A Bard's song: Commented Edition

A poem recited in Mirith on Lancaster and the war between Andris and Mirith.

"So people of Mirith take heed this bold warning that history brings us bright...
Forever and ever we must hold together and be with the Goddess and light!"

Crysania bowed, after reaching for the twentieth time the last verse of the song. Cassandra and Claire clapped nonchalantly. They could already see Crysania learning by heart every single song the Bard would perform during his stay in Mirith. "Alright, Crys," said Cassandra, "if you are to repeat it once again, lets try to interpret it line by line. We have quite a lot of dispersed information on Lancaster. We could try to make some sense out of it."

"I can repeat it as many times as you want, starting at any point, and even backwards, if you need:

I bring you a tale of sadness and ale, of misery, fury and woe...
Of Mirith and Andris, those two great powers, and each each other's great foe..."

"Bah, that's easy to interpret. Mirith and Andris are always whining about each other," mumbled Claire.

"A long time ago in the passage time there was a man of great power....
Lancaster by name and by fame and by game, he was recognised by his glower..."

"Lancaster was a Senator, right?" Claire nodded.

"A most evil plan he did hatch and to match evil with cunning he grew...
A dastardly deed which gave aid to his greed which he knew..."

"I have no idea what is this about."

"Hmmm. The piece of the Curio he stole?" suggested Claire.

"Would give him the power he had sought to devour, and off with Waltham's head he would hew!"

"Who on earth is Waltham?" asked one of the girls.

"All I know is that he was a Senator as well, and was murdered," replied another.

"Murders. Andris. Majara!" shouted Claire, always ready for accusations.

"It is also the name of the potion seller in Duldrus. Do you think he was murdered by Lancaster?"

"You, girls, are just too young," said a familiar voice in the corner. "Waltham was the first piece of the very clever plan made by Lancaster. It was during the very first blue moon festival that it began... Everything was going so well until that one evening Waltham was found murdered near the gates. Two evidences were found near his body: A scrap of grey robe, and a broken insignia of Mirith."

"Uh! See? Mirithians! Murderers. Majara wears gray!" This comment made Crysania frown. She continued:

"With a token and trick he would try to convict one known to be brave and so true!
Zexe's crime wrought from that masterful mind that was evil and knew what to do."

"Of course all attention was turned towards Mirith at that moment. There is one evidence that came a few days later, and finished to persuade about everyone Mirith was indeed the culprit."

"And that was?" asked Cassandra. The Stranger handed them a letter.

"This letter sent to Lancaster. One thing you have to know if you really want to understand that letter... A few weeks before the festival, Zexe was ambushed by the twins. He was unable to move, laying in bed with broken bones. But somehow this letter made everyone believe Mirith was lying about Zexe's condition, and Zexe was the perfect assassin for Senator Waltham.

"Oh! I thought Zexe was a goody good!"

"Everyone was in shock, even more when what was left of Zexe's badge was compared with the piece found on Waltham's body. They matched perfectly. Andris asked that Zexe would undergo a trial to prove his guilt and then be sentenced. But Mirith assured that Zexe was still totally unable to move from the ambush, and that the trial could not possibly take place. That lead to the first skirmishes between Mirith and Andris, until that day Lancaster decided to declare war on Mirith. And from then, his plan was in motion."

Crysania recited a few more lines, stressing dramatically the words "blood," "glove," and "furious swoon:"

"With his trickery planned he knew the time would come soon...
At the festival that they call the Blue Moon...
Where innocent blood would be shed and the glove...
Would be thrown in a furious swoon..."

"The first Blue Moon festival, you said. In which year was this?"

"Uhh. You'll have to dig for that. I'm old and my memory is failing..." apologized the cloaked figure.

"Was before the Marali attack, wasn't it?"

"Yes, way before."

"Right, I can find that."

"So bold Zexe was framed by that man so depraved and swords were rattled in sheathes...
At the moon's closing light when all travellers lights were extinguished and they had to leave...
Lancaster he gained fame and notorious acclaim and made himself King of Andris!
His power so vaunted he gained undaunted by the destruction of our precious peace."

"Andris had a King? I didn't know this!"

The Stranger ignored Cassandra's question. "So, anyway, what happened then... The tensions escalated, a lot, Andris basically publicly accusing Mirith, and Senator Robertson hiring Mercenaries, also amongst citizens, to build up their military force."

"Woah! Crazy!"

"So Lancaster wasn't yet in power? Just a senator?"

"Indeed. After a while, Andris just put things straight: either Zexe's trial takes place in Andris, or it's war. Galandir refused. War was declared."

"Yay! Action!" The announcement of a war made Claire come out of her lethargy.

"Well the thing is, after war was declared, Senator Morgans cames asking shelter in Mirith."

"The Senators fled from their lands and homesteads, fleeing to Galandir's aegis...
And history recounts the deeds of the gallants, and its manifold pages..." confirmed Crysania.

"Andris' walls were closed to the outsiders, and Mercenaries flooded the city. Morgans told Mirith that Lancaster and Robertson went way too far in her opinion. And that she was worried for the other senators, still trapped inside, namely Anderson, who she knew was trying to escape. Mirith sent an assault on Andris and managed to rescue a near-dead Anderson. And that is when a little troublemaker came into plan, by the name of Zara."

"Zara, who is in that Willow's story as well, right?"

"And Falvo's sister?"

The Stranger nodded. "Zexe's girlfriend. Zara saved Morgans, before she resurfaced in Mirith, from a man called Brock, who was apparently hired to murder her. Brock was eventually chased and found by heroes. And that is where he confessed before dying that he was Waltham's murderer, and he was indeed tasked with the murder of Morgans, Anderson, and also Robertson."

"Oh!"

"After learning that, Morgans sent a group of volunteers to meet with Robertson, who managed to escape from Andris and to report that Lancaster went totally crazy and now has Andris and the mercenary's army under his control. If you followed the story so far... That also means Lancaster had a whole third of the Curio."

The three girls nodded at once. "Building the Ice Dungeon!"

"Not quite yet. Lancaster's next move was to slaughter everyone at Port Gasp. Er... forgive me, Gast. Welif also suffered a very heavy attack from the mercenaries but Mirith was able to save most of its citizens in time."

"What happened then?"

"It turned out that Lancaster was looking for a certain someone. It is only much too late that the people discovered that, though. In any case, Lancaster managed to find, and capture, who he was looking for. That person did try to send help calls, straight into people's minds. I believe Asliendor was one of the people she tried to contact. But they never really got it, and eventually Lancaster managed to kidnap the little girl. She was Serene, the heir of Elara."

"I've heard of her. She died, didn't she?"

"And Vanderbilt? Is it now?"

"Hold your horses my dear, I only have eleven fingers. Anyway, you see, the Curio is cool and almighty but not everyone is able to fully fathom and apprehend its power." That was new; the Stranger trying to adopt the vocabulary of the modern generations... "That is why Lancaster kidnapped Serene, he wanted to force her into activating the piece of the Curio he had, and giving him the power of the Moon. Vanderbilt was the leader of the Mercenary army hired by Andris, he is the one who found, and kept Serene captive."

"The mercenaries' tales, and Vanderbilt's failings, ceased by the glorious Tuck!"

"Andris built a fort near the bridge and sent Vanderbilt and a few mercenaries to keep Serene in security there, so that even if Andris were to fall, Serene would still be his prisoner."

"On what side was Marali?"

"Well it was basically Lancaster vs. the rest of the world. But Marali decided to stay 'neutral.' As in, people from Marali were free to go and help Mirith (bear in mind that the Vanguards didn't exist yet), but Marali wouldn't bring any kind of official support or armed force or things like that. So anyway, Lancaster was getting stronger and stronger, and the mercenaries laying waste on Mirith and Oberin. Things were looking very grim at that time. And that is when two heroes did something that no one expected, took a wild bet, and ended up saving Oberin. Tuck and Valaraukar."

"Hmm. What did they do?"

"During one of the countless attacks on Mirith from the mercenaries, those two pretended to sneak into the castle, and try to assassinate the King, setting his room on fire. They got caught and imprisoned, sentenced to death, and on the very night before their execution, set out of jail by DarkStar.

"Why?"

"She gave them a choice. She would set them free, and arrange a meeting between them, and Vanderbilt. They would join the mercenary army, and serve as her eyes in Andris. If they refused, well.. They'd just die there. Eventually became part of the Andrisian mercenary army... They ran errants for Lancaster for a little while, and since they used to be Mirithian heroes, everyone in Oberin would keep on talking about them and how they betrayed everyone and how they should die and burn and be resurrected and die again.

"Nice."

"That pleased Lancaster a lot, who decided in provocation to assign them to the bridge hall, and the 'protection' of Serene. They reported to DarkStar, who reported to Mirith, and the siege of the hall began. A very long siege, during which Vanderbilt barricaded himself inside the hall, with Serene, Tuck, and Valaraukar. Then, the Mirithian army wiped the mercenaries outside the hall, and soon had it surrounded. Vanderbilt would not surrender, but just like any human being, he eventually had to rest, and gave the responsibility of watching over Serene, and the fort, to Tuck and Valaraukar. Needless to say, this error cost him his life. The two men murdered Vanderbilt in his sleep, rescued Serene, and became heroes again in the eyes of everyone."

"But Serene is killed at some point, isn't she?"

"She died indeed. Technically not killed. But what she went through traumatized her, and the suffering Lancaster inflicted to her body was too much for her to handle."

"Serene, forever traumatized by Lancaster, whose powers seem to have vanished, crying every night trying to forget, praying for those images to leave her mind, and her... She was old, very old, and in a few years..." quoted Claire, by heart.

"Is there any other heir of Elara?"

"Who knows?" The Stranger smiled for a second, and continued, "Last act of the War: Mirith gathered all the explosive material they could, ash, eels, stuff like that, and decided to simply blow up the walls of Andris. Beleth was in charge of gathering the reagents. Needless to say it took them no more than a few days to have what he considered to be enough to destroy a small portion of the walls. The offensive took place, I can't exactly remember when, the walls were destroyed and the Mirithian army poured into Andris and liberated the city from the mercenary army. But Lancaster was already gone... with the Curio."

"Where did he go?"

"Is it finally the Ice Dungeon bit?"

"Yes. Apparently he did manage to use Serene to unleash some of the Curio's power. He used that Curio to build the Ice Dungeon, that would serve as his hiding place. The Mirithian army proceeded to invade the Ice Dungeon. It was long, cold, hard battle, one of the longest battle people ever had to fought. There were many deaths. Eventually... They found Lancaster, and killed him."

"Mirith, Mirith, always Mirith!"

"Well, it was the Mirithian army. But if you really want to set things totally straight the army was led by both Zexe and Birek McCalla."

"Oh! Birek McCalla is mentioned three lines below:

Of Jefferson and Clara, those women who would rather have gold than their own lives...
Of Bigwig's love for that cleric who just never loved him though how much he did strive.
Of Birek McCalla and all who would follow and strike to the heart of the pain..."

"Was Birek already under Mirith at the time?"

"No. Birek was just helping. But it probably was his deeds during this war that led him to become the new Royal Guard after Zexe's death."

"So how did the battle go?"

"Bad. They won, eventually. But... So many casualties, so much pain... No one knew about the place, it was all new. They got lost. They had to kill many dragons on the way...

"Poor things."

"Things were not like today young one. A dragon was actually a real hard threat."

"Anyway. They found them in the end?"

"They found and killed Lancaster, yes. That is how the war ended."

"Hmm... But the poem doesn't end here:

And the dead who attest to the glorious best that our Mirithian forces did gain!
Lancaster's mercs and those lizardly cursed creatures all would endure great pain...
And the blood of the heroes along with their great foes was washed away in the rain..."

"Were the lizard men his allies?"

"I've found tons and tons of letters from that Roman trying to to something with the lizard men at this time. Does that matter?"

"Lancaster did stir up the old conflict between the Lizard and the Human race," said the Stranger, munching an apple. His story was over, and he was getting a bit too tired to reply to the remaining questions that filled up the girls' minds. "Well, I guess he was looking for allies anywhere he could find them."

"A friend once told me," quoted Claire, "all the lands of Mirith down to Welif were belonging of the lizards in the long past. There were wars and the lizards lost. Mirith was built on their blood by taking their land and all they could do was run to that island. They hate humans for this and much blood was spilled during years, with people hunting them all time, like animals."

"That is not totally true, but it does sum up the reason why it was so easy to turn the Lizards vs the humans."

"Okay... And before you get sick of us, can we go back to that line on Bigwig?"

"Aye. What about it?"

"I assume he's love is Clara. I think I've found a letter he wrote somewhere..."

"Clara was the head cleric, I think, of the mercenary army. Jefferson was Clara's lover. Jefferson was also a leader of the army, under Vanderbilt's orders. But Jefferson didn't quite agree with everything that Vanderbilt was ordering her to do, namely murdering innocent Andrisian citizens for the sake of keeping order. So she kind of fed Mirith with information at some point."

"Ah!"

"But she wasn't discrete enough and eventually got caught. And murdered in front of the very eyes of her lover, Clara, by Vanderbilt himself. Clara was siding with the Not-Totally-Mirithian-Mirithian-Army during the reconquest of Andris."

"So she changed side?"

"Well Vanderbilt killed her lover in front of her. So yeah, she did."

"Sounds reasonable. And Bigwig...?"

"What about Bigwig?"

"'Of Bigwig's love for that cleric who just never loved him though how much he did strive.' Is this here just for the sake of the rhyme, or did he play an important part in the story?"

"Clara wasn't really into men, you see? Well, what more to say... Once Andris was free Clara realized life without her lover wasn't worth living, and ended her life on Jefferson's grave. But again, I only have half a brain and eleven fingers, and I am getting tired for today. If you, ladies, don't mind, I shall take my leave."

Claire and Cassandra nodded and thanked the Stranger, once again, for coming to their help. They had reached Crysania's favourite part of the poem, and the cleric was already stepping on a table, from where she sang the concluding verses:

"And now Andris lies proud, a glorious crowd, a testament to our might!
That no one shall ever crown himself king of e'rywhere, it is a most heinous slight!
So people of Mirith take heed this bold warning that history brings us bright...
Forever and ever we must hold together and be with the Goddess and light!"



[A large number of informations about Lancaster can be found in the old forum. It is, however, full of gaps, side stories, and quite hard for the youngsters to read. To link it all would be unnecessary - just browse the archives, if you feel like it. You might be interested in this post, though. Thanks again to the GMs, both for making a poem and for helping us interpreting it. You know who you are!]

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More questions than answers. That's Black Magic!

Neth, Dethras, and some other mysterious Black Magicians from the past.

* Mora *

"Claire! What are you doing?" Cassandra was petrified.

"Oh, just joking," giggled Claire, in the way only female clerics can giggle, "I was reading about this Neth... Was he the evil twin of Seth?"

"I have no idea. All I know about him is that he was a Black Magic user. And that Cecil made an edition of his notes on the art.

* Elarum Mora Erarum *

"Claire, stop it!! You're not even a wizard."

"But it says here that this spell will give me a temporary boost of energy. And I'm tired!" Claire started pouting, and there is nothing worse than a pouting Claire. Cassandra quickly caught back her attention. "He tried to use the Curio as well, right?"

"Yeah... Speaking of Black Magicians and the Curio, what do we know about that Dethras?"

"Not much. Let me see." Cassandra took a quick look at her notes, wondering about the urgency of a better way to classify them. So many names, so many stories. Fortunately Kwesyther was diligent enough to have started making indices at this early stage of their research. "So, we know that he was mad, of course. And that he challenged the Goddess of Life. Our storyteller friend told us that there is no official document about Dethras, which doesn't exactly help us, does it? Some people say he was a follower of the God of Death, others say he believed to be the God himself. Loonies..."

"The Curio was still in one piece by that time, if I remember well."

"Yes, this happened at some point after Elara. It was actually because of Dethras and his followers that the cities thought it better to divide the Curio in three."

"Followers? Why do these people always have friends?"

"I don't know. Because absolute power is cool? Anyway, we know three names related to Dethras, even though we can't be sure about their role. Acres, Angammatar, and Arroc."

"Oh, wait, I think I've heard something about Senator Anderson mentioning these guys recently. She didn't know much either, but it seems that Dethras' minions had some Crystal Skulls. I think she also said that the Goddess was saved by the love of her surviving followers."

"Eww. No offense, Claire, but that sounds too girly. Oh, come on! Stop frowning, you know how much I respect your Goddess," said Cassandra with a smile.

"We better ask Nafets; he usually knows this stuff," mumbled the cleric. "Back to Neth. Have you ever read this? He was so mean!"

"Yes, there's that horrible bit where he's just watching the peasants die. And that spell, 'the Neth,' was pretty much about it. He wanted to see everyone killing each other. I guess he spent too much time around druids casting provocation. I like the names of the months in the Old Calendar, though: Mirtius, Jarius, Quiriat, Agrabal..."

"How can you even joke about this? This is so cruel... And then there is this other part written by someone else. I bet you like it, the hero is a wizard wearing a red robe. I wonder who he was."

"So do I. We still have so much to find out. For example, he talks about Salazer, the village leader. Which village is this?"

"Certainly not Lerilin, this all happened before the Black Plague. Anyway, it looks like they used to Curio to lure and trap Neth. And then everyone entered this weird trance and Neth died. Gone. Poof."

"The lich of Neth, yes. But the spell he wanted to created was locked inside a chest. Now... There's this part that keeps puzzling me. Someone called Gidéon opened the chest and released the spell, blablabla, mass murdering, and so forth. The book says that 'the King and Steward of Mirith killed Gidéon and managed to close the chest again.' Does this mean we are wrong about the time when Neth lived? Or did this all happen a bit more than the 'years after' mentioned by Cecil? I have never heard any other story about this catastrophe."

"Well, Cecil also says he is not sure this ever happened. But it is funny to see how the Curio was wandering from hand to hand since it fell on earth. I hope our cities know exactly where their fragments are."

Cassandra nodded, while transcribing her notes into a clean parchment. She then stood up and started walking in direction of the small room on the left, where Kwesyther had been pulling out his hair for nights in a row, trying to make a decent system to organize all the information.

"Your sister once suggested that Neth was the spirit that took Aducath's body," she added, on the way.

"Jane... She is silly sometimes. But we still have to find out who that spirit was."

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A long period of peace

The mage Aborek and the creation of the Blood Dagger.

"The death of Dethras was followed by a long period of peace. During that time, the Curio was separated in three. Mirith, Marali, and Andris still keep their respective parts to this day. With some minor interruptions, of course."

"I have heard that Lancaster stole a part from Andris and built the Ice Dungeon with it," declaired the clairic.

"Yes, my dear," nodded the Stranger," but that is recent History. A long time before that, it was Marali who risked to lose her fragment. It all started because the splitting of the Curio angered Lerilin and Brogan's Keep."

The pleasure taken by the Stranger after throwing a new name to the conversation was obvious. He knew that none of the girls would have ever heard the words "Brogan's Keep," and their reaction was as surprised as he would expect. Nothing like teasing youngsters' curiosity to make your story worth listening to.

"Lerilin was deemed not secure to have a piece of the Curio. On the other hand, Brogan's Keep was the strongest military force at the time. Far, far superior to Marali. But it was a mere fortress, not worth calling a city."

"Was Marali strong at all, at the time?" Asked Cassandra, revealing some remaining bitterness towards Maralian current situation.

"Marali was a very strong military force before the Twins invaded it," assured the Stranger.

"Where was Brogan's Keep?" Inquired Claire.

"You will find that out in a minute. Back to our story. The fact that they were deprived from a part of the Curio really angered the leaders of Brogan's Keep. Especially a certain Black Magician called Aborek." At this point, the Stranger paused for a second to enjoy the exclamations of puzzlement uttered by the mages.

"He decided to show the rest of the world how safe Brogan's Keep was, and to do that, he would steal a part of the Curio. Deep in the catacombs of the fortress, Aborek opened a portal to Marali's vault. Him and his assistant Ayara planned on invading the Vaults, sealing it from inside, and stealing the Curio."

"Did they succeed?"

"Well, the story is more complicated than that. Aborek had other plans for the Curio. I must add that he used to be a very trusted and respected wizard; one whose power would surpass many. However, as most of the book wager, he used too much Black Magic to open the portal to the Vaults, and became a consumed."

"What happened then?"

"How it really happened, we don't really know. Our main source of information about Aborek are some sparse notes Ayara wrote here and there. We do know that suddenly his plans went from simply stealing Marali's fragment of the Curio to creating an artifact from the two strongest sources power in Oberin."

Cassandra lit a new candle. Somehow, candles tend to extinguish when people talk about mysterious forces. It would be better to have a ninth one, than to find themselves in the darkness. The outlines of the Stranger became slightly more defined with the extra light, although not enough to reveal his identity.

"He wanted to create an artifact by combining the power of the Curio and the power of the Centaurs. Ayara witnessed him going mad and speaking of reaching powers even the Curio couldn't grant him: Aborek was trying to craft the Blood Dagger."

"How was he expecting to talk the Centaurs into that?" asked Claire.

"Talk? Who mentioned talking? Anyway, he did ask for a meeting with four Centaur leaders to discuss about Brogan's Keep demanding a piece of the Curio. That meeting was scheduled to happen in a few days when the invasion of Marali's Vaults took place."

"So he stole the Curio before the meeting?"

"Yes," proceeded the Stranger, " No one before and after Aborek managed to even breach in Vaults. But Aborek made it; he invaded the Vaults, stole the Curio, and sealed it from inside. As Vaults are bound to a designated Guardian's soul, the Guardian of Marali at that time was immediately warned. Aborek didn't even try to cloak or hide his identity, he wanted them to know. Needless to say a few hours later, Marali's army was gathering and getting ready to attack the fortress..."

"Wasn't Marali weaker than Brogan's Keep?" Objected Cassandra.

"The armies of Marali, Mirith, and Andris gathered in an unite force to take the Curio's fragment back. It took them but a few days to have an army ready for what promised to be the greatest war of all."

"Uh ho..."

"So war was at stake and according to Ayara's note Aborek's mind got totally eaten by consumption. He decided to use the Blood Dagger's power to totally wipe the united army."

"That means that he managed to craft it. Did the Centaurs accept to help?"

"Do you know how the Centaurs' power work?" asked the Stranger. Both girls shook their heads in negation. "The Centaurs are guardians of an amazing, yet very puzzling power. One that only unleashes upon their death. If they sacrifice themselves, the power that emanated from their body is the most curative of all source of magic. It can heal deadly wounds and cure the most devouring of all plagues... If they are murdered however, that power turns into one of the most dark, destructive force one can imagine."

"He didn't kill the leaders, did he?" Claire sighed.

"Aborek's original plan was to use the Curio, and join it with the Centaurs' curative power to create an even more powerful artifact. In his madness he thought he could kindly ask a Centaur to sacrifice for his experiment. But seeing the army gathered at the footsteps of the fortress, he changed his mind. He would assassinate the Centaurs during the meeting, and craft the wielder of ultimate destructive magic. And so he began the ritual. With a single Holy Dagger, and the Curio's fragment he had stolen. He stabbed Ayara with the dagger, and put it together with the Curio in a golden box."

"Where were the Centaurs, by then?" asked an impatient Cassandra.

"That is of course where Ayara's notes end. But other books were able to catch up," remarked the Stranger. "It is said that the four centaurs arrived for the meeting, but seeing the combined army decided to cancel it and leave. Aborek had everything planned however, and as the centaurs were turning away they got ambushed and captured by his men. They were brought to the catacombs of the fortress, and murdered, at the very same time the united army began its attack on Brogan's Keep. To ensure the corruption of the Holy Dagger, Aborek added a magical Black Stone inside the box, with the Curio and the Holy Dagger, drenched with the blood of Araya and the four centaurs. The Blood Dagger was created."

"Did he defeat the army?"

"No. No one can try to possess such strong magic and survive. The Dagger, corrupted by the Black Stone, fed with the Centaurs soul, possessing even a bit of the Curio's energy, developed a mind of its own.
The fortress fell, and soon the only thing that was left for the united army to fight was a bunch of blood creatures. Brogan's Keep was destroyed and reduced to ashes. The army got the Curio's fragment back, but never found the dagger. Only much later a certain wizard called Elefin did. But that's another story..."

"What happened to Aborek?"

"That is unknown too, it is said that his soul is still tortured by Ayara's departed spirit, and the echoes of his screams can still be heard by travelers in the ruins of what you now call 'Aborek'..."

The Stranger leaned back and lit a pipe, filling the library with smoke. One more story had been told, and even a man like him needs a break before engaging in the next chapter.


[Once again, the source is Stefan, and his words were preserved as much as possible.]

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A Stranger talks about a young girl

The story of Elara, and how she faced the Black Plague.

"Are you, ladies, going to stay here for much longer?"

Both mages turned at once to the corner from where a voice had come. They could not tell, amongst the shadows, to whom the voice belonged. It was, nonetheless, a warm sound, that did not terrify them, despite the surprise."Knowledge must be gained," said Claire, putting on her best Bone Lordish accent. "We are looking for all the clues we can gather about the past," added Cassandra.

"I see. And what do you expect to find here, exactly?"

"Anything! Do you happen to know about History?"

"Maybe. Well... You know... There used to be a big library, much better than this one. Unfortunately, all that is lost."

Claire nodded slowly. "Yes, Brigobaen. We managed to find the few scrolls saved before the pillage. One of them is about Elara and the foundation of Mirith..."

The Stranger murmured an assent. "Elara. Such a young girl. You know that she stopped the Black Plague, right? No? Hmm. When the world was being destroyed by Black Dragons, a few humans hid in the Volcano. Elara was among them. It is known that the Goddess chose her, and gave her the power to leave the volcano and fetch a fragment of the moon that had fallen on Oberin."

"The Curio?" asked one of the girls tentatively.

"Yes," continued the Stranger, "with the power of the Goddess, and the Curio, Elara managed to send the Dragons back to sleeping under the earth. Where they still sleep..."

"And after that, she founded Mirith?" asked Cassandra.

"After that humans emerged and cities were built. Yes, she founded Mirith; her statue is still there. Her ultimate fate is told in an old scroll... Maybe you should ask Cecil about that; I've heard he is back."

"Oh, but wait a second," interrupted Claire, "I still don't understand completely what happened before the Black Plague, much less what happened to Elara!"

"Before the Plague? Before the Plague we were all fighting the Sorcerer Council."

Cassandra turned a page of her notebook and wrote "Sorcerer Council" in big red letters.



[Thanks to Stefan for chatting with us on a Saturday afternoon. Some of the Stranger's lines, in this post as in the others to come, reproduce word by word what Stefan told us. We couldn't possibly phrase it better!]

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