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The Tale of the Swords of the Ancients
In the nine thousand and ninety-second year of the Fifth Age, Vaelen, a Mithrodin cleric, became a queen when she was wed to King Eadred of Lumenia. Soon thereafter, the sorcerer Navros approached the king and offered services in the coming war against The Dark One, but King Eadred had knowledge of Navros' past alliances and thus he angrily declined and ousted Navros from his lands. That knowledge had been passed down through the secret records of the Mithrodin to the great kings since ancient times and it was thus: In the four hundred and eighteenth year of the Fifth Age the Mithrodin protectors had established the Kingdom of Lumenia to watch over the Dark One, who's disembodied form had been banished to the underworld of Lokonia after his second defeat. Lokonia was the ancient dead kingdom under the mountains that lay between Deylund and Lumenia where in ancient times the Umethar had once been forged by the Dark Elves. Soon after The Dark One had been banished the kingdom of Deylund had waged war against Lumenia and it was rumored that Navros had aided Deylund and influenced its ruler's mind by witchcraft; and it was also rumored that Navros was in league with the Dark One. Peace was later made between the two kingdoms and all suspicions of Navros were forgotten for a time; but thence the Dark One re-emerged from Lokonia, aided by Navros who had used his power of sorcery to create for him a corporeal body once again. The Dark One waged war with his Baelin against Deylindor, the homeland of the Mithrodin and Deylindor was destroyed and made a wasteland, but nearly all of the Mithrodin had saved themselves and escaped to other lands. The Dark One took its many treasures, among which were the sword of shadows, Morthoseth, and the sword of fire, Valermos. They were hidden with Baelin left to guard over them; Morthoseth in the realm of Loringel and Valermos in Anundos of the realm of Dagorlund. The Dark One then waged war on Lumenia and Deylund but the Mithrodin shifted the balance by giving the Sword of Justice, Cinthorc, to the king of Deylund to aid in the battle. Cinthorc had the power to deal just punishment to wrongdoers, as seen through the eyes of the wielder as being wrongful. With it the Dark One was driven back to Lokonia, his forces not strong enough to battle the great numbers of mortals under the influence of Cinthorc. Cinthorc remained in the Realm of Deylund, passed from king to king for the next four thousand years. In the depths of Lokonia the Dark One did not rest however; and with the aid of Navros' great powers he bred the Barumen, beasts spawned of mortal men and apes of the north, and born of wolves. For one thousand and seven hundred years Navros stirred much malcontent among the peoples of the Great Realm with his witchcraft while the Barumen were being grown into an army in the dark pits of Lokonia and sent up into the lands. In this time Navros secretly made his abode in the realm of Deylund until his discovery by the king's men. Escaping capture he fled back to Lokonia and his master. Now, Almaeth was the King of Deylund at that time and his mother, Morgolien, was very powerful in the arts of magic and her wisdom had guided the King in his decisions over those dark years. On a time King Almaeth discovered, to his dismay, that Morgolien had secretly been using the dark arts to keep her appearance as a young woman, but her real form was that of an old hag, several hundred years old, her flesh was decrepit and rotting. Morgolien had been using her craft to influence her son's decisions in Navros' favor. Upon learning of this treachery King Almaeth, in shame, banished his mother from the kingdom forever. Morgolien, who's mind was now twisted and corrupted by the sorcery of Navros years heretofore, vowed revenge on her son and thence established the city of Nokomis in ruins of the Realm of Deylindor to the East. Many wizards, witches, and users of the black arts gathered there under her tutelage. The Mithrodin held careful record of these events for future kings of the Great Realms, lest Navros' deeds be forgotten, and King Eadred knew full well of his treason and thus he ousted Navros from his halls. In that time the Dark One's Barumen, now known as the Black Legion, had grown great in number were charged by the Dark One to build many secret fortresses throughout the Great Realm, but King Eadred's rangers had spied them and given report to him. The greater host of the Black Legion were kept in Lokonia and afore long they came forth from its bowels to decimate the Great Realm at the command of their master, the Dark One. In the ten thousandth year of the Fifth Age King Almaeth of Deylund, fearing the Dark One's power, departed across the sea of Valesthia to the land of Dagorlund on a quest to find the sword of power, Anathar, the only force that could bring about his defeat. King Almaeth was most knowledgeable about the Ten Swords' history and lore, for his kingdom held the sword of justice, Cinthorc, in its guard for almost four thousand years, passed from king to king. Legend held that Anathar was last and strongest of the Ten Swords forged by the Dark Elves in Barkonia, now called Lokonia. After it was used in the second defeat of the Dark One in the beginning of the Fifth Age the sword was hidden by the Mithrodin in the caverns of Anundos, under the Kilgoriun Mountains beneath the land of Dagorlund. Many foul creatures dwelt there and none that have entered that land over the ensuing years in search of the sword have returned to tell of it. King Almaeth, with the sword Cinthorc at his side, departed Deylund with a fleet of ships on his quest for Anathar but he was never heard of again and no tale told of his doom. In this time King Eadred was overcome with a dread sickness that none could cure which lasted many years. Queen Vaelen assumed the throne until the King would come back to his health. The sorcerer Navros, in the guise of a monk, entered Lumenia once again and offered his services to heal the King. Vaelen was of the Mithrodin order however, and she saw through his disguise. Though she greatly desired a cure for her husband's ailment she did not trust Navros, and she guessed that he had other desires. Navros, feigning pity for the king, left the kingdom. That night Vaelen had one last union with the King and conceived a child, but the following day the King's condition worsened and he died. When the child, a daughter, was born Vaelen's grief left her but soon the child showed signs of the same ailment as her father and she, too, died and was taken by priests to be buried beside the grave of her father. In the ten thousand and twenty-sixth year of the Fifth Age Vaelen fought alongside Prince Luthol of Deylund in the war against the Dark One, his servant Navros, and the army of the Black Legion. Vaelen succeeded in destroying the Dark One but in so doing she was imprisoned in the Neverworld by a dark spell of Navros' conception. The Neverworld was a place half in and half out of the world, and Vaelen waited there ever after in limbo. Navros escaped the final battle and retreated to Nokomis with the sorceress Morgolien. As has been told, the Dark One's son, Vardor, came to power with Navros' aid and waged war on the Great Kingdoms with his Shadow Army. Prince Luthol, grandson of the lost King Almaeth, sought counsel from his exiled grandmother Morgolien. She created for him the Shadow Slayer, but in return he was to recover the sword of justice, Cinthorc, for her. Cinthorc was lost in Dagorlund with King Almaeth and Luthol sent forth a quest party to find it in that wretched land. Luthol was betrayed and killed by his generals in the war, but the Shadow Army was defeated. Navros escaped death once again by fleeing into the desert wastes of Nasnandos after his master, Vardor, was slain by the Mithrodin warrior Aluen; but he took from her the sword of fire, Valermos. Nasnandos was the 'land of the black serpent' and few mortals dared enter it for fear of those poisonous beasts, but Navros had no fear of that place for he had been created there. In the ensuing years Navros lived in seclusion, biding his time until the opportunity for him to regain power arose once again. Aware that the Nasnad, the flying serpents of the land, were unnatural he thence sought for their source in the desert wastes and found Nasek, the serpent dagger that commanded the serpents and belly crawlers of that land, one of the Blades of Chaos hidden there long ago. Many mortals had entered that land in search of that mysterious talisman and all had perished. Even the lost king, Almaeth had entered that land, thinking it the secret hiding place of the sword of power, Anathar, and there he had fallen prey to the Nasnad and perished with his sword Cinthorc and all of his men. Navros discovered his remains and took the sword for his own. Its thorny hilts were intertwined with silver vines and engraved upon the cross guard was an incantation of the Ancients. Its grip was wire wrapped and the pommel was forged as a flower and it surrounded a red thorcan jewel; a powerful talisman of the Anath. Thorcan was the name of the first Ancient One to be slain by mortal man, and a bone of Thorcan was used in the hilt of the great Umethar that was created in the Fourth Age. When the Ancients disappeared from the world in the Fifth Age, a red jewel began to appear in Ammon, and it was said to be a remnant of their power left in the world. Upon a time Navros came to control the desert serpents and he recruited many mortals into that land in his service. Years passed and a day came that he heard report of men from the East searching Nasnandos for an ancient relic. Navros sent his men to waylay them and bring them before him; and he found that they were the quest party sent by the doomed Luthol to find the sword Cinthorc. They had searched In vain for many years in the Kilgoriun Mountains and the caves of Anundos whence they heard rumor that the lost king's journey had led him into Nasnandos. Hearing of this quest and knowing full well what Morgolien intended to do with the sword, Navros contrived a great plan in his demented mind, and he told the captain of the quest of his finding of the sword they sought. He also claimed that he was in service to Morgolien and would return with them to see that the sword was safely brought to her; and he traveled with them in their ship on the long journey across the Western sea of Ardere, protecting them with his magic from its fire storms until they arrived at the West shore of Deylindor, and traveled by river to the city of Nokomis, Morgolien's kingdom. Upon their arrival Navros killed Luthol's men and brought the sword before Morgolien, whom he had befriended in former days, and offered it to her; for she had a great kingdom and much power in these lands, and he desired that power. Morgolien accepted the sword and advised Navros of her design to rid Ammon of the Mithrodin with Cinthorc's might and make way for the sorcerers to rule the Great Realms now that the Dark One and Vardor were no more. Navros agreed and offered his services, but he demanded something in return, and a grand plan was in his dark mind. Navros and all sorcerers, being the immortal creations of the Dark One, could not spawn children as mortals could, and he greatly desired offspring with both the power of sorcerers and the ability to propagate as mortals could to inherit the world from Men and Elves, thus creating a new breed to rule Ammon. Long ago he discovered that Vaelen was a direct descendent of the union of both one of the Ancients kind and a mortal woman. In her blood flowed the blood of the Ancients, and Navros knew that she or one of her bloodline could bear him a child. His past plan to poison King Eadred, her husband, and take his place at Vaelen's side had failed. When he had learned that Vaelen bore a daughter he used his powers once again to feign death upon the child and sent one of his spies to remove the body from the kingdom. But the child only had death in appearance, and Navros revived her and sent her to a small village in Eastern Deylund to be raised by his servants, hoping to one day spawn a son with her when she was grown; but that same year Vaelen's soldiers found the child and brought her to Lumenia where she was raised as a Mithrodin and became one of its greatest warriors, Aluen. Vaelen took special interest in the child, seeing in her eyes the daughter that she had lost, but never knowing that Aluen was, indeed, that daughter. Now, with Morgolien's mastery of the Umethar which could open doors between worlds, Navros demanded she allow him to enter the Neverworld, where he would take on the form of Prince Luthol and seduce Vaelen, thus finally conceiving the child he was denied so long ago. Morgolien granted him this request and once the deed was done and the child, a son, was born into the timeless Neverworld, Morgolien stole him away and gave him to Navros. Vaelen's mind, clouded by the Neverworld's mists, remembered the event as a dream and all knowledge of it was lost to her. Therewith Morgolien raised the child as her son, but Navros was his father and the child held allegiance to him. Morgolien's days were consumed in study and mastery of the great sword Cinthorc, and through its magic it gave her knowledge of the whereabouts of every warrior of the Mith. She created a great army of sorcerers, the Simokon, and with these she began to hunt down and kill each Mithrodin, one by one. The combined might of the sorcerers and the awesome power of Cinthorc's enchanted blade were too much for a single Mithrodin to battle. The number of that ancient order created to protect the Ten Swords soon dwindled and the sorcerer's hands were stained with blood. Morgolien learned of the hiding places of many of the Ten by her torture of those warriors. Over time Morgolien came to possess those swords and she had built a great keep to protect them in Nokomis, and her Simokon watched over them. With the Great Realms on the brink of falling under Morgolien's power and the extermination of the Mithrodin leaving it defenseless her revenge was now utterly fulfilled, and thereupon she grew careless thinking herself invulnerable. In that time Navros raised his son, whom he named Naegolus, and when grown to a young adult he was greatly skilled in the arts of sorcery, for his father was its greatest master. Indeed Naegolus was even more powerful than Navros for he had within him the blood of the Ancients. Thereupon the time whence Navros had forged his pact with Morgolien he had other designs in his mind and the day had come to bring them to fruition. Upon a time when Morgolien's power was wholly spent from constant use and she was at rest in her temple, Navros ventured thither and cast a spell upon the witch causing her power to be forevermore diminished. Thence he killed her chief guards and declared himself ruler of the kingdom, and the Simokon sorcerers swore allegiance to him. Within the walls of Morgolien's great keep he found her secret hiding place of the Swords of the Ancients. From there he took Molotoch, the mighty slayer sword, and it was presented to his son. Molotoch was the deadliest of the swords of the Ancients in single combat, for it gave the user power of victory over an enemy. The user received boundless skill and speed from the blade, as well as great focused rage to beat down an enemy. Mere mortals could not even lift the enchanted weapon but those with the powers of the Ancients could wield it as easily as if it were a feather. Its hilt was adorned with many death heads and Vasthar, the desert spider, was on its guards. Its pommel was fashioned with the shape of carrion bird heads, the eaters of the dead. With it Naegolus was loosed upon the land and the slaughter of the Mithrodin continued until but a few of those great warriors and protectors remained. When came the day that Naegolus' and his host of sorcerers came up against the great warrior Aluen and her Mithrodin rangers on the plains of Deylund, a terrible battle was fought. Nearly all of Naegolus' multitude perished at Aluen's hand for she was the most fierce Mithrodin ever to wield the blades of the Valdris, and her rangers were among the mightiest in all of Deylund's forces. The plains were stained with the black blood of those wizards for the Mith showed that host no mercy. Sadly, they were no match for the dark magic of Naegolus and they fell in the end. Aluen was captured by Naegolus and brought before his father. Navros however would not slay her for he knew her true identity as that of Vaelen's child, Naegolus' half sister, and so she was stripped and imprisoned in the dungeons of Nokomis. Morgolien, though her powers of sorcery had been lessened, was allowed to remain in the kingdom for Naegolus regarded her as his mother. Thinking her too weak to pose a threat upon him, Navros turned his attention elsewhere, but Morgolien was cunning and full of malice. She would not sit by idly as the kingdom she had created was taken from her. Though she no longer held the swords of the Ancients in her guard she still possessed Umethar, the aged blade of chaos. It was hidden in a secret place and she still held her mastery over it. Upon a day when Naegolus was away from the kingdom on a campaign and Navros was in meditation, Morgolien stole away deep into the catacombs of the citadel and opened the door to the Neverworld with the Umethar and therewith she released Vaelen, the queen of Lumenia who had been imprisoned long before by a spell from Navros. Vaelen came forth into Ammon once again and she was of the same age as the day of her confinement, seventy-seven years past. Time passed slow in that gray place, and Vaelen's mind was clouded by confusion and bewilderment. Morgolien enlightened Vaelen of what had passed in the years of her captivity; of Vardor and the Shadows, of the slaying of the Mithrodin and fall of the kingdoms, and of Aluen's imprisonment at the hand of Naegolus; but Vaelen was not told that Naegolus was her son. Morgolien also told, in truth, that the death of Vaelen's husband, King Eadred, was due to a magical poison created by Navros. She also learned that her daughter did not die after birth, but was stolen away; and she now knew that Aluen was that daughter. Though both sorrowful and joyous at this news Vaelen was also filled with great fury and anger at the sorcerers. Morgolien cast a weak spell of protection over Vaelen that would diminish any sorcery used against her lest she be discovered by Navros or his host, and that act did all but drain the old witch. Thence she informed Vaelen of the whereabouts of the swords of the Ancients, locked in a guarded chamber of Navros' stronghold, and with Morgolien's assistance Vaelen subdued the door wardens and entered the room. There were many swords stored here, and not all were of the Ancients, for Navros thought to place decoys among them to thwart thieves in his own home. Vaelen knew the true swords, however, and she found the one she sought, Cinthorc, the sword of justice. She thence sought for her daughter in the dungeons below the stronghold. No guards came to hinder her for they were posted outside the walls of the kingdom and none were posted to guard from within, and Morgolien knew of secret passages within the walls of the stronghold so their passing was not seen. Naegolus, having returned from his mission, found the affray in the halls before the sword chamber whereupon he discovered Cinthorc's absence. By using the power of Molotoch to find the one responsible he was shown in his mind the image of Vaelen and he knew she sought Aluen within the citadel walls, but he had no notice of the one who helped her. Naegolus hailed his guards and ordered that they call forth his father and bring Aluen to the arena in the courtyard of the stronghold, and there she was chained, naked and half starved, to a great stone column. Morgolien and Vaelen reached the dungeon too late and found Aluen had been taken. Morgolien surmised that her design had been thwarted because prisoners, unless deceased, were rarely taken from cells, and she used her magic on the door warden to learn where Aluen had been taken. Thereupon she led Vaelen by secret ways to the arena where Vaelen was once again reunited with her long lost daughter. Vaelen attempted to free her weakened and tortured daughter from the iron bonds, but the horse wards discovered her and called an alert. Many guards encircled her, and thus Naegolus came forth into the arena clad in wizard robes to challenge her. In one hand he brandished Molotoch and in the other his father's dagger, an ancient, enchanted Blade of Chaos, once known only as the Sorcerer's Dagger. Its grip was of carved Thorcan, its pommel twin hawk heads, and engraved into its blade was an incantation written by Evruc, an Ancient One of the Fourth Age, said to be the father of the first sorcerer in Ammon. The dagger had been passed down from sorcerer to sorcerer until it was given to Navros in the one thousand and fourteenth year of the Fifth Age, the year Navros had been crowned King of Nasnandos. Now Navros had passed that enchanted weapon to his son, and Naegolus was about to learn the true use of this blade. When close enough, his father instructed that he was to plunge it into the heart of Vaelen; for that Blade of Chaos was special and could absorb the power and living essence of any being into its steel, but only a direct strike to the heart would awaken the ancient blade to do its deed. Once done, the power and life with which it had stolen could be passed on to another. Naegolus demanded Vaelen face him in combat, for he claimed she was the last of the Mithrodin that still walked free in the land. He baited her and balked that he was a great slayer of Mithrodin, that he had killed many warriors, priests, and clerics alike, and he made them suffer before they died. Hearing this Vaelen went at him in a rage and using all of her skills she beat Naegolus down and wounded him grievously, and though Naegolus was a magnificent swordsman and sorcerer, none of his enchantments would affect Vaelen and he could not match her skill with the blade. Vaelen fought fiercely until Naegolus was weary, then she struck hard and sent him to the ground. As she was about to deliver the death blow Navros appeared from the shadows, clapping, and hearkened to her to stay her blade, saying that he would slay Aluen if she did not stand down, and he brought the point of his bladed staff, Tallisett, to Aluen's chest. Now, Vaelen loved Aluen more than anything in the world of Ammon, and pleading, she offered to surrender her own life if Navros would free her. Navros accepted the offer, but when Vaelen laid down Cinthorc Navros raised his bladed staff and he put Aluen cruelly to death with a bolt from its tip. Now Vaelen was in a fury and she charged at Navros but from behind her Naegolus moved quickly and threw the Sorcerer's Dagger, piercing her side. The magical protection that Morgolien had cast over Vaelen kept the blade from harming her. Vaelen grasped the dagger in her side and felt the powers harbored in that enchanted weapon, and she was given great strength and dexterity. To Navros' astonishment, Vaelen then threw the dagger back at him, and it stabbed deep into his belly, gravely wounding him. Quickly she took up Cinthorc, rushed Naegolus and brutally hewed off his sword hand. She raised her blade to put and end to his life, but Navros struck out with his staff. This time he dealt her a death bolt from Tallisett and she fell to her knees, unable to move and her life slipping away; and Morgolien's protective spell was no more. Thus Naegolus pulled his father's dagger from his belly and crawled to Vaelen. As he plunged the blade deep into her chest, piercing her heart, he felt the life drain from her, and Vaelen, last of the Mithrodin, fell. Now, Morgolien had watched this battle until its end and she cursed and spat on the spiritless body of Vaelen; but secretly she had used what little magic she had left to keep Vaelen's body alive, although dead in appearance, just as Navros had done to Vaelen's infant daughter, Aluen, in ages past; for Morgolien had designs that Vaelen would fulfill at another time. She tended to her foster son's wounds, feigning concern, and helped him use the enchanted Sorcerer's Dagger to heal the gash in his belly, though as she held the dagger in her own hand she used it to draw power for herself and regain some of her former might. In the night she crept to the chamber where Vaelen's body had been placed and she once more pierced Vaelen's heart with the dagger's enchanted blade. Using her great skill and knowledge of the Blades of Chaos, she reversed the effect of enchantment and returned the spirit and life from the blade back into Vaelen's body; and Vaelen breathed in deeply as life returned to her. Morgolien pulled the blade from her and caused the wound to heal, but she kept Vaelen in a deep sleep for a time. Whence the way was safe, she ordered her acolytes to steal Vaelen away from Nokomis, taking her by horse cart across the desert of Deylindor, Southwest to the Dead City where Methuscia ruled, whereupon Vaelen was revived and presented to Methuscia as a slave. Morgolien was in league with that dark oracle and she had plans to be repaid for the gift at a later time. Methuscia thought this gift a great prize indeed and she made her blind sorcerer guardians take Vaelen deep into the bowels of her protected palace where she was locked away to work in the dungeons. Vaelen, her spirit broken and in grief by the death of her daughter and this new imprisonment, did not resist and she succumbed to the will of Methuscia. Soon thereafter the sorcerer Navros learned of Morgolien's treachery in the opening of the gate to the Neverworld, and the release of Vaelen. Desiring the witch to suffer greatly he commanded that she be imprisoned in the deepest catacombs of his dungeon. In that dark place all of her power was lost and her appearance regressed to that of an old hag. To his son he told that Vaelen had feigned death, awoken and slain Morgolien in the night before escaping. Thus Naegolus never learned that his true mother was not Morgolien, but was indeed Vaelen of Lumenia, slayer of the Dark One. |