall, and his dark elf archer strung an arrow aiming directly at Drake.

I demanded he stay his weapon but he would not, I demanded they back off, as I only wished to speak, but they would not. They continued to jibe and lash out with their cowardice tongues against me and my men, I warned them I would not tolerate such an action, and continuing would be their end. They continued and I decided they were not worth the time and decided to leave, all but Drake followed suit. He being the absent minded alchemist he is, stayed being fighting the verbal battle of desolate tongues, not noticing the men exit from the main entrance in his lonesome state. He was captured and dragged into the city. He was harassed and tortured to be a message to me and the others. He returned, battered and bruised at the encampent, having not been noticed as he always falls behind in our travels, he told of his encounter, and that was the final straw. We suited back up and headed out traveling through the thick of the forest, spotting them coming over the hill across the river, apparently attempting to attack us.

I strung my bow, as well as Ordo, as the rest prepared to charge with swords and axe. We took them by surprise, one of their men was adorned in diamond armor, of whom Ordo and I fired our arrows at, an easy target of blue amongst the iron armors of our comrades and theirs. We tore them apart, and thrived in the battle, we let one escape to tell of the punishment for disrespecting us. We then went to their village breaking down the gate and taking what we could use to better arm ourselves, but little was to be found. We returned and as always, Thom had the ale ready for our drinking, we filled ourselves on the elven ale of his ancestors, and toasted to our easy victory. As i worked on repairing our armors and swords, Norris decided to take a trip back to the village, he wished to see if they got our "message".

4

Upon Norris' arrival the villagers took up arms immediately in an attempt and threat upon his life, Norris grinned in blood lust, in a thirst for battle, as he always thirsts for. As they started to charge at Norris, blade at the ready a roar was heard to the south, a roar of Orcs calling their band to charge, Norris quickly backed away to scout from the tree farm of the White Ravens, the Orcs ripped the villagers apart, leaving no man, woman or child alive and claiming the village their own.

There were more than 30 Orcs tearing the place apart, as Norris began to leave an Orc caught sight of him and called the others to follow, Norris ran as quickly as he could back to our encampment. He reported his findings quickly and we decided being completely outnumbered it would be wise to vacate the camp and look for better grounds to set up a fortified stronghold with proper defenses to deal with such threats as these Orcs.

We left our encampment only bringing what we could carry and quickly left to the east, I hate running from a fight, but I would hate dying even more, knowing it is wiser to live to fight another day than to enter a fight you know you will lost brought little solace to our loss of the encampment.

We found good land across the ocean from where we where, good land with hard ground and a channel flowing by leading to the ocean and the northern bay of Malinor. Norris and I drew up plans for scouting and recon, as Xerath and myself drew up blueprints for the fort, Ordo and Makross began mining in the open caves gathering the stone and ores they could find, along with Drake, however begrudgingly. As they continued to gather supplies for our construction and Xerath smelting the cobble to stone brick for our thick walls, Norris and I scouted the Island we where on.

We set out to the east first seeing one of the largest trees we had ever seen, or at least the top of it. It was difficult to see to the bottom of the tree as it seemed rooted into the soul of the world, the very core gave this tree life, as we began to call it the tree of life. It was larger than any fortress we had ever come across, and with its depth it hid many creatures quite well, many spiders of all sizes seemed to find solace in its shadow. We fought our way through many spiders until we found a road leading out of the tree's deep cove.

We followed the road high out and away from the tree, wondering with growing curiosity as to its destination, for a reason it must have to be built and to lead straight to the tree was odd. We followed it south and east until we reached a fork going east or south. We agreed the southern road would be a better bet, we crossed a high bridge over a deep chasm, a bridge that surprisingly still held even with its decay of old age. The road took us around a steep mountain and into a thick forest, but ended abruptly, too sudden for simple reasons. We looked further south not past a dozen trees and came across a small lake that lead into a river.

In the small lake on the northern side was a large ruined entry, the tattering whip of old flags in the hollowed wind snapping in the cold breeze. An echoing hum came from the obviously occupied cave, steps leading deeper, the lake feeding into a river along the path into the strange ruin. Words of a tongue we had never heard before snarled and hissed, and aggressive harsh but somehow soft and delicate language, the words fell upon our ears like whispers but with such snap of the speaker as if to be aggressive and threatening.

5

Norris, with his usually bold and foolish courage founded within his insatiable curiosity decided to venture inward to explore the whispering caves, I on the other having a somewhat bad feeling in the pit of my gut decided it most wise to wait outside and keep scout avoiding the ominous dark depths of the ambiently whispering ancient cave. After some hours I began to worry for my comrade as he had yet to return, perhaps my gut was right, but i could not leave him within and decided to slowly scout within in an attempt to locate Norris. The tattered cloth of old flags flapped in the brisk breeze flowing off the lake outside snapping up and down, somehow as if to say to get out, perhaps in a territorial manner, having seemed to have been here for a millenia.

I stepped lightly past the flags, perhaps i was somewhat paranoid, but i would say i was just being cautious, looking back in forth in every direction and quickly turning with my sword ready whenever the wind snapped through the caves. It curved around to the right and the sound of rushing water could be heard following deeper inward as i approached a long staircase heading down deeper in to the cavern, a deep green moss covering most of the walls and vines creeping a long side, a symbol of their age or pehaps mending the cracked stone as if to preserve its immortality, or hide its weaknesses. The whispering began to grow in depth, changing octaves as if a conversation was being conducted, but only the aged walls were visible in the damp stairwell.

A clinking of armor boots climbing the steps before me started echoing, growing deeper and deeper, I jumped to the right and hid in a small outcove of stone and rock, hoping to be hidden from view to observe who was coming, hoping with great doubt it was just Norris coming back up. My doubt grew as the echoing of armor became more clear and realizing it was not my friend, and perhaps a threat, but at the very least multiple people heading in my direction to the mouth of the ruins. They seemed to be charging to the front, perhaps i accidently set off an alarm of some sort or Norris was captured and they were checking for more people encroaching upon their domain.

As soon as they had all passed by me I crept out of my small hiding spot to get a better look, they seemed to be dark elves, but somewhat more built with a different gait than that I had become accustomed to, perhaps a native of Asulon, the first natives I have laid eyes upon. As soon as i stepped out another entourage came up behind me, they stepped so lightly i had not heard them until the woman spoke, the same whispering tongue I did not recognize, one of what seemed to be her gaurd stepped toward me, with a diamond etched sword pointing it at my throat faster than i could unsheathe my own sword. With such agility and speed I began to fear I may have been outmatched, with two of them pointing their swords at my throat and the previous squad that had run up the stairs a mere yell away, not to mention the strange yet beautiful dark elf woman gaurded by these men before, unknowing of any witchcraft she may be capable of. I began to fear the worst for Norris, now knowing of the territorial nature of these natives, they were more than likely far from happy having seen a human so deep within their caverns, a small hope that he was smart enough to evade being caught given the numbers of these warriors.

I was shouted at in a language i could not decipher, i decided to attempt sign language to figure a meaning or at least an attempt at sign language in return as a reply. The woman shouted and snarled showing obvious detest for me and pointing up the stairs in the direction I came, I bowed slightly keeping my eyes on the blades to show submissiveness, understanding and respect, I backed up the stairs toward the entrance past the tattered flags which seemed to be laughing at my obvious naivety to the ones who reside within. I was escorted to the end of the pier of stone within the lake, the dark elf natives continued to try and edge me forward pointing past the lake towards Elandriel. Fearing any disrespect to accidently be interpreted, I signed questioning if it was to swim he asked of me, and if i was permitted within the lake to swim away, knowing that some underdeveloped natives tend to hold their lands and water in high regard. He motioned me forward showing apparent disregard for any possibility of a religious taint i may put in the water by swimming within it.

I jumped far and deep into the lake and swam as hard as I could for the shore, being weighed down heavily by my iron armor it was very difficult and could not stay at the surface as i swimmed for the shore, crawling up as fast as i could and gasping for air as i broke the surface waters. I could hear the elves behind me cackling and snarling at my difficulties, as soon as i made it onto the road I began to run with what strength I could muster while still trying to catch my breath. After leaving their line of sight down the bend of the river the road traveled along i stopped to breathe and regain my strength. I then heard a roar of anger from the Ruins i had just left and a large splash in the lake, shortly after Norris had come running up the road shouting to run, we went as fast as we could to Elandriel as we heard rustling in the trees around us, being followed or chased by those same natives.

We finally made it to Elandriel feeling somewhat safe in the Wood Elf city we stopped to breath at the main entrance and recapped with one another. He told me of all that he had found within and how he had hidden between the alleys of their housing, as well as a a large spider monument within a tribute perhaps or even what they consider to be their god, some type of deity at the very least. Which made sense to us as we discussed their agility and speed, a suitable deity indeed. We decided we were going to need to try and keep an eye on their activity with our stronghold being located so close, as well as their proximity to the kind natured wood elves to the south.

6

After a night of resting and drinking at the pub in Elandriel we headed back to Terrahold taking the long way around to avoid any possibility of running into the native dark elves again, who outnumbered us ten to one. Xerath was impatiently waiting for us, as we had been gone far longer than originally planned, his incessent tapping an annoyance to say the least, however understandable it may be. We told him of what we had encountered and decided that we needed to get the stronghold finished as quickly as possible. We reviewed the plans for its structure once more and I went to get the lazy alchemist back to work. I found him sleeping in his tent soundly, kicking him awake he shouted and cursed my name, damn alchemists need to learn to show respect, i grabbed him by his cloack and shoved him down the steps to the mine and threw his pickaxe in after him, unfortunately i missed his thick skull and it landed with a loud clunk near him, he continued to curse and shout my name, but i paid him no mind...as usual.

Makross and the dwarves continued to bring up more supply of cobblestone to be smelted and formed into sturdy stone for our fort, Xerath set the furnaces and readied the stone to smelt as we began to work on placing the stone bricks properly. It was a long and steady process working as a team as diligently as we could to prepare our fort against any possible onslaught. We spent the next year building the fort and strengthing the walls with layers of stone and iron moldings, Thom of course kept the farm up to par for us, supplying plenty of food and ale keeping our blood warm and our stomachs full. We also built Thom a small tavern on the docks as tribute for all the work he has done for us, to show our appreciation, especially for his elven ale.

Shortly after completing the the stronghold which we aply named Terrahold, for the protection of the lands and her close proximity to the "Tree of Life", a stranger came upon our doorstep. He seemed quite able bodied and was simply looking for work. I had his sword tested, as well as his wit, which impressed me, the only doubt i had was that he had a complete lack of memory, he barely remembered that he was in Asulon let alone who he was. For the time being I put him to work tending the barracks and helping to furnish what was still bare throughout. He was a very studious and diligent worker, and never complained, which was a great relief having grown more infuriated and irritated with the alchemist over the past year. Another good soldier who can follow orders and keep his trap shut when required, had seemed a luxury. After a week the soldier finally could remember his name as some of his memory was beginning to return to him, he called himself Mordekai, but if he is fully human was still unsure as his eyes still burned a bright gold color, of which i had never seen on a human before. He spoke of memories of a great crusade that he had led to rid his lands of an evil wizard beyond reproach, a noble task indeed but of lands I have never even heard whispers of before, so his word i still kept upon spider's silk, and judged him merely upon the work he has shown me thus far.

Later that week when checking on the condition of the supplies in the barracks armory i stepped out to the barracks foyer to find Mordekai passed out on the floor, i could hear him whisper in a tone that was not his own, a whisper of agony, pain, torture and entrapment, perhaps a part of his mind trying to find a way out to escape, either he was insane or something worse. Moments later he demeanor changed with a snap, but what troubled me is that he was not surprised to find himself on the floor, and asked if he had said anything or done anything of disprespect or dishonor himself, i told him no i had just walked out the door to find him on the floor. From that moment on I kept a close eye on him, and held no qualm should i need to end his life, but i did offer to him that he seek a druid for a remedy and told him that i had overheard of one being in Elandriel when i had been at the pub their with Norris, chatter of the crowd but worth seeking. He packed a bag and left that day, seeming to be as worried about it as I was being cautious and wary.

Whilst he was away Norris decided to check on our old encampent where the orcs had attacked and conquered to see if there was anything he could salvage and scout the area as well to determine what the orcs were doing. Xerath and I went snuck some ale from Thom's storage and took it up to our meeting room to discuss Mordekai and plans for our next move. We both spoke of our experiences with Mordekai's "black outs" and the apparent other entity, we were attempting to decide if we should find a way to help him in some regard or to send him away. I thought of perhaps playing to his stronger leadership role and that perhaps if we helped to bring that part of his mind into a fuller state, and perhaps manipulate the situation to force his crusader and leadership part of his mind to be more dominant. We decided that after scouting the nations and learning of events that we could be of assistance that we would set up an outpost for him to lead, although Norris may not be too happy as he wanted the first outpost, but we believe this to be of the most important.

We then realized that we had not even named our outfit yet, our clan or group if you will. Looking at one another we decided to try and find a name to represent the color of our armors we toyed and joked with different names of green, some were hilarious and we spent several hours laughing and competing to come up with the most rediculous name. After all the joking was aside and another round of Thom's Ale we found a name we both found quite suitable, we from then on called ourselves "The Emerald Knights", and vowed to spread the name of our honor and valor throughout the lands.

7

The look of dismay on Mordekai's face upon his return was a solemn view but yet courage still lit his brow, perhaps hope of a sort, I requested his audience immediately in a private chamber to discuss his trip. He spoke of his long journey around the bay to the south in a direct attempt to avoid the native dark elves we had run into, he followed the bay to the south then cut east to Elandriel, traveling to the pub, which as always is a large source of all information and gossip for a city. He was directed to the old druid of the city and spoke to him of his illness and troubles as the druid listening with nary a change of affect, as if of no import but a common issue he deals with on a day. He stepped lightly to his ingredients of different alchemical properties taking what he needed, with such experience and knowledge that he knew the very pinch for the exact potion to create. He placed the ingredients one by one into his old stone mortar, that was so worn with age and used on such occasion that it was smoother than a just born younglings bottom. Grabbing his mortar he meshed the ingrediants into a smooth paste then added just enough water to pour it into a small glass for Mordekai to drink.

After the drink Mordekai remembered the druid looking him over and staring into his eyes watching and reading the very lines on his eyeballs as if the exact cause was written in simple common tongue, but the next several hours were but a blur. Mordekai told me that the druid explained to him that somehow another soul had found refuge within his body and had been attempting to escape, but the druid was able to surpress it, however he expressed great concern at whether or not it would remain contained for long, for the memories of great arcane magic were well known to the soul within, and it may find way to escape. I told him not worry, if the other soul started to become dominate in anyway I would slay him where he stood, Mordekai felt relieved, believing that it possible the soul within is that of the evil wizard he had spoken of before. He had also spoken to me of all the other memories he had now had restored thanks to the druid, that of his days and general and commander of a vast army for crusade against the evil magics, he recalled some great horrors he had done to complete his quest, and his great regret for the lengths he had gone. He told me that wished to make amends as best he could and be a better man and leader, as well as do the best he could for me as a soldier, I merely responded that i had plans for him.

Xerath caught me sneaking more ale from Thoms storage and I quickly told him it was for our meeting tonight, to avoid any possible anguish for taking more ale without Thom knowing. We took the ale up to our meeting room atop the keep of Terrahold and spoke of the growing development of Mordekai, and the proof of our previous concerns of his other entity. We decided we would begin our search parties tomorrow to scour the lands of the great Asulon, and learn what we could of her as well as to see where we would be needed. For the time being we enjoyed our ale and began speaking of our heritage and pasts having realized with recent events that we were unaware of each other's own pasts. Xerath told me, rather handed me a hand book to the stormblade family and i sifted through it until a very particular image had caught my eye. It was the only human to ever recieve one of the family's most honorable gifts a stormblade sword imbued with magics and folded more than any other sword any human could muster with a sharper edge than can be found. This sword was a gift to a man who wore an armor of similar fashion and design as that of my home village of Kivara, the man was the Baron of Lunavara, Trouvo Souvok.

I practically dropped the book in shock as my uncle stared at me from the page, a man i had believed, no my entire village believed had died saving all of the children in the village from a raid when he was a child. I grew up with stories of how I should be as courageous, honorable and selflless as Trouvo had been. Xerath told me of what he knew from Lance Stormblade, Trouvo's military advisor and closest friend in Lunavara, how I wished I could have met him or even had told Kivara of his survival and the work he had accomplished from a mere guard to that of the benevelant and loved leader of Lunavara. I could not believe that he had even once been asked in a secret accord to be King of Oren before even Edmund's fall. I felt great pride in knowing that he was my uncle, and knowing that the Stormblade's held him in such regard that Lance had commited suboku in his honor for failing to protect him in his final years to the blades of 15 bandits he could not defend against on his own at the age of 84, Lance had killed himself in honor of Trouvo. Xerath and I both felt a greater kinship at the moment having our heritage connected in such an honorific way that we silently vowed that we would watch over one another in honor of our kin, and that of Lance and Trouvo.

8

After several months of scouting, Xerath and I called a meeting to review the reports that had been gathered of the lands around us, all the lands of Asulon. I spoke first of the beauty and fortitude of the Hanseti nation, a very ornate architecture and practically impenetrable nation, surrounded by mountains of snow, ice and rock. I pointed out on the map several accessible ways into the nation without being able to be seen, most were mere goat paths but 3 paths into the nation could easily be covered by an army. We were sure to log this information should we ever be hired for or against Hanseti we will be of greatest aid. Norris then spoke of the activity of the Orcs, they had completely taken over the entire area where our original encampent had been, and were continuing to take what they could, and conquer every little village that dared be too close to them, we were still unsure as to what happened to the White Ravens after that attack as we had not seen nor heard anything about them, they may have been wiped out by the Orcs. A formidable army that have created, and one we shall do our best not anger until our numbers have increased.

Mordekai had scouted the southern human nations of Salvus and Renatus, reporting Salvus to be a group of pompous self-righteous "Peace-Keepers", that seemed to do nothing but torment their peoples and practically starve their people out of existence with their excruciating taxes. Salvus seemed nothing but a nation for the poor to get poorer and the rich to get richer, we decided it against our moral standing to provide aid to such a nation in any regard. He then reported of Renatus' troubles, continued attacks by bandits, theives and other miscreants causing mayhem, delaying and practically halting all of their construction aside from their walls to keep them out. They were continually being hounded, robbed, and attacked on what seemed a weekly basis. They needed our help, and we needed renown and pay.

I quickly devised a plan and idea to offer our help and services to them, that would cost them nothing but a little ink. I thought it would be in our best interest if we offered our service to help guard them in return for a bit of land to make an outpost, which would not only allow us to be in close proximity to Renatus to keep an eye on them and protect them, but also to give us an outpost in the middle of the 3 southern human nations to allow our own scouts better access to information and the lands. We would also state to Renatus that we would be build the fort ourselves, as we are completely self-sufficient. We decided our plan to work for Renatus was good for both sides and would set sail in the morning for Renatus, a long boat ride across the sea it would be.

Upon our arrival at what seemed to be a very small harbor, we could see the poor state of their city and walls, the farmers were in the most danger from attack as all the farms were outside the city inland from the walls of Renatus. The walls were incomplete and we could already see many access points for a good agile ranger to make his way over the wall with ease, they seemed to have no understanding of proper defenses. We went in what seemed to be a medium sized from gate for such a large city. Within the walls it was pretty barren aside from just a few little houses and a storage shed, they seemed to be in more of a dire situation than we believed. One man was busy working and had just come up from the mine to add his load of cobble to the storage shelter, and we caught his attention to ask where the king might be for an audience. He grumbled and groaned continuing to carry his load of stone as he said "In the castle!", as he looked to the gate just south of us.

We could not see any semblance of a castle from where we stood but decided to take the man's word for it and made our way through the gate, beyond this gate seemed to be the actual city, there were quite a few building being constructed and a nice garden as well as a hill top for what seemed to be where the castle would be built, but it had not even a foundation laid yet. We headed up, supposing the king would be around where is castle would be, at first we ran into an older gentleman claiming to be one of the King's Advisor's, I could not pronounce his name, so I took to calling him Zeb. We asked him for an audience with the king for a proposal of protection of Renatus, of which he asked the terms of such a proposal, after explaining it to him as well, he found it to be quite fortuitous as well. Zeb lead us to the king, and allowed us to speak of our plans to help Renatus, being completely understanding of their financial strain at the moment, as we stood in a castle with no walls, and no floor. He wished to speak to Zeb in private as to our plans, and stepped several meters away, upon their return they agreed, and Zeb would show us where they would allow us land.

Zeb lead us just outside the city past the farms and across a small river, to a beautifully defensible and concealed location, it was an odd mountain that seemed to have been hollowed by winds and sand from the west, a spider of rock. We agreed this would be an excellent spot, as Xerath and I began imagining what we could build to be of the upmost advantage to our cause and reason for being here. I sent Norris back to Terrahold to gather supplies and a couple dwarves to help with the construction, as I spoke to Mordekai.

9

I spoke to Mordekai, still believing that if I pushed his dominant crusader side to be a strong leader it would help to strengthen his mental walls against the intruding spirit, I told him that I wanted to test him, to test his qualities, and to have him prove himself to me. I told him I wanted him to lead this outpost, and provide good information from his scouts, as well as recruiting more suitable members for the knights, only allowing ones I deemed worthy to even know the location of Terrahold. Mordekai felt greatly humbled and honored at such a responsibility and promised not to let me down. I warned him that he best not, should his other soul take control, I will not hesitate to end him. He understood and went to speak with Xerath about plans for the construction of the fort. Xerath had been drawing plans for what we had decided to call Fort Umbra.

Upon the dwarves arrival, construction began quite quickly and went much faster than that of Terrahold as well, as we were building an outpost and not a stronghold. Norris kept scouting for any bandits upon Renatus, but they seemed to have quieted much, perhaps our mere arrival on the lands changed things for the better. One of the dwarves kept work in the mines providing as much stone as possible for construction as the rest of us readied and set the stone, working in such unison we were able to finish within a few months time. After everything was complete Norris, Xerath, Drake and I packed for our journey back to Terrahold. As we began to leave we heard a loud clash on the roof of the meeting room and went to investigate, it was but two morons in armor, they seemed to have fallen off the rock face far above, perhaps the only reason for their survival was that they had not a brain to rattle around their skulls, though they did seem to be quite dazed as they fell off the roof to the ground below. Whoever they were they were not very observant either as they had not seen us, they got up and went into the storage room, perhaps theives they were, but doubtful the same that have attacked Renatus, unless the guards were even more mundane than these idiots.

All of us had heard the noise and went down to speak to them face to face, we all went in swords drawn to find these two attempting to break into our locked chests to no avail. They began to yell and demean us, stating that they were guards of Renatus and we were encroaching upon their lands. I understood then why Renatus had such great trouble with theives, these morons didnt even know why we were here, and they attempted to rob us before even investigating as to whom was here and why. I told them we had more right to be here than they and asked them to leave, which they took as a threat against their lives and manhood, perhaps they were to say the least, slightly drunk. After a bit of yelling and shouting from the dwarves to these pathetic excuses for guards we finally got them to leave. I sighed and stated that at the very least we have a good location for our outpost, even if it seemed we would be wasting our time here.

Norris, Xerath and I decided to stay another night, and to speak to Zeb in the morning in regards to these pathetic guards of his, still quite disgruntled by their apparent idiocy and blind view to the world around them, an obvious proof as why Renatus was in such bad shape. That morning a man from the east, seeming from Renatus came to shout and threaten that we would soon be attacked, to what reason none was given, nonetheless i armed all the men we had and we set up on the walls, Ordo and I with our bows and arrows ready upon the roof of the meeting room, the best vantage point given the apparent direction they would come from. All of us had been suited in iron armour unable to afford any better armors yet, we waited and readied ourselves for the attack.

I could see a group of them coming from across the river from renatus, three of them dawned in diamond armors, one was an archer, how the archer moves like he does with diamond armor, I was unsure, but a threat none the less, and even with all of their armors they still swam across the river with such ease as if they had no armor on at all. (a jest at all the powergaming they used....) One of them began to shout, telling us it was time for our end for disrespecting them yesterday, I couldnt help but scoff, that these morons were attacking us because we caught them attempting to steal from us, after falling into our base. If these are the only guards that Renatus has, then they are but a lost cause. The archer in diamond readied his bow trying to find a good vantage point against us, to which none could be found, I made sure of that, Ordo and I pelted him and the others with arrows of fire and light, doing as much as we could. One of their rangers called out from my right side, finding a tree that was too close to the fort, and all of the guards rushed and jumped onto the tree and onto our walls, this spider mountain must be magically imbued for the tree to hold 8 men in full armor, three of which in diamond armor, as well as all of these men easily jumping onto the tree from the cliff face and then to the walls of our fort, we became quickly outnumbered and I ordered everyone to retreat into the meeting room and close the gates.

We then grabbed the table and shoved it up against the gate to bar them from getting in, they continued to prove their idiocy as one of the guards shouted to bring the battering ram, I couldn't help but laugh imagining them attempting to either bring it up via the tree they climbed or around our tight spiral stairs, both would be impossible. They continued to attempt to break in to the meeting room to no avail, and in hopes of helping in the fight drake attempted to use his alchemy to perform magic and call upon the aid of the goddess, but something went wrong. We heard an echoing loud drop of water, as the smell of leaves and mushrooms swam through our senses from drakes scrying scroll on the ground. We then heard the raging and screaming of someone or something very upset, speaking in such anger i could not make out what he said, the ground began to shake, the walls began to crack, the guards outside ran seeing this being that we could not, we took that opportunity to escape as well. The paintings fell off the walls, the ceiling began to crumble as well as the floor below us, the walls cracked deep from the strain as the raging voice grew louder, speaking some form of enchantment, and the obvious reason for our fort falling apart with such ease.

We escaped out the northern entrance of Fort Umbra, barely in time to see the entirety of our fort vanish into the void, leaving but a few floating slabs in the ambient residue of the magic used, the raging spirit vanished, grumbling of disturbing the beauty of his land, apparently he loved the stone spider of the land as much as we did, or more perhaps.

All other information can be found Here nicely set out on our wiki page.

we are opening up recruitment as of now. To start your journey to becoming an Emerald Knight you must first apply for a training position ((application found bellow)). once accepted you will then go into our training camp. If you complete your training you will be well on your way to becoming a honoured Emerald Knight.

Application:

OOC Information ~

Mine Craft Name:

Age:

Time zone:

RP Information ~

Role Play Name:

Gender:

Race:

Sword Level:

Axe Level:

Archery Level:

Profession (E.g. swordsman, miner, blacksmith, ranger etc.. ):

Do you have an accepted villain application (if so link please):

Nation Affiliations (your characters view of other nations):

The White Knights

The Lore

Tempir arrived in Asulon, not knowing where to go, and where to find people. He sat in the Cloud Temple, tossing rocks into the fountain, waiting for someone to help him. No-one ever came, so Tempir decided to start exploring, he wandered and wandered, went to the abandoned tent camp, found a few nice elves who gave him directions to the closest town. So Tempir followed the road, and landed in Salvus, home of the humans. Not knowing what to do, or where to go so he decided to find the leader of the Salvus army. He met a man by the name of Carro Perea, he gave him a piece of paper, and told Tempir to fill it out. So Tempir went and filled it out, and gave it back to Carro. He read over it quickly and said "Accepted, follow me for your tests." Tempir followed him to the military district, where he provided a few weapons so he can go kill some monsters. He came back and was accepted into the Salvus Peacekeepers. Tempir was there for a while, but left due to no payment. After his leaving from the Peacekeepers, he joined the White Ravens. The Ravens were an amazing group when he joined, he learned many things from them. However, as Tempir was a Raven, many people started joining and they corrupted. Many members were dying inside of Aliquam Purus, and there was an upcoming war, Tempir was very stressed. He tried many things to call of the war, he tried to surrender and many things. Just to save the lives of the Ravens. He went to his brother, Renati Amedaius for help. Renati would help him if Aliquam would become a city of Seventis, and a few other small things. He accepted and the other Ravens didn't like this. Aodran demoted him from his position as lord and Tempir was furious. Not for being demoted, for getting no respect of even thinking of saving the Ravens. Tempir lost most respect for most of the Ravens, and the White Knights were formed.

The Rank of The White Knights

There is just one branch of the knights, but there are many different ranks you need to pass through to become a powerful figure inside the knights. The ranks aren't meant to be a dictatorship, yet a guild where thoughts are listened to. We will try our best to listen to both sides of the stories.

Let's start with the ranks. There are many ranks, such as: the page; zealot; knight; champion; commander; and the duke. Everyone starts out as a page, until they are in the guild for one elven day, then which they get promoted to a zealot. After a week in the guild they get promoted to the knight. To get promoted to champion, a knight must prove themselves to a champion, then get the commanders approval. To become a commander, you must have a very good knowledge in battle and how to fight. The duke is the leader, the former duke appoints the new one.

Page - The basic level of the knights. These are the new recruits.

Zealot - The apprentices of the knights, a knight usually has these as aides.

Knight - The fighting force, also the basic member of the guild.

Champion - Highly trained knights, they have proven themselves in battle.

Commander - These have proven their battle strategies. They are also the head of the military branch,

Chancellor - These have proven their religious skills. They are the head of the religious branch.

Magistrate - This is the member who advises the Duke, he has power over everybody, but the Duke.

Duke - They are very helpful, skilled members of the guild

What We Do

We want all to be pure in heart, and have balance among the world. This isn't possible in the world, but we try our best to have it. We want this because people should help one another, not murder, hurt steal from others. But have kindness in their heart. However, just because there shouldn't be evil in the world, doesn't mean we need it. We need balance, we need balance of good and evil, or the world of Asulon wouldn't be the same.

Why do we want you?

We want you because we want to create balance in the world and have everybody have a pure heart. The more people we have, the more chances we have to accomplish this. We want you to help us, and the innocent.

The Rules:

-You must be pure in heart.

-You must listen to both sides of the story

-Do not take one for granted

-Respect all

-Do not steal

-Do not kill.

Who do we want

We want everybody, from skilled fighters to expert blacksmiths. We need all and all are welcome. There will be the laborer branch and the military branch. The laborer branch will be ones such as the woodcutters, miners and things such as that. The military branch will be the army.

[Trouvo 205]

I will message you a few changes to the post per the merging after i get to work, right now it just looks like a copy/paste of both of our posts))

[Tempir Amedaius 12]

It is. I just cleaned it up a bit, added the colors etc.))

[Arashiha 294]

Apart we are formidable but united we are stronger.

~Xerath Stormblade Emerald Knight of Wisdom

[Tempir Amedaius 12]

((What do you think of the name "The Scarlet Knights?" for the formation of both of us.

[Trouvo 205]

((nay we are the Emerald Knights, it would not bode well to try and get a new name known through the lands, and Kourik will not change the colors and everything because someone has finally decided to be absorbed into the Emerald Knights

[Tempir Amedaius 12]

((Alright that is fine, want me to make an application?))

[Trouvo 205]

((Do you mean an application for yourself or one for others to join?

The point of the application is to get people interested and joining, but you are now the Emerald Knight of Power via RP (officially once we meet again in RP, as i was trying to see you earlier today while you were away in holm), you will still have full command of your men under myself of course, but we will also discuss any actions together with Xerath in meeting, I will be speaking with Zeb about an outpost for you so you are no longer living in a guild house in a crowded city, and we can build it for you as well.

Also we do kill, when reasonable and needed))

[Tempir Amedaius 12]

((Very well, do we need a VA, since it's killing...?))

[Trouvo 205]

((An antihero app does help, but is not required the killing is only for self defense when needed as a last report or during wars, otherwise you would need one

But the point i was making is that we are not anti-killing just anti-murder))

[Arashiha 294]

((no but a anti-hero one can allow you to do more things any way we don't go around robbing people we are more like soldiers if that helps at all))

((lol trouvo beat me to it))

[Tempir Amedaius 12]

I'll make an anti-hero application, I like making them anyways.

[Imperial Legion Soldier 34]

Application:

OOC Information ~

Mine Craft Name: Erictorchlighter

Age: Lost count IC

Time zone:UTC/GMT -5 hours

RP Information ~ My person is a human who served as a oren guard for years he then moved on and joined the white ravens but after they reformed he decided not to join them again. I honestly do not know his age.

Role Play Name: Kanoro torch

Gender: Male

Race: Human

Sword Level: 100

Axe Level: -3

Archery Level: 10

Profession (E.g. swordsman, miner, blacksmith, ranger etc.. ): I am mostly a swordsman but I can do a little fishing and use a bow.

Do you have an accepted villain application (if so link please): Sadly no.

Nation Affiliations (your characters view of other nations): He owns a house in holm and a city of seventis I think. He does think the dwarven folk are quite good builders, the orcs are great fighters, and the elves are good at well... living in a tree house.... and he does not really think about the humans.

[Trouvo 205]

RP Information

IC age etc

[Sebasgann 232]

Application:

OOC Information ~

Mine Craft Name: Sebasgann

Age: 16

Time zone: Eastern standard

RP Information ~

Role Play Name: Dwarven_Smither_Sebasgann

Gender: Male

Race: Dwarf

Sword Level: 10

Axe Level: 0

Archery Level: 0

Profession: Blacksmithing, (plan to train Farming and Archery)

Do you have an accepted villain application (if so link please): None

Nation Affiliations (your characters view of other nations):I carry the nationalism towards my dwarven kinsmen, take pride in being a dwarf and somewhat full support their actions. I have a dislike towards the Orcish nation because of our common rivalry in might, as well as their rivalry with other nations, but come respectful to them when the circumstances are right. I have a wayward respect for the Human nations, can get somewhat well with the surface dwellers. Trade is important with them and they provide us with further purpose to work in the fires of a forge. The elves i leave to live in their damned trees reading books, i have no quarrel with them but have little reason to help them out of the goodness of my heart of such thing exists in a dwarf. But my true allegiance is held in my kinsmen and my honor bound brethren. I will not hesitate to aid them for they are my reason, my dream to help aid them in combat by keeping their blades sharp and their armor durable. i would not hesitate to lay my self to stone for them. my Dwarven stoutness towards other nations can wait for my brethren. But i would help those nations if it were what i had to, if it were for my brothers in arms.