The Books of Blutora

5 : Tale of Knight Errol

It's a cold desert night, the full moon lights the barren wasteland of sand and dead plants. It's quiet minus the chilling midnight breeze that stalks the land. A group of rugged looking people trek through the untouched sands, led by a man in his early twenties who carried a longsword that's blade shone gold in the moonlight. There's no less than thirty people in this group, and nothing but untouched desert for miles in every direction. 

As they approach the peak of a small hill, one of the group shouts ahead, "A body!" and points towards the opposite end of the hill. There lay a mysterious figure in a tattered robe of red, black, and orange. Long, silver hair escaped his seemingly lifeless head. Upon further investigation by the leader of the wandering group, they find the silver haired person to still be a live, albeit barely. Suffering from extreme dehydration and malnourishment, he is cared for by a member of the group with medical experience, as directed by their leader. He is loaded on to a weakly fashioned stretcher that had been brought in case of emergency, and the group continues their journey into the night.

A number of hours have passed by now, and the Sun is beginning to peak over the horizon to the east. Nothing but endless sand surrounds the group who have seemingly made both no progress at all and miles of progress overnight at the same time. They come to a stop when the silver-haired man begins to retake consciousness. The leader of this group notices right away, and quickly motions for the others to step back. He approaches the man, upon the stretcher that now lay in the sand, and waits for him to come to. 

"Where are you from?" The group leader asks with a stern tone, "Look at me. Answer the question." 

The silver haired man is dazed, confused, and trying to understand what is going on, "I..." he pauses for a second before continuing, "Sol, I'm looking for Sol, can you tell me where it is?"

The leader takes a pensive look at one of the others in the group, before returning his attention to the silver-haired man, "First, tell me who you are, and where you come from. I have given you aid in your time of need, I ask you return this favor."

"I... I don't know where I come from... I don't remember much of anything other than Sol. I need to find Sol. The people in the city under the castle said-" he is cut off by the leader.

"The city under the castle? You mean Balmoral?" the leader asks.

"Uh... yeah, maybe, that name sounds familiar... I don't remember much, I need to find Sol, and I had to journey through this desert, but beyond that there's not much left in the way of memory."

The leader stands up, and walks over to a member of the group with dirty brown hair and a tattered beard, "He does not seem to be a Goldcrestian spy, and may prove useful to our quest, let the others know." turning then to face the silver-haired man once more, "I do not know of this 'Sol' you speak of. Is it a person? A place perhaps?"

"I know not if Sol is a person, or a place, or even some item to hold. Only that I have been chosen I believe." he replies.

"Chosen? You plead a divine quest?" the leader questions.

"Not necessarily, no. I seem to recall a strange feathered people, very reclusive, secretive, and smart." he begins to remember a small fragment of his journey, "I remember jungles spanning further than the eyes can see. Mentions of Xelmal, and the ability to form a stronger connection to the deities of the lands. They taught me how to further understand Izan, my guardian of Hope."

"What is your name?" the leader asks, while delivering an introduction, "I am Cobalt, my people call me King."

"I am Errol, of... well... I'm not sure." the silver-haired man replied.

"Errol I believe you have been sent here for a reason, perhaps this Sol you seek is not a person, a place, or an item to behold at all. Perhaps this Sol is the journey itself, which has led you here, to us." Cobalt explained, "You may not know where you come from, but you are here, now, I believe that is not by chance. Come with us, we lead an expedition to found a new home, a new place to settle, to begin life anew. We would be grateful to have you, as Knight Errol... of Schium, our future home."

"Perhaps you are right about Sol, in which case... I accept." Errol takes the hand of Cobalt who brings him to his feet. 

During the following months the group would settle in the desert upon the fork of a large river, which held some vegetation alongside the water. To the south a large mountain loomed and watched over the people. As King Cobalt directed the creation of the early foundations of Schium, and the people in the group worked tirelessly, Knight Errol would patrol the surrounding areas day and night. Finding trouble from people from time to time, Knight Errol would handily dispatch of any threats to his new people. Most commonly the threats were not people however, but rather the Reyk's of the desert. Wolf sized viscous creatures covered in scales, with four legs and a deadly tail dotted in small sharp teeth that's purpose was to render prey immobile. While most people would fall victim, and food, to the Reyks, Knight Errol had become extremely adept at dealing with the foul creatures, protecting the Schiumians from harm and danger. 

As an early thanks from the people of Schium, the first chunk of iron excavated from their mine was forged into a mighty axe for Knight Errol to wield. He accepted the gift with pride and named the weapon 'Photovi.' This weapon would be at his side for many years, and along many journeys.

Over the course of the next twenty years, Knight Errol would lead countless expeditions to the north beyond the desert for potential land to expand the kingdom of Schium into, some as far as Aurora, where he made some close ties and allies. Always returning without fail to Schium, Cobalt would be the first to hear the tales of Knight Errol's journeys, the good and the bad. Knight Errol would regularly pen his experiences into stories or songs, letting the city folk of Schium revel in the adventures, and inspiring more and more to volunteer to join him.

One day while spending time in the port of Aurora, Knight Errol began to have the visions that had once troubled him long ago, visions of the name "Sol." Returning at once to Schium, and gathering a willing crew, Errol informed Cobalt with sadness that, in all likelihood, he would not return from this journey. King Cobalt wished Errol well, as his boat sailed towards the ocean down the Schium river, stopping only at Aurora to exchange a favor for a larger Vessel, and then sailing upwards past the northern lands of Kyn Alora, deep into the deadly Vildryr, the shattered ice fields to the north.

While navigating through the perilous icy waters, multiple strange sightings were reported to Errol of ships that seemed to fly above the water. As the voyage reached its fourth week at sea, now in open sea free of icebergs, the crew were attacked by the flying boats while approaching a tropical storm. Attempting to lose them in the storm, Errol steered the vessel into the storm, and the boat was lifted off the water and into the air. 

When the boat hit the water again, Errol blacked out and rendered unable to captain the ship for some time. When he came too again, the ship had been limped, irreparably damaged, to the shores of an unknown land. The navigators were unable to navigate by the stars, because it was as though most of them had vanished. The crew were eventually approached by the natives of the land, who where prompted to inform the crew of where they were. Confused and unknowing of the names told to them, 'Schium', and 'Blutora', the natives explained that they had landed in the lands... of Relaya.