Three Fugitives: Book One of the Six Stones Trilogy

Prologue

The first intelligent race on earth was the yelia, the Children of the Sun Father, referred to in vulgar speech as 'elves'. They were similar in stature to humans, though slightly taller. Their complexions were porcelain, their hair long and glossy, and their ears pointed. Their eyes looked like gems, with elliptical, cat-like pupils.

The yelia developed an advanced civilization, which excelled in learning and justice, and brought the light of knowledge to a primitive world. The benevolent star gods, or astra, took pride in the achievements of the Sun Children, but the foul, demonic gods, or odia, hated them, and sought the destruction and enslavement of the yelian race. The odia launched a full-scale attack on the Sun Children, but were repulsed by the astra.

The astra realized that the yelia would succumb to the depredations of the dark forces unless they were given the means to protect themselves. They therefore taught magic to the Sun Children, and bequeathed to them the gwellen, seven stones of unequalled magical power. Six of the gwellen were known as the 'subordinate stones,' whose magic governed the six elements of the world. The seventh, Sham, was the Motherstone, whose power coordinated those of the other six.

For reasons that are unknown to history, the Motherstone was removed from the earth. The yelia continued to flourish, however, because they possessed the six subordinate stones. The nefarious plans of the odia were thus to no avail.

Then the odia came up with another scheme. They would seed intelligence into animals of the earth, and from them, raise other sapient races, who would challenge the yelia for dominance. One of these races was the zhivi, commonly but mistakenly referred to as 'goblins.' They were small people with clawed hands and feet, who clothed themselves in garments made of plant fibers. Another race was humanity, which possessed the skill to alter nature. The astra, however, took pity upon these races, who were exploited and abused by their demonic designers. Each astrum adopted a sapient race as his or her own, and taught them the ways of kindness and justice.

The seeds of hate, however, were planted in the minds of the sapients by the odia. The races warred among themselves, with humanity gaining the upper hand. As humankind spread through the earth, the other peoples moved to remote, inaccessible areas. The yelia, for their part, retreated to the hitherto uninhabited continent of LeFain, a green, rich land with harsh winters. They were soon joined by other sapients, however, and with time, humanity came to dominate in LeFain as well.

Human kingdoms came and went, but the greatest of these was the empire of the Gothma folk, commonly known as the Regnum. It administered justice, enabled commerce, and fostered the advancement of science throughout LeFain. Even the non-human races had their places in it. Peace reigned for many centuries, but it was not to last. The Regnum became corrupt, and it deteriorated. Roving bands of Framguth-tribal humans from the north, brought about its downfall.

All of LeFain was plunged into a dark age. Centralized authority was no more. Commerce and learning declined precipitously. The chieftains of the Framguth folk became feudal lords, reducing the Gothma to serfdom and their own people to squalid peasantry. Racial and class hatreds increased. Bandits, brigands, and pirates afflicted land and sea, and strange cults, like the Order of Dramm, or Drammites, arose. The Framguth lords revived worship of the odia, thus increasing the power of the demonic entities. Meanwhile, the non-human races became even scarcer, and the yelia began to die out.

Realizing that their days were numbered, the yelia held a debate as to what should be done with the six gwellen. Though naugai, or non-yelia, were unable to pick up the stones, much less use their power, this limitation could be circumvented. Some naugai, mainly humans, had obtained the trust and favor of the yelia, and had secured for themselves a designated status as chosen ones. A chosen naugus had the ability to use the magic of the gwellen. A tiny minority of chosen individuals were further favored as perpetually chosen ones, whereby the ability was passed down to some of their descendants through the generations. The yelia realized too late that in bestowing these favors upon humans, they had opened the door to abuse of the gwellen. The last yelia folk, therefore, decided to hide the stones in remote corners of the wilderness.

Long after the yelia were gone from the world, legends of their gwellen remained. Many adventurers searched for the stones, but all of them in vain, until the coming of Lord Lorien Randolphus.

Randolphus was the de facto ruler of the Corcadine, a skinny, mountainous peninsula that jutted out of the south of LeFain continent, and curved westward in a sickle shape. Though Randolphus was of Framguth origins, and his people were Gothma, the Corcadinian folk loved him. He, in turn, sought to protect them from the powerful, ruthless lords of the mainland.

Lorien Randolphus knew from his family traditions, that he was one of the perpetually chosen. He therefore gathered a small group of companions to search for the gwellen on the mainland, and to bring the stones back to the Corcadine, for the protection of the peninsula's people.

Randolphus and his party found three of the gwellen, but they were ambushed in the Greymantle Mountains, beside the Hargash River. Most of the group was killed, and Randolphus seriously injured, but he saved his life by jumping into the river. Unfortunately, he lost one of the gwellen over the Fallagourn Falls.

The remnants of Randolphus's group re-gathered and transported their wounded lord back to the Corcadine on a litter. Realizing that he would not live much longer, Randolphus hid the two remaining gwellen, and thus the stones were concealed once again.

Lord Lorien Randolphus died, and LeFain lost a great man who could have made a difference in all our lives.

-an excerpt from Antiquities of LeFain, written by historian Midius Baines, and derived from the most excellent family lore of the Duraline House Baines.

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